DIY Canopy
- Thread starter Jay
- Start date
I built my own canopy; it's really a snap.
How tall you go really depends on the lighting you put in there. I did T5s and my canopy is 8" in total, I believe. It's a little taller than I wanted, but I haven't got a table-saw to rip long pieces.
I would recommend building a hinge into the front half of the canopy so that you can feed/mess with stuff without taking the whole thing off. If you want to see pics of mine (a quick job with sh**y tools that turned out alright), I can try to take some.
edit: *d out my vulgarity
How tall you go really depends on the lighting you put in there. I did T5s and my canopy is 8" in total, I believe. It's a little taller than I wanted, but I haven't got a table-saw to rip long pieces.
I would recommend building a hinge into the front half of the canopy so that you can feed/mess with stuff without taking the whole thing off. If you want to see pics of mine (a quick job with sh**y tools that turned out alright), I can try to take some.
edit: *d out my vulgarity
2 pennies
i just framed up the dimensions i wanted to fit the top of my aquarium with 2x2 's made sure they were square(with a tool). then used a nail gun to cover it in whatever wood you prefer. as mentioned earlier i wanted to be able to open the front 4 inches because my lights are mounted to the top of the canopy. to do this ...again making sure its square... i screwed a 1x2 as a guide for my handheld circular saw cut it applied hinges and it worked than sanded painted/stained and clear coated
2x2 's are a little overboard, but my canopy is 12 inches high with 3 250w radiums and 3 5 ft t5
you can probably use 1x2's to frame the whole thing.
dont know if it helps at all but its what i did and beyond owning the tools i think it cost me under 50 dollars anda couple hours work
i just framed up the dimensions i wanted to fit the top of my aquarium with 2x2 's made sure they were square(with a tool). then used a nail gun to cover it in whatever wood you prefer. as mentioned earlier i wanted to be able to open the front 4 inches because my lights are mounted to the top of the canopy. to do this ...again making sure its square... i screwed a 1x2 as a guide for my handheld circular saw cut it applied hinges and it worked than sanded painted/stained and clear coated
2x2 's are a little overboard, but my canopy is 12 inches high with 3 250w radiums and 3 5 ft t5
you can probably use 1x2's to frame the whole thing.
dont know if it helps at all but its what i did and beyond owning the tools i think it cost me under 50 dollars anda couple hours work
