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Custom hood help/ideas

H

harryk

Hello all,

I am in the process of building my new 215 and I'm stuck on the lighting. My tank is 30" tall and if i build a hood it will probably be 18-22" tall and will make it almost impossible to reach and or maintain the lower part of the tank. I can always go with a fixture but at $1000+ i was hoping to do a retro setup and save some money and also I'm going with 2 islands and the center MH would be wasted in a fixture. Can someone give me some ideas on a hood setup for a tall tank. I was think maybe opening like a car hood. or the top flip up and the front come off some how. Any ideas or information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Harry
 
Phyl

Phyl

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
The front of my canopy lifts up (like a door, but swinging upwards). It is on a hinge and has lock bars on the sides that allow it to hold open when I need to be in there. It is a beautifully simple yet effective design and very well executed (thank you to the builder :) ). I should be able to snap a photo when I get home.

This way my arm only has to reach as tall as the tank itself to get to the bottom.
 
mikem

mikem

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Heres the one I just threw together for my 30inch high tank. I knew I needed the extra room to climb inside the tank to reach the bottom. The height is 22 inches. Each door is 16 inches high. I built the doors to slide into the canopy, out of the way. Hope this helps.

IMG_0028.jpg


IMG_0043-1.jpg


IMG_0035-1.jpg
 
reefsandrotts

reefsandrotts

NJRC Member
On my 150 canopy inside the 3 doors is cut down to the tank rim.
All the front support sits between the 3 doors and the ends of the tank and it's stable as a rock.
HTH
Jim
 
H

harryk

Mike,

That's a pretty good idea and i'll keep it in mind, but i'm not sure if i'm good enough to build something like that. I'm pretty handy but that looks a little hard. I was kinda thinking maybe the top will flip open like a lid and the front removed some how. but i have to figure out the whole support issue across the front of the tank.

Thanks
Harry
 
mikem

mikem

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
It only looks hard. Do a search on our DIY forum and see what pops up.
 
H

harryk

thanks for all the information guys. Now i have some designing to do and have to decide on what i want

Thanks
Harry
 
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