New Hood/Lights for my 55

N8DOGG

Peaches !!
Jul 5, 2004
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Since I'm going to make a hood for my 225 when I make that I decided to make one for my 55 gallon. I bought a shop light from Home Depot and I have 2 40watt Philips Daylight Bulbs in it. I had some plywood left over and I just had to buy a little more wood. The glass tops I bought don't fit on the tank so I bought a piece of acrylic to keep the moisture from the lights. Its up and running I just need to buy a light switch for it so I don't have to unplug it when I want to turn it off.

Here a few pictures :

Bottom befor Stain:
N8DOGG-DSC00628a.JPG


On Tank after Stain:
N8DOGG-DSC00635a.JPG


On Tank With Light On
N8DOGG-DSC00632a.JPG


now the 225 is going to be 8' Long and 30" wide. I will have 4 two bulb fixtures for a total of 320 watts. The 55 gallon hood doesn't open but the 225 will have to because it will be impossible to lift it off without help.
 
Pics came through good. Nice projects!
 
yeah yeah I know I Know. I had to try and make a hood for a test run for the larger tank. :D I'm gonna make the tank larger so the background will have to be larger also. An add on to what I already have. But I think I solved the problem of it not floating. I'm gonna use some type of brick and hollow out the back a little and silicone/cement them into the back......I don't think it will flot them.....well I hope not. I'll get my butt moving so just keep pushing :D I'll keep everyone updated.
Thanks N8
 
you mean am I going to paint this one also??? Its my other 55 that has the blue background. This one is just store bought. I'm not going to make a cement background for the 55 too much work for such a little tank.
 
Hey i was just wondering...how much did it cost you for the materials to build the canopy?? im thinkin about building one myself...and im curious how much it will cost? let me know
thanks
 
I got most of the materials from Home Depot
Light fixture was ~13
Wood I had to buy another plywood sheet ~20 I have almost enought left over for another hood. I wouldn't bought any but I started with my left over and then ran out.
I bought 1x2's for a frame ~12 I had some trial and error spending here, tried a few different frames before I got what I liked.
stain I had 0
bulbs I had but I think the were ~6
Wire I had 0
switch box Had 0
Light cover ~2
I still need a switch but thta will only be ~3
I also bought acrylic to keep the water from the bulbs b/c the glass tops are a little too big and don't fit flush but I think they would still have worked but that was ~17 and I still have half of it for the next 55.

I guess I paid just over $70 US but I will have a lot of materials left over for my next hood for on the other 55 and I didn't need the acrylic but I wanted to try it. Also I had some trial and error costs b/c I was trying different things as I was building it.
 
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