Building a Canopy

[manny]

While I'm home I've decided to build a canopy for my tank. My dad's not too crazy about helpin me out but I'm gonna make him anyway :D He doesn't really believe anything I'm tellin him about what kind of wood and everything we need to use so I'm hopin you guys can help me out here. First of all what kind of wood do you guys recommend? How high above the water surface should my metal hallides be? How high above the surface should the flourescents be? What kind of hinges, screws, etc. should we use? What keeps the wood from warping? Thanks guys and gals for helpin me out
Manny

[Yano]

A marine grade sealent will protect your wood, you can get this at homedepot. Um thats about all I know :D

[Jenn]

I like red maple for the wood. I just had a custom stand built out of this and it looks great. It was easy to stain as well. Can't help with anything else, sorry.

[wkopplin]

I second what Yano said. Be sure to seal the inside of the canopy.

[Tim Marvin]

If your painting it pine is ok to use. You need to keep the back open for ventilation and use brass or galvanized screws to keep the rust away. I'd keep the halides up like Josh mentioned so you will need to build the canopy 4-5 inch taller to acount for the depth of the light reflectors.

[Markster]

I recently built a canopy and used pine select wood from Home Depot. Made the sides 12 inches high and the front has hinges so a 8 inch piece can fold down. The back is held together with a 1 X 3 pine select. The MHs are attached to the reflector and then the reflector is attached to two 1 X 3s that just sit on top of the sides; thus the MHs are 10 inches from the water. I installed 1 X 3s on the inside of the sides to fit just on top of the sides of the aquarium. I have a Coralife 4 X 65 PC strip light that just sits on top of the 1 X 3s on the inside. I will send a couple of pics to your email if want, just let me know. I stained the wood to meet my cherry wood stand and then sealed with sprap polyurethane. The screws are stainless and the hinges on the front are brass.

[Andrew]

The spray urethane is good stuff; more expensive than paint on type, but less mess and faster and looks just as good.

andrew

[manny]

Wow, thanks for all the replys :D My email is mespino83@hotmail.com markster and anybody else if you have some pictures. Andrew, when you mention the spray urethane, that's like a sealant or what? Again, thanks and if anyone can think of any other good tips go ahead and let me know. Merry Christmas!!! And Happy New Year!!!!!!!!
Manny

[prof]

Spar varnish, good stuff. It is a clear sealant. See my new stand in my gallery.

I got a marine grade, gloss white, acrylic from Sherwin Williams for the inside of my canopy. Should have no problems holding up to the moisture and the heat rating is high enough for MH.

I accidentally tested it one day. My canopy fan did not come on. The hood got REAL hot. So hot the fan warped and would not spin until I cooled it down. But the hood held up just fine.

[manny]

What thickness of pine select wood should I use for my canopy?
Do they even make different sizes? If they do, I didn't know whether to go with a 3/4" or 5"8

[casiano80]

hey manny I like using 1/2" thickness cause its light & easy to work with. Allen&Allen has the best wood thats where we get are wood for my shop and it works great...I hate using screws cause you can see them I like useing a pine nail gun with some glue works awesome... if you need some help are need some tools just send me a pm....Might have some spare wood for you... i would have to check tommorow

[oceancube]

hey manny me rudy, well i recommend for your tank, some particalboard would do a great job, and you dont even have to seal it, it'll absorb all the water that splashes on it!oh your welcome for the help in advance :-D

[manny]

rudy dude, you bsin me? particle board? :wtf:

[oceancube]

lol, na dude im just pulling your leg, but really if you need one built, you can talk to my cousin, he built mine and it's doing good, also looks great, very sturdy!!! give him a pm!!

[manny]

lol, man I almost believed you that time. But then I thought no way that would look like crap. :moon:
I already pmed your cousin but I won't be back in SA till Thursday so I figured I might as well build a canopy while I'm home. Might see if we can get a stand or some doors built though...

[manny]

This small crappy town I'm in doesn't sell fans, and I'm sure if somewhere here did, the price would be jacked up. NEway, my question is how big of a hole would I need to cut for a 4" fan? Is it going to be 4"X4" or a little smaller?

[R.Allard]

here are some pictures of the canopy i built for my sons tank over christmas vacation. i used 3/4 oak laminated ply with some solid stock
that i routered out and 2 brass hinges. his tank is a 40 breeder and the total cost was about 50.00. the big hole in the top is for ventilation and
is getting a 6in fan with a crome grate (12v). took me arround a day and a half.
Robert

[manny]

Nice Robert. I really like that Oak laminate. Pretty slick

As for my project, check this out. Finally fired up the table saw and everything and here's what we came up with. You guys like it? I still gotta put a sealant, add a couple fans, stain it and all that good stuff but that'll have to wait till I get back to SA. As for wood we used a 3/4" ponderosa pine. The lumber yard here didn't have any pine select so this was the next best thing. Let me know what you guys think

[alexwolf]

looks nice man, im getting a stand built from 3/4 pine as well, but i dont know what kind yet.........let me know what sealant you use would ya?

[dan]

nice hood! did you get water running in your tank yet?

[R.Allard]

JUst a thought for ya.. you might want to put some 1x2 fir strips down the inside of the front hood piece.
that qwill help the pine from warping . come in about 2 in from each side and that should do it.
otherwise it looks great.
Rober

[Markster]

Posted my pics in the gallery...page 3.

[manny]

Alex, the sealant is like a cauking. I didn't know that till I went to homedepot yesterday and found out. To actually keep the wood from warping what we came up with was to paint the inside with a marine grade gloss white paint like prof recommended. And for the outside we're just gonna stain it and use a spray on polyurethane semi-gloss on top of that which will protect the wood.

Dan, my tank's been set up for a few months now, this is just one I had bought that I was gonna drill for a sump

Robert, the fir strips, when I have the hood closed, will be vertical right?


Back to the sealant, does anybody know if I can use of bathroom caulking instead of the marine grade sealant? What's the difference?

[manny]

What I got to seal it is a 100% silicone sealant. Will it work the same as a marine grade or not? On the bottle it says for up to 400 degrees

[DeletedAccount]

We always use Helmsman to seal.

[JeffCo]

I have a pic of the underside of my canopy in my gallery. I sealed the inside with Kilz. It works great and the paint is white to help reflect more of the light. I made the frame for mine with 1x2 pine and then attached 1/4 oak to the frame. It came out great and was pretty easy.

[manny]

Thats the brand of spray on polyurethane i got. On the can it says spar urethane i think. The guy said it was the best they had?

[Andrew]

Thats what I used as well. I should have sealed it with clear coat or acrylic spray, because inside my stand a little water soaked through and discolored the wood. :x

Andrew

[manny]

Here's the finished product guys. Thanks for helpin me out Raul (30glcube)

I know that ugly stand doesn't match but I'm workin out gettin a new stand built to match that's a little taller and doesn't look like its been squished.