50G DIY hood suggestions?

[Llarian]

This is for the woodworkers out there. =)

I'm finally starting up work on my 50G again, and the next step is a hood.

The lighting is 2x 250W Mh (20k radiums), so I need a fairly tall hood. I'd like to make it out of 1x lumber to match the look of the base, and it'll be fully painted, so I'm not so concerned about wood quality.

Now, for the questions. My original plan was to go 1x12 around the front and sides, and 1x8 across the back. That should (I hope) give me the distance I need over the water. The major things I can't figure out are how to do the hinging mechanism in the front, the top, and the moulding.

My plan for simplicity was just to have the front piece hinged on the top and swing up, but I'm not certain how to make it stay up once its opened, since a piano hinge on the top would only allow it to swing 180 degrees and it would fall back down I'm sure. any suggestions here?

The stand uses 1/4 round moulding in all the joints, and has a 1x4 strip around the top surrounding the stand mitered to give it a clean look. I can't see how I would do something similar with the top, but I can do 1/4 round on all the joints, I just don't know what to do with the corners at the top. I can miter the top pieces together, but that would leave 1/4 round coming to a mitered point, which I think would look pretty bad. Open to ideas here too. =)

Last, but not least, is the top. I suppose using 3/4" ply is a possibility there so I can get a single sheet, but that's both heavy, and slightly thicker than 1x lumber, which means the moulding wouldn't butt up against the ply correctly. With the trim included, the tank is 18 1/4" x 36 1/4", so I suppose I'll have to use multiple pieces, I'm just not sure what the best approach for this is.

(Can you tell I'm not a woodworker?)

You can get a general idea of the style I'm trying to imitate on the stand from the picture I took before finishing painting the stand here: http://pics.llarian.net/album07/aai

-Dylan

 

[jks1]

I would reccomend 1/2" plywood- whichever species matches your trim. I constructed mine this way with cleats along the inside bottom to rest on the top of the tank. The entire front opens for easy maintenance access, and I included a smaller door for feeding. Here's some pics:

 

[Mauisreef]

I like your top Jks1.
Dylan if you are going to paint it just go with the plywood. As for hinges they have some that lock at full extention. Many different types. If you have a home Depot near you or a good hardware store they will have what ya need. Also there are some places online as well. Hope this helps.
I have been designing mine for my 150 gal. It is a thru wall setup and will be like having two tops. One on one side and one on the other.
Money and time. Never have enough of both.

Maui

 

[Llarian]

The outside will be painted gloss black to match the stand. The inside will probably be painted white to seal the wood and reflect stray light better.

I really like the way that hood looks, thanks a lot! What kind of moulding/striping is that? That's really nice looking and would work pretty well with the stand I have built I think.

I guess one other question is how are you attaching MH reflectors to 1/2" plywood without punching a hold all the way though, which I was hoping to avoid.

-Dylan

 

[john]

I made mine with 3/4" oak plywood with solid oak edges the front face is 2" x 3/4" solid oak the top is 3/4" oak plywood with a 1" solid oak around three sides to overlap the sides by useing the solid oak like this you can route the edges round without cutting into the plys the hinges for the doors are european the hinges for the top are piano hinges this hood is 5' long 24" wide and 12" high if needed it can be held open with a small piece of wood on the side that will hold it open at a near vertical position this hood has 2 x 250 watt halide and 4 x 110 watt vho

 

[reedman]

Canopy idea

I would do similar to jks. Use 1x2 for the frame up ans just skin it with a thin ply. You aren't supporting much in the way of weight and you really don't want to add any more weight than necessary to your setup (IMHO).

Here's a few pics of mine. You can see the hinge lock-out's I used. They are very similar to what you see on the flip top tool boxes to lock them open. Works well (no lumps on my head from that). I hinged the top as well so that I could take some top down pics and also changes to lighting. I can nicely fit 2 MH mounted perpendicular to the tank front and 4 VHO bulbs below it (although I am only using 2 right now).

 

[Llarian]

Yeah, I think the 1/2" ply makes the most sense, I don't want any more weight up there than necessary.

thanks for the ideas guys!

I guess the one question I still have is how the hell do I mount the MH reflectors to 1/2" ply without punching holes through it?

-Dylan

 

[john]

You can get stainless steel screws at hd

 

[Llarian]

I guess as long as the reflectors and bulbs are light enough, 3/8" stainless screws would be enough. I've never actually picked up a MH bulb and reflector, so I don't know exactly what I'm dealing with there.

Thanks a lot everybody for the suggestions! I think I have a much better idea as to how to approach this now.

-Dylan

 

[esmith]

Another option would be to nail in a 1x2 inside lengthwise across the center of the canopy lid, and use that for your support to anchor the reflectors.

As far as weight, they're not too much...I'd say no more than 3-5lbs for the reflector, socket and bulb.

HTH,

Eliyah