DIY Canopy For 20 GAL High tank

[spectre]

I'm currently designing a DIY canopy for my 20 gal nano, I hope to finish it tomorrow and will post list of parts and how I did it. Stay Tuned!!

[spectre]

OK!! I finished the hood and it looks pretty good. Whenever I get a digital camera I'll post some pics.

 

My tank is a 20 gal High tank. That comes out to 24 1/4" by 12 1/2" . I wanted a hood that would pick my lights(CSL ABS hood 2x65w PC's 24" long) up off the top of the tank by 6 inches. This would give me room to access the tank without taking the lights off everytime.

  The basic design is pretty simple and cheap. I only have about $116 bucks in this, and that includes some tools I didn't have. I will post the list farther down.

 The basic design is a one door access, where the entire top lifts up to give access to the whole tank.

  I went to the local Home Depot and bought the following items:

       1 - 1"x 12" x 8' Eastern Pine Premium board (these are relatively straight and don't have alot of knots). I had Home Depot cut this(and they did it for free!!) into 4 pieces: (2)@26" and (2)@12 3/4".  This board cost $11.30.

       14 feet of 1"x 2" white poplar. I had HD cut this into 8 pieces: (4)@24 1/4" and (4)@11". These boards cost me $.70 a foot or $9.80.

       I also bought a 3/4" piece of Oak plywood used for hard wood flooring. This was expensive ($46.00 for a 4' x 8' sheet), I looked at using regular plywood but it didn't have the finish I was looking for and HD didn't have a furntiure grade wood wide enough for what I was looking for. I had HD cut this piece into 24 1/4" x 12 1/2"(I'll use the rest of the board for my next project, backboard For a dartboard in my game room!!).

 

  Thats all the wood I needed. I also bought some additional supplies needed:

 

    (40) #8 Phillips head countersink screws 1 1/4"

    (2) stainless steel hinges

    (1) knob to open the top with (mine's a pewter fish)

    (1) qt. of Minwax stain (Jacobean; real dark brown)

    (1) qt. Helman's Spar Urethane

    (1) 3/8" countersink drill bit

    (1) keyhole saw w/ wood blades

    (1) assorted pack of finishing sandpaper(grits range from 100 to 600)

    (1) paint brush

    (1) qt paint thinner

Total cost for all of this was: $49.54 plus the wood brings a grand total of $116 and some change.

 

I will post the how to tomorrow.

 

       

[spectre]

sorry it has taken me so long to get back to this. So here is what I did:

 

  The dimensions for the wood I had cut came from the dimensions of my tank, 24.25" by 12.5". I added 1 3/4" to the front and back boards ( I did this so that you would not be able to see any seams from the front, the back really isn't that important since mine is backed up to a wall) I added 1/4" to each of these for wood expansion.

  The first thing I did was sand off the boards that were cut with 100 grit sandpaper. This was more to prevent me getting splinters than anything else.

  I then examined the boards to see which one would look the best for the front. Once I selected the board, I placed it with the front side facing me. I then drilled 4 holes, about a third of an inch in from the left and right sides and spaced them evenly running from top to bottom. I used my countersink bit to do this(This way the screws will be flush with the board when I'm finished).

  I then took my drilled  board and stood it on end so that the front side was facing me.

  Then I took one of the side boards and placed it behind the front board I had just drilled. I lined up the two boards at a 90 degree angle so that my pre-drilled holes line up with the center of the edge of the side board. I also made sure that the tops of both boards were flush. I then used a cordless screwdriver to drive in 4 phillips head counter sink screws.

  I did the same thing on the other side. So now I have 3/4 of a box completed.

  I drilled and countersunk the back board the same way I did the front board, and screwed this to the 2 side boards. Now I have a complete box with no top or bottom.

  The next thing I did was brought the box in and made sure it would fit over the tank. It should have about an eighth of an inch play on any side. So far so good.

 

  Now this next part is where you attach the lip that will hold the canopy on the top of your tank.

 

  I placed the box on my work bench with the front facing me. I then placed 2 of the 1x2" poplar boards inside the box, one on top of each other right up next to the side of the box. Then I drew a line across the inside of the box. This is to mark the proper position for the lip. 2 1x2" boards on top of each other equals 1 1/2". So my lip will be 1 1/2" up from the bottom of the canopy(I used 1 1/2" to cover the black molding that runs around the top of my tank, and to provide the most stability). I did this for each side of the box.

  I then took all 8 pieces of 1/2" poplar and predrilled 3 holes in the pieces for the front and back, and 2 holes in the pieces for the sides. These were countersunk.

 I then turned the box on its side so that the front board was now lying on the bench, and I had a clear view of the line I had made on the inside. I took one of the 24 1/4" pieces of 1x2" poplar and placed it so that the bottom edge was flush with the line I had drawn. I used my cordless screwdriver to secure this board to the back of the front board with 3 screws. I did the same thing for each side.

  Now I have a box that has a 1 1/2" lip on the inside on the bottom. I took the box back into the house to make sure it would fit on the tank, and to make sure it was stable. It was, and I celebrated by having a cold brew.

 

  The next thing I did was add the top lip that would support the lid. You should have 4 pieces of 1x2" poplar left and these should be pre-drilled.

  I marked the place for the top lip boards by placing the piece of Oak hardwood flooring I had cut on the bench, then placed the box over this so that the oak board was inside the box. I then drew a line all the way around the inside of the box. Then I secured the 1x2" poplar boards the same way I did for the bottom lip.

  Now I have a box that has one lip at the top(for the lid) and one lip at the bottom(to hold the canopy on the tank).

 

  The next thing I did(and you could probably do this before you assemble the box) was measure all of the equipment on the back of my tank and figure out where I would cut out notches for this equipment so that my canopy would fit over them(Being that this is the back of the canopy I did not spend alot of time making sure my notches were perfectly straight). I used the keyhole saw to do some of these notches as well as a skill saw and a 1 1/4" hole saw.

  After I made all of my notches and holes, I took the box back in and made sure it would fit over all of my equipment. It did, so I had another beer.

**NOTE** Beer and power tools do not mix, I am kidding about the beer(My brother(he's a Lawyer) made me say that) :beerchug:

  Moving on...

 With all of my notches notched and everything fit, I proceeded to put the lid in place and drill my holes for my stainless steel hinges. I put mine on the outside of the canopy, but you could mount them on the inside of the lid as well.

  I then took my CSL ABS hood apart and marked the 4 screw holes that come through the top on to my lid so that the light fixture would be centered over the tank. I drilled these holes out with a small drill bit. not countersunk.

  My light hood has a fan and an intake on it, so I drilled some ventilation holes on either side of the canopy for air movement through the lights. After all the holes were drilled, I re-attached the Lid to the top of the canopy with the hinges.

  Once I got the lid attached, I sanded the outside of the whole box with 100 grit sandpaper. Then I put 2 coats of stain(12 hours in between coats and no sanding in between coats) after the second coat of stain, I sanded the whole thing with 220 grit sandpaper. Then I applied the Helman's spar Urethane. This is great stuff, totally water proof.

  After the first coat, I sanded the whole box with 440 grit sandpaper LIGHTLY. Make sure you get all of the dust off in between coats. Then I added a second coat. After the second coat dried(time in between each coat was 24 hours, but I think the can said you could do it in 8 hours), I sanded the whole box with 600 grit sandpaper, the surface is very smooth at this point. I then put a third coat on the box. I very,very very lightly sanded this 3rd coat.

  Remember this was all on the outside, The inside of the box which only the fish and corals will see. I didn't stain or sand any of it. I put 3 coats of Urethane with a light sanding in between each coat for adhesion. I did  not paint the inside of the canopy white. I have heard to many horror stories of painted canopies flaking paint into the aquarium. My light hood has an aluminium reflector built in and provides more than enough light for my tank.

 

After the inside coats where done. I attached the light hood to the inside of the canopy. I used some 2 1/2" 6/32 screws I had laying around. Then I wiped the whole outside of the canopy with furniture polish to make it shine. This was a one time thing, from now on it will be dusted lightly with a premoistened rag.

 

Once that was done, I put the whole thing on my tank and it it looks pretty good(well, good enough to where my wife hasn't made me move it out of the living room yet)

 

 I know this is an awfully long post but maybe this will help someone out. Good luck if you try this and be patient.

[fish04]

Pretty good! I can beat that price though! My canopy for my 10 gallon cost me $12.00 total, $75 if you include the lights! It doesn't look cheap either! Came out great. I am in the process of building a canopy for my 5.5, including lights I'm figuring $60.

[fish04]

Actually, I went with a 2.5. Wood..$3.69(poplar), Hardware $2.58, Lights 2x$24.90 (2x13W ahsupply)..for a total of $56.70. Including the Tank, PH, Heater and rock/sand aproximately $150. The stock will come from my other tanks.