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Building a canopy for a 75 Gallon Reef |
| Day 1:
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| This is how my
aquarium looked on January 1, 2006. It is a 75 gallon mixed reef
with soft corals (leathers, shrooms, zoos) and lighting is provided by a
Jebo 4X55W Power Compact Fixture. In this picture you will see
that the tank has a very blue look, I was experimenting and I wanted to
see what the blue bulbs which were included with the Jebo looked like,
not that good, glad I swapped them out first thing. |
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| DIY projects
give me a chance to play with power tools. After spending all day
staring at a computer screen I enjoy coming home to rip through some
pine with a miter saw. |
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| This is the
plywood which will be used to "skin" my canopy. This is 1/4" Red
Oak plywood and it will be applied over a 1X2 Pine frame. Trim
wood is regular Red Oak molding from Home Depot in various styles. |
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| This is a
mockup of one of the sides of the canopy, my plans can be seen on the
right. These were more of general guidelines and ideas as I
deviated from the plans slightly as I came up with ideas on how to make
it better |
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| Gluing the
side frame together. Unfortunately my other 24" clamp was being
used so I had to make do with 2 12" clamps. The entire frame is
constructed with "butt joints" to increase strength and ease
construction. |
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| Every joint in
the frame is glued and screwed for added strength. Here I am
drilling the pilot hole for the 2 5/8" deck screws I am using. |
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| Countersinking
the screw. |
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| Driving the
screw into the joint. |
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| This is the
front of the frame with the cutouts for the doors. I am gluing the
center braces in at this point. |
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| Closeup of the
front frame showing the construction of the corners. |
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| Attaching the
side of the frame to the front. Using every clamp I had out at the
time just because. |
| Day 2: |
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| I have now
built the lid and added the piano hinge for the lid. |
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| This is the
complete frame without the lid. |
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| Frame with
lid. |
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| As I stood
back admiring my creation it dawned on me to use some scrap 1X2 to
provide a solid stop for the top lid. This will prevent the lid
from falling through. |
| Day 3: |
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| Day 3 was
COLD! Luckily I had access to a 50,000 BTU heater (which is
glowing in the background) |
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| Figuring out
where I should mount the reflectors for the Metal Halides. |
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| Drilling pilot
holes for the piano hinge in the frame. |
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| Test fit of
the reflectors and the lid. Everything works, hey I might as well
make sure my ballasts work too right? |
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| Before: 2 X
55W PC 10,000K & 2 X 55W PC 7100K Blue - Jebo fixture |
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| After: 2 X
250W MH 10,000K - EVC Retro Kit |
| Day 4: |
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| Moved the
construction inside to the basement as it was too cold in the garage for
gluing the skin on the frame. Cut all skin pieces and attached
side panels. |
| Day 5: |
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| The entire
frame has been "skinned" in Oak plywood. |
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| On the lid I
wanted something a little different. I wanted the plywood lid to
overlap with the top of the frame 1" on the 3 non-hinged sides. To
accomplish this I built attached a spacer layer to the top of the frame.
I purposely left the back (hinge) side without a spacer to create a 10
square inch vent opening (not much really.) Another piece of
plywood will be glued to the top of the spacers to make the lid. |
| Day 6: |
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| This is the
unfinished doors laying on the front of the canopy to check and see how
things look. |
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| This is the
section between the front doors. |
| Day 7: |
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| Day 7 was trim
finishing day. Here you see the top lid with the trim added all
the way around. One little design flaw here, I should have
extended the side trim all the way back. You won't see it though
unless you are 7 feet tall. |
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| Applying the
trip to the front of the canopy. This is "Casing" molding on the
top and bottom and just simple corner molding for the corners. |
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| First coat of
poly applied to the canopy. |
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| And to the
doors. |
| Day 11:
Days 8 - 10 were spent applying poly to the outside and painting the
inside gloss white, then finally wiring up all the lights. |
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| This is the
canopy on the tank. It really makes the stand look small and
cheap, so it will be replaced probably within the next year (and maybe a
90G tank upgrade as well) In this picture only the VHO lights are
running, 1 Super Actinic, 1 50/50 both 110 Watts. |
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| Another view
of the canopy. |
Contact me with questions: canopybuild at timbob dot com
