Upgrade Halide/Canopy Build

nice work !
I like the idea with the doors. My old canopy opened from the top lid, which made things difficult. I just built one a week or so again that looks almost identical to yours. Doors on the front face makes it real nice to access DT and lights.
I mounted my reflectors about 3/4" from the top lid to provide a little breathing room, not sure if it was necessary or not but i was concerned a little at the time of the build about too much heat on the wood.

Yours looks real good, nice job

 

Fix A/C ? Wow your lucky, we are still a little chilly over here. Not to bad during the day but still cold at night

 

Hahahaha...Still not that warm yet, but the condenser fan motor died. I found one on E-Bay for 59.00. I just wanted to get it done before it got hot. I am working on the canopy right now. I will update new pics this evening.

 

Update, New Pics

Ok, it is starting to take shape. I removed the clamps this morning and put on the top (Birch hardwood plywood).





I started working on all of the support blocking that will actually sit on the rim of the tank. I extended the rear of the top to give me a little more room for all the lighting.









Next I will start making the doors from scratch.

 

lookin nice!!! going to be real custom

 

Door Build Pics

I measured the openings and decided on the size of the doors. I did not want a pillar in the middle of the door hole, so I could easily get my arm into the canopy. So there will be 2 doors on each hole. One door will have a false center. (The kind of doors that you have to open 1 before the other). I slotted all the frame boards with the table saw. I then routered both edges and cut 45's to the right size. The thin plywood facing fit into the slots nicely.





Here is a dry run fit on the doors. I am exremely happy with the way they turned out!!!







I am showing one side with the false center in and one with it out.


Glue and clamp them up, and let em sit overnight.

 

your busy Robman

its looking good so far

Steve

 

Finishing up.

I flipped the canopy upside down and ran caulk into all the corners. I do not want any light coming through any cracks in the joints. I think that looks bad. I have seen that on other ones. I will still have to figure out how to seal or block the light around the doors.






Applied 3 heavy coats of Kilz 2 and I am exhausted. It is hell getting old!!
Tommorow I will start sanding and staining. I would like to get at least the first of 6 coats of polyurethane on by the end of tommorow. I will add another coat each night. Hopefully this thing will be operational next weekend. Thanks for checking it out!!

 

good job so far, and man thats alot of light! you can probly go sps corals buried under the sand..

 

That's the idea...no limits!!!