My New Canopy and MH Retro !

[Curtis1]

Well Matt, here it is, 2-days and a case of Bud Light later. I'm still not finished yet. I screwed up the order somehow, and only rec'd 1 pr of the VHO sockets.They should be in Wed. That'll give me three days to paint it. I'm gonna caulk & polyurethane the exposed inside wood, most of it is aluminum flashing,,, Lowe's only had white 2-part epoxy in gals. The outside is going to be flat black w/ a blueish green sponge/faux finish with the fleurdelise finger touched in gold. It is made in 3 pcs. The main canopy, the retro, and an optional cover to keep our dumb@#$ cat from drowning !!! I can take off the cover and retro while still leaving the main hood. I go nuts at Lowe's, I dropped around $158.00 for the canopy materials + a timer and 3 ext. cords. For the whole project I have right at $400 still, but IMHO, it'll look alot better than a plane jane boxy lookin' Hamilton sittin' up there. I decided not to put any doors or hinges on it. I can only imagine what one of those 4' long piano hinges would look like after a year or two. You can remove the top cover, leave the lights in place and still reach in to feed or test. I figure that if I have to do any extensive work, I'll just take the whole top off, it only weigh's about 25-30lbs., all three pcs. I'm gonna paint the stand to match. Here's a few pics. Let me know what you think, later, Curt http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/582/67102mini-Reeftank_116.jpghttp://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/582/67102mini-Reeftank_117.jpg http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/582/67102mini-Reeftank_118.jpg http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/582/67102mini-Reeftank_119.jpg http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/582/67102mini-Reeftank_120.jpg http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/582/67102mini-Reeftank_121.jpg http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/582/67102mini-Reeftank_122.jpg The last pic is a before shot, when I get it all painted, I'll post the final pics. :D

[MattG]

looks very nice! you are a much better carpenter then myself :D

are you planning on putting in fans in there?

looking foward to seeing the finished product!

[Curtis1]

Yeah, I kind'a designed the whole thing around ventilation. Where it rests on top of the tank, there are spaces at each end at the bottom, not visible from the sides. The top and back are a hard plastic peg board. I have extra material to mount the usual fans that everybody uses, but I'm gonna go to Wally World and see what kind of little personal fans that they have first. I have a bit of room in there. Do you think that the heat will melt the rubber grommets that I put in the reflector where the MH wires exit ????

[LowCel]

One word..........D@MN!!!!!!!!!

That looks great, I can't wait to see the tank and stand. I can't wait to see it all finished.

[Curtis1]

I had intended on just painting the existing stand, but now am considering building a whole new one !!!

[LowCel]

If you decide to build one think about building it a little taller. My stand is about 42" tall and it works out perfect for viewing the tank at eye level. If you do decide to build your own stand go to www.garf.org and it will tell you exactly how to do it and with what size boards. Using that site you are able to do the stand without a center brace so it is much easier to fit a large sump under the tank.

[Curtis1]

I'm with you Lowcel ! Those were the main two reasons I wanted to build a new one. I want to have plenty of room underneath for a 24" Euro-reef and a huge sump/fuge and auto top-off if there's enough room left a calc reactor.

[LowCel]

Just checked, my stand is 36" tall. My EuroReef is 24" tall and I am using a 29 gallon sump/refugium.

Here is how everything looks under the tank, there is plenty of room. As for the Calcium reactor if I had pushed the sump all the way over to one side or the other then I would have had room to fit my CA reactor in the cabinet. Unfortunately I centered my sump though so I don't have room for it.

I doubt you would have room to put both the top off container and a CA reactor though.

http://gallery.consumerreview.com/webcrossing/images/sump82104.jpg

[Curtis1]

You guys been sandbaggin' on me ??? Why didn't someone tell me about the GARF site sooner, thanks, Lowcel !

[Curtis1]

Lowcel, is the 29gal cheaper to alter than using acrylic ??? Are your baffle panels glass w/silicone ??? I was kinda wanting to try to duplicate the ECO-System deal. May I pick your brain ??? Thanks, Curt.

[MattG]

haha i built my stand just using my brain. since i had no idea what i was doing and am far from being an engineer i just used a bunch of 4 by 4 uprights. Using the garf site would have resulted in a cheaper/cleaner setup that was probably just as strong :D

[LowCel]

Here is a picture of the sump with all of the measurements written on it. I did this just in case someone had questions.
http://gallery.consumerreview.com/webcrossing/images/000_1409.jpg

The skimmer area is 8.5".

The fuge area is 11.5".

The return area is 6.5".

The baffles are 1/4" glass and they are 13" tall each. The elevated baffle is 2" off the bottom of the tank. I used All-Glass aquarium silcone to put it all together.

The baffles are 1.5" apart from each other.

I have the EuroReef ES5-3 skimmer and I have plenty of room for it.

In my sump I have less than $25. It took me around an hour to build. It was so cheap mainly because I got the tank for free from a friend. You should be able to find a 29 gallon for next to nothing in your local ad bulletin.

If you have any more questions feel free to ask.

BTW....garf is full of very valuable information.