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Has anyone made a removable facade in place of a canopy for their aquarium?

I was planning on making a canopy for my aquarium, which has a black rim. The idea was both to hide the rim but to block light spill and glare from the lights above the tank. Plus the lights could be attached and possibly rotated away from the aquarium for access.
However, I have been toying with the idea of a light façade that could be easily removed, covering only the front and sides. Or possibly also having a more permanent rear piece.
Has anyone done this? It seems like it would be best with hung lights that could also be moved backwards for top tank access. Has anyone done this? If so, how?
I know canopies can be hinged so the light rotate away from the top. But then it would seam that the tank would be too dark to work in and the lights in your eyes. Hinged door canopies I have seen don't give enough access. Plus you loose air flow around the lights. Plus LEDs don't last as long if they get too hot.
Of course a motorized lift on a canopy like Mike has would be ideal.
 

mnat

Officer Emeritus
Staff member
Moderator
When we had leds over the 200g, we built a black acrylic shield around it that could slide on and off the light rails if we needed to get to the lights. It worked pretty well but we got rid of the whole setup and went with a t5/led hybrid fixture instead.
 
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