Can someone please show me how to build a hood.

Did you see beviking's plans & pics of the finished product?

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7798

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7959

I'm going to use a variation for my own stand and canopy.

This is the basic plan that I used to build my hood.

I'm going to make mine with a front that will swing up, so I can add food daily without taking everything off the top of the tank. I'm going to also put those fancy hinges on the very back so it will hold itself up while I'm doing maintenance. (I have those kind of hinges on my 55 now).

Unless you have regular fluorescents, you would want to turn off the lights before opening.

I plan on making mine like Elmo's plans... I'm not concerned about the light shinning in my eyes, that's what they make on/off switches for....I plan to mount the ballasts on the back of the tank stand.... Personally, I think this type of hood gives you the most area to work with and allows the most room for lights...

Originally posted by NJ Devils Fan
I need one that can move so it can be on the tank and I can move a part of it so I can open the lid.

Click to expand...

What? You want to move the whole hood? Or just be able to open the door? The plan elmo has will give you the most access (obviously) to the top of the tank. I prefer to leave the lights on when cleaning/rearranging that is why I used the plans I did. If you choose to use plans like the mine, you have to allow enough room for the glass to swing open (the lights hang down from above, the glass top swings up )and for me, this is enough room to get in there and do maintenance w/o removing the whole hood. I can slide it forward when I want to get at the hoses coming over the back of the tank too.
NJ, your tank is a bowfront? Seems the easier plan for a bowfront would be as elmo posted, but you can make anything work! Think it out and ask lots of ppl lots of questions.

Heady, can you be more specific on your alterations in hood plans? I'm curious. Thanks!

I like to store knicknacks etc. on top of my hood. Normally when I need to feed my fish or do water changes, I need to take all the crap off the top of the hood and then open it. PITA.

The front panel of my hood will be attached to the rest of the hood by hinges which are attached at the top inside of the front panel. That way, all I have to do when I want to feed the fish daily is to flip open the front part of the hood, leaving all my knicknacks on top, feed the fish, and flip it closed when finished.

The hinge for the top will be the same as I have now. On the inside sides of the back of the top part of the hood, I am putting a special type of lever/hinge thing (I don't know the name for it). These hinge/lever things allow you to open the door and it stays open until you want to close it. All you do is lift up and push down, it stays wherever you put it. This comes in handy when doing water changes.

There is a special name for this kind of hinge but I can't think of it right now.