Canopy Done!

[TimBob]

Finished up my canopy for my 75 gallon. I have a couple little "tweaks" to take care of on the doors to block some of the leaking light, but other than that it's golden.

This is with the VHOs only. I still need to get a good pic of the MH but they are on for such a short period of time I couldn't do anything but stare.
http://timbob.com/Aquarium/Canopy%20Construction/images/Canopy%20Complete%20001.jpg

More pictures here (http://timbob.com/Aquarium/canopy_build.htm)

Now, as you can tell in the picture the stand looks pretty lame now, so that is going to be my next project. But I am going to hold off for a while, I want to include a tank upgrade to a 90 gallon acrylic and use the 75 for a sump.

[chadscamaro]

Looks real nice !

[Letmegrow]

You can put Oceanic, Allglass, and perfect out of buisiness !
Super nice.

[Arsenal11]

I agree canopy looks much nicer than the stand!

[TimBob]

I don't think I will put any of those guys out of business. What is the going rate for their canopies these days? I was quoted about $300 for the standard canopy and that wouldn't fit the metal halides.

The stand is a Perfecto (I didn't know any better) and it really looks bad now. It serves it's purpose though.

So, which store in town is going to have the best price for a 90 gallon acrylic? If I am doing a stand swap I'm doing a tank move instead, it will be easier IMO. I have a much better place for the tank, might even be able to plumb into the basement for the sump from here.

[Letmegrow]

If I remember it's like $89-$120 for a 75g canopy.

[reefs4ever2]

wow thats nice build me one for my 75 too haha :)

[geppert]

Looks great! You did a real nice job.
How much did it end up costing you?
You might want to add a couple of fans to keep the water temp down. I use 4" fans that come on the same time the mh comes on.
Cheper than a chiller.

[Im Lon 2]

Canopy looks good.
I'm in the process of building 2 stand's an canopy's. The place I get the doors are out of stock for the bigger stand? :( I was hoping to have both of them done this weekend.

[Im Lon 2]

One more thing what size VHO's do you have 48" or 46.5"?

[scbadiver]

Looks great! How 'bout coming over and finishing mine?

[TimBob]

Thanks for all the compliments guys. This was the largest and most involved woodworking project I have ever undertaken and I was a little nervous going into it. Apparently I did pay attention in Junior High Shop class though as it looks good and definately passed the wife test. Her reaction to seeing it near completion were "it looks better than I even imagined it would."

Im Lon2 -> I went with 48" VHOs just because they seemed to be easier to find than the 46.5" I made the inside of the canopy 49" wide so the VHO endcaps fit with about 1/4" of extra space on each side.

I looked at a site that made custom cabinet doors and thought about going that route for my doors. I may still end up swapping my doors for them, depends on how well my doors hold up. I am a little worried about them since they are just 1/4" ply with trim glued around the edges.

geppert -> Total cost was about about the same as buying a nice sleek MH fixture from MS. I just didn't want a big light hanging in my kitchen.

I have 2 - 3" fans I am going to try first just because I had them laying around. I'll probably add them tonight because last night the temperature went up 1.5 degrees while the MH lights were on for 2 hours. Tonight will probably be worse since I am going for 2.5 hours.

reefs4ever2 -> Sure, I will build you one. Hood without any lights installed for $600, with lights for $1100. I don't think I will be making enough at those prices to put Oceanic or All Glass out of business though.

[reefs4ever2]

wow it looks great but it doesnt look like it cost that much but then again what do i know about wood ..... absolutely nothing lol hahaha

[TimBob]

reefs4ever2 -> Well it didn't cost $600 to make it, but that is what I would charge. It was about a week and a half of working every day for at least 4 hours in the evenings and 10 - 14 hours on he weekends. I have to get something for my labor, and the way my back feels I would have to start paying DrBDC if I was making many of these things. Although, the fact that I was doing this with a boot on my ankle (broken ankle) might have contributed to some of the discomfort.

[Letmegrow]

Make sure you get your money up front.

[TimBob]

I would definately want at least 50% up front (until I worked out distribution agreements with all the LFS in town) but I don't think it will be happenning. I'm not a cabinetmaker, I am a programmer. Besides, my wife was anxious to get her car back in the garage, I wouldn't want to tell her to park outside again.

So, the price is a little high on purpose to keep you guys from all saying you want me to build you one. Maybe I will build another and call it "Limited Edition Rare" and charge 3X the price, that's the reefkeeper business model right? :)