I decided to buy some new PC lighting for both my new tank and my pre-existing tank from AH Supply.
The lighting over my 45 gallon worked fine, but it was a mess of wires and was becoming a bit cumbersome. Three ballasts definitely take up quite a bit of room under the tank.
I wanted to build something that wouldn't take a lot of time, but that would look half decent as well. Functionality is high on my list of priorities. I want to be able to have room to put my hand in the tank on a daily basis without having to go through a complicated procedure.
My old canopy moved from front to back on drawer slides. That design worked well, but it took a bit too long to plan. So here is what I came up with.
I am sure that most people could build this sort of thing with the tools that they have laying around.
I started with a box. I made this out of off the shelf pine. I joined it together with biscuits and pocket hole screws, but other methods may work just as well. I left the back open for ventilation.
I will now jump to the end product. You will notice that I have attached a piece of pine on either end of the canopy. This is to keep the canopy in place (keeps it from sliding off to the right or the left).
The main "box" of the canopy rests directly on the tank frame. This works fine, but I wanted to be able to move the canopy from front to back without having to necessarily lift it each time (will be easier, and less chance of dropping it; also less potential wear on the tank frame.
As if some of you needed another excuse to go to Lee Valley, I picked up some 3/4 inch wide UHMW polyethylene.
The UHMW poly fits perfectly over the edges of the pine boards. This pic shows how I attached it to the underside of the canopy.
In the second pic, if you look closely you can just see the white UHMW poly.
All you need to do is attach it with screws (of course, countersink them first).
The canopy has only been on the tank for a few days but it seems to work fine, as far as being easy to move from front to back.
The lighting over my 45 gallon worked fine, but it was a mess of wires and was becoming a bit cumbersome. Three ballasts definitely take up quite a bit of room under the tank.
I wanted to build something that wouldn't take a lot of time, but that would look half decent as well. Functionality is high on my list of priorities. I want to be able to have room to put my hand in the tank on a daily basis without having to go through a complicated procedure.
My old canopy moved from front to back on drawer slides. That design worked well, but it took a bit too long to plan. So here is what I came up with.
I am sure that most people could build this sort of thing with the tools that they have laying around.
I started with a box. I made this out of off the shelf pine. I joined it together with biscuits and pocket hole screws, but other methods may work just as well. I left the back open for ventilation.
I will now jump to the end product. You will notice that I have attached a piece of pine on either end of the canopy. This is to keep the canopy in place (keeps it from sliding off to the right or the left).
The main "box" of the canopy rests directly on the tank frame. This works fine, but I wanted to be able to move the canopy from front to back without having to necessarily lift it each time (will be easier, and less chance of dropping it; also less potential wear on the tank frame.
As if some of you needed another excuse to go to Lee Valley, I picked up some 3/4 inch wide UHMW polyethylene.
The UHMW poly fits perfectly over the edges of the pine boards. This pic shows how I attached it to the underside of the canopy.
In the second pic, if you look closely you can just see the white UHMW poly.
All you need to do is attach it with screws (of course, countersink them first).
The canopy has only been on the tank for a few days but it seems to work fine, as far as being easy to move from front to back.