DIY hood for my tank

C

canucksfan1

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Feb 26, 2007
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I have to build a hood for my tank and was wondering if this would be good enough. I will prolly drill some holes for vetilation so the moisture doesn't ruin my lights, not planing on growin plants so it doesn't need too great of lighting. I was wondering if this will be alright for the fish i am going to have in it knowing that they can jump (aros, and oscars and such) the lights are only going to be about 6 inches from the surface of the water so if i put like eggcrate diffusers will that stop them from gettin broken in the case that a fish jumps???

Heres my idea ( i can't really build it to much taller because then i would have no room to open the hood, the tank on the stand is about 6 feet tall)

Canopy for 518.jpg
 
anyone think this would work??? i don't want to use the diffusers that come with it because they are quite jagged, and i don't want to use nothing because i don't want the aro to jump and break the bulb and injure itself. So should i use eggcrate diffuser or sumthing else???
 
I'd say you're going to need some bracing in the center of this monster to prevent bowing but otherwise it looks good. I have no experience with your fish so I can't speak to your concern about them injuring themselves except that I would recommend a glass canopy regardless of what type of fish you have. You also have condensation to worry about. Best that it's on the glass and not in your electronics.
 
k well i don't quite have the 500 bucks to spend on glass for the top of this tank, it is 7 feet long and 3 and a half feet wide, and it would have to be prolly around half inch so that the fish don't jump thru it. As for condensation that is why i am going to be drilling holes and puting in fans. Glass is not really an option
 
anyone have any other ideas??? i can put some plexi or something over just the lights prolly but i can afford something big and strong enough for the entire 7 by 3.5 foot top
 
That is a bit of a monster(size). As mentioned, some type of vertical stabilizer might be nice down the center. I don't think you'll need it for structure, I think you'll just appreciate it for stability. Additionally, how wide is the hinged portion? Make sure you make it big enough so you can reach in the take for maintenance. Taking this thing off will be a pain. I think some plexi would be a nice alternative for protection between the water and the lights. However, I would check how temperature sensitive it is. Your lights shouldn't be that hot, but they could be hot enough to damage plexi. Also if you do this, you can either hinge it or just make it so you can slide it back when you left up the top of the hood to access the water.

I'm currently building a hood, so I'm trying to see what I've learned that could help. It looks like a good plan and if you aren't growing plants the lighting should work out nicely. However, if you think you'll ever put plants, now is the time to put in some better lighting. I went with CFL's. So far they are working out VERY nicely and delivering excellent wattage. The fixtures are cheap(~$2-$3). They are just outdoor sockets, rubber insulated. Anyway, I used 6, but that's cause I had a length of 36" to cover and only needed 122 Watts. However, you could use 26 Watt bulbs and put in as many as you needed. I did a little research before going into it, and it looked like it was going to be about the same price to use shop lights or go the CFL route.
 
I would also be worried about swinging up a 7' long top. I know the 4' lights are the cheapest way to guy but would you consider using smaller lights and modifying the design so that you could open up half of it 3.5' at time? or one 4' section and one 3' section - lets you use a couple of 4' bulbs. I agree with the idea of leaving room for future mods in case you want to add plants - there are few things in this hobby that are forever, especially for people that diy :)
As far as jumping fish are concerned if you used thin acrylic you could use the egg crate stuff to prevent fish from getting to the lights. My own habit has always been to keep the tank full to the top (for one reason if you get a scale line it is hidden by the frame so you don't have to clean it :) ) Once I started doing this I discovered that my "jumping" fish stopped trying to jump because there was no space. This, of course, restricts the amount of air your tank will get from exchange with the surface but I have always had either a airstone or ph with air intake to make up for it. I don't remember the exact cost of the acrylic I used - I think it was 1/8" - but seems like it was only a few dollars for a 20L. If you went up to 1/4" it would be more expensive but still probably not outrageous. Do you have any center braces in your tank? If not you can get a couple of pieces of 3/8" or 1/2" acrylic - maybe 1" X the width of your tank and divide the width of your tank into 2 or 3 sections. This will allow you to cut your top into 2 or 3 pieces. 7' long anything is going to be a challenge (pain) to work with, possibly even dangerous if you are talking about glass. If you divide your top into 2 pieces you can divide the top into the same dimensions. I would eliminate the gap between the top and lights. The most damage will be done when there is a gap for things to move.
 
Yeah i plan on keeping aro's and oscars and stuff so i know they will jump at least for a little while until they learn theres no where to go. I was thinking about cuttin the opening into 2 pieces, but i will leave it as one at first and see how hard it is to open, then if it's difficult i will cut it into 2 sections.
 
k well i have started cuttin all the plywood, it is 3/4 inch exterior grade not sure what type of wood it is it was just sumthing i had lying around. I will take some pics after it is all cut. Unfortunatly i have to cut it all with a handsaw (sad really my circular saw just packed it in) so its takin a lil bit of time. I will have to wait a lil bit longer till i paint it because it is still a little bit moist (it has been out in the rain for a while till about a week ago when i brought it in to dry)but yeah pics of the job will be up when its all done unless you guys wanna see them now tho i am sure you all know what a few pieces of cut plywood look like
 
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