DIY 55g Canopy,CFL and LED's

jimbo2412

So after a couple weeks of planing and a few days working i have finally completed my 55g canopy with diy cfl lighting and LED moon lights. If people are interrested i will post how i did it but didnt want to spend an hour writing it all out and no one use it
This is going to be my Goldfish winter home.
So here are a few pictures

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bearwithfish

well done ...please do a full write up for members to follow it would be very helpful.. and besides if you are interested you could enter in next months contest!!!!!!!!!

zof

Yes would like to see the what you put in and how, its always helpful for future project to see what others have done and what works and what dosen't

bones14

Nice job.I'd definitely like to see how you did your lighting.

aunt kymmie

As would I. I know write ups are time consuming but I'd love to read it.

jimbo2412

Sounds good I will try and get it up this weekend or this up coming week.
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aunt kymmie

That sounds great. While I have zero skills as far as doing any DIY project the B/F sure does. With a convenient "here ya go" directions I can talk him into it. Looking forward to your write up.

JohnnyD44

I've trying to find a 55G canopy build, I'd love to see your sketch or directions you used or created!

jimbo2412

Ok so sorry for the long wait i started college this week and its been a little hectic. So as promised i will show and explain how i made my canopy and lighting. I did not take pictures while building it so i will try my best to explain. If you have any questions just ask.

I wanted a pretty tall canopy to fit the stuff i wanted in there but you can change the height of it by getting narrow pieces.

You can go to lowes/homedepot and get Pre-Plained White wood boards. I went with 13" for the front and sides and 6" for the back. Depending on the size of the aquarium depends on the length you need i ended up getting 8' i think. For the top i did 8" and 6". The 8" piece would be the one that was hinged.I had pre-measured everything and had lowes cut it all for me.

1 by belobraydickid, on Flickr

2 by belobraydickid, on Flickr


So what you need to measure is the length and width of the aquarium with the molding that is on top. you will then take the thickens of the wood you are using( i was using 3/4" wood) multiple that by 2 (Mine was 1.2" ) then add that to the length of your aquarium.(mine came out to be 51").
Here are the dimensions i used for the canopy.


15 by belobraydickid, on Flickr

To secure the pieces together i used some corner braces.


11 by belobraydickid, on Flickr



15 by belobraydickid, on Flickr

and the hinges for the top.( i used to and it seems to be very strong.)


3 by belobraydickid, on Flickr

then for the supports to hold it on the tank you need to measure the height of th molding on the tank and measure up from the bottom of the canopy and screw some 1x2 pieces of wood( i had to use 2 pieces of each side)

12 by belobraydickid, on Flickr

Then for the CFL's i bought some cheap light sockets and screwed them to the top. Below is the way i wired them.(i know its probebly not the saffest way to do it but it works.) so i installed four 26w cfl's.

10 by belobraydickid, on Flickr

13 by belobraydickid, on Flickr

Untitled by belobraydickid, on Flickr

And the Led moon lights( im going to make another strip and ill take pictures during to show how)

4 by belobraydickid, on Flickr


6 by belobraydickid, on Flickr

kitten_penang

0.0 great handy work =)