My DIY light hood build for 55G

Dieprophezeiung said:
I'm looking at doing somthing like this for my 55 gallon. I think I'm going to go with 2 2' fixtures rather thAn 2 4' fixtures. What made you decide to use the 4' fixtures? Great progress btw. I think anything made diy is more practical and self satisfying!
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I would have needed 4 2' fixtures to do what I did here, I think; unless there are 2' bulbs with the same output as the 4'. Honestly I did this one in such a seat-of-the-pants manner that I never considered 2' fixtures. I was at Lowes for the 27th time hemming and hawing over what to do, and saw that those 4' fixtures were about 22 bucks apiece, and right beside them was a case of 12 T8 6500k bulbs that would fit. Price on that seemed pretty good. So I grabbed it all and brought it home and started figuring out how to fit it over the tank.

I think hanging them might have been better. The removal of that lid to move things around and add fish and water and filters and stuff is really a pain.

If you can do it with 2' fixtures I'd say give it a shot. Those would be easier to lift and move.

I'm still trying to figure out a way to do something so that I can lift my hood and have it stay in place. I think hooks and chains would work great but it'd probably look pretty crappy.
 
Why don't you just put the forward facing part of the hood on hinges? Then you could just lift that one front panel like a door. you could also get some kind of latch that will hold it up in place when you open it that way you don't have to hold it up yourself. Thats what i'm going to do with my hood when i get around to it.

And i know what you mean when you say you were in Lowes for the 27th time! Been there too! these DIY projects will do it to ya. Just when you think you have everything, you realize you don't! LOL :D
 
Lifting just that front board a hinge would work for feeding, but there isn't very much clearance between it and the bulbs, so I'd still need a way move it for everything else. Regardless, you're right, something with that front board should be modified so that I can feed more easily than lifting the entire thing. The hinges idea is a good one. It'll be either that or I'll just cut a hole the way I did on the back.

Except I've got to wait at least a week before going back to Lowe's. ;)
 
Well I just looked at your setup again and of course hinges wouldent work on that front piece! (I remembered it looking different lol). But you could just use longer boards on the back and sides to set the lights up a little higher. Then you would have enough room in the front to make a hinged door.

I'm going to Lowes/homedepot today after work to get matterials for my cabinet/stand that I'm going to build this weekend. Gonna try and get everything ONE TRIP! Lol.
 
Dieprophezeiung said:
I'm going to Lowes/homedepot today after work to get matterials for my cabinet/stand that I'm going to build this weekend. Gonna try and get everything ONE TRIP! Lol.
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Good luck with THAT. ;)

My stand took me... at least a month. Because I only ever have an hour or two at a time, and I started off with a minimum number of tools. Ended up borrowing/inheriting things like a hammer drill (not a drill press but at least it has leveling indicators,) a power miter saw, a biscuit joiner... Really the miter saw was the only thing I needed for the stand. The drill and joiner were for the hood that I never finished.

I could definitely use taller boards to raise the hood up. I'll get to it eventually. Right now it's just cool finally having fish and plants in there.
 
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