DIY Canopy

N8DOGG

N8DOGG

Peaches !!
Jul 5, 2004
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I'm going to make a DIY Canopy it will be about 78" long and 30" wide to just fit over my 190 gal tank. What kind of lighting woud be better, 3 2-bulb 24" long or 2 2-Bulb 48" long with about 9" overlap in the middle? Will the extra light in the middle be TOO much. Also its going to be 30" wide so I could maybe even use 6 2 Bulb 24" fixtures(if money allows).Also would it be eayser to buy 24" blbs or 48" bulbs or does size matter(Ok I set myself up on that one)

tank is non-planted but I would like a nice lighted tank with white to blue bulbs......maybe I could use a combination?

any help would be great. going to HD to start on the Canopy so no rush on lights just yet but I would like an idea of what I will need.
N8
 
I would like to build a canopy for my 220g as well. ( since no makes one that would fit) My issue has been how to match the wood to my wooden stand. I can't seem to find anything very close to this pines color. Do you have this same problem?
 
I haven't completed by stand........finishing touches.........and my 190 will be just acrylic..I'm going to paint both stand and canopy grey stone fleck(I think thats whats its called.

You can stain the canopy and use pine so the grain looks the same just try a small piece of scrap wood and try to match it to your stand.

What kind of lights are you going to use?
N8
 
Originally posted by N8DOGG
I haven't completed by stand........finishing touches.........and my 190 will be just acrylic..I'm going to paint both stand and canopy grey stone fleck(I think thats whats its called.

You can stain the canopy and use pine so the grain looks the same just try a small piece of scrap wood and try to match it to your stand.

What kind of lights are you going to use?
N8
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Thanks for the advice. I'm resistant to the trying to match pine colors but its worth a shot. ( I hate color matching) :-)

As for lites, I currently have a 72" light strip with 2 36" bulbs. Not what I originally asked for but I kept it any way. Since its a FW setup I wasn't too concerned with have the high output bulbs and stuff, but I did want to the fixture that holds 4 36" bulbs so I could mix up the colors a bit.

Since your tank is 78" long that's really an odd size from what I've seen and I guess you're going to have to go with smaller sections of lights.

I ran into a strange situation where 3 24" lights were way too long and 3 20" lights were way too short so you may want to experiment cuz although the numbers don't work out the fixtures may fit.

Good Luck
 
IF you are matching stin, pick similar wood, and get a similar tone standrd stain No polyeurethane additives etc. just keep adding stain until it matches. It reallt isn't too difficult to get a match. when done spray it with clear poly, satin gloss or whatever you like. Here's a picture of my DIY hood, and my commercial stand for my 115.
Dave

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Looks good daveedka Do you have a picture of your firemouth?

chefkeith

right now I have 2 midas/RD, a green terror, Jack dempsey, M and F Convict, Pacu and a Oscar that will go in the 190. That will be it till I can get another Place to set up more tanks.I posted some pics of my fish
 
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I'm actually planning a photo shoot this weekend. that picture was taken back in March while the fishless cycle was going. the plants look much nicer now, and the decor has changed slightly. not to mention the fish are growing also.

BTW, that hood 48"x 18" has 6 48" flo tubes under it plus a moonlight.
Dave
 
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