# To Canopy or Not to Canopy...



## kjhydock (Apr 28, 2009)

I've been tossing this idea up for quite some time, looking at other people's canopy builds and considering my own skills and desires for my setup and really can't make up my mind between aesthetically pleasing and functionality. So maybe some other enthusiast's opinions will help, since I really don't have any local friends in the hobby to bounce ideas off.

Here's a few pics of the tank that I have on photobucket. They're a little dated, but I can't figure out how to take pics of the tank with my wife's camera and not having them come out looking like junk.

Most recent pic, before I put my 55g stock into the tank. Just a few juvie yellow labs about.









Bigger and less crappy picture before the doors were made. Note the canisters are no longer hooked up since the tank is no longer cycling.









Now to the self debating. The tank is in an addition to my house, so the floor is approx 1' lower than the living room adjacent to it, so having no canopy is nice since you can see straight down. It's a cool vantage. The downside to that is I have a very curious cat whom I fear will eventually take a dip. I fear for the safety of my fish and the styrofoam rocks silliconed to the tank and the water chemistry should the cat go swimming.

Other than the cool vantage point, I don't see too many advantages to not having a canopy. I can't really obtain the lighting I want with the shoplight hanging 3-4' above the tank and if I spend money getting a nice set of hanging lights to get the desired effect ($50-$150), I might as well do the canopy which I already have most of the materials for.

The only other thing I can think of for not having the canopy is for when I go on deployments. My wife isn't the best fish keeper in the world, so I have one of those automatic fish feeders in addition to her sporadic feeding so they don't starve on me. It's the clip-on one from Wal-Mart. Not sure how I could incorporate that with a canopy?

So a few questions. How far above the water should the lights be?

Since this tank originally did NOT have a canopy or anything on top of it, would the canopy's weight add too much undo stress? I've had to reseal one of the joints which was already in bad shape, none of the others looked bad at all.

In order to reduce evaporation rates, does the canopy have to be entirely sealed (I was contemplating not having a rear wall on it for the automatic fish feeder and for running wires for lights & pumps.)

Thanks in advance for any comments. The tank is 80g with a 29g sump.


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## MalawiLover (Sep 12, 2006)

To remove the possible cat issue, you could add glass tops. You would still be able to see down, but the cat can't go for a dip.

When I had canopies, I also always used glass tops. It protected the light from water (fish splash, hmudity, etc) and with one close and one open, you could stand the fish feeder on the top as opposed to clipping it on.

Covering the tank will also cut down on evaporation.

Adding a canpoy and having the light in it will ake the tank a bit brighter and more of the focal point, rather tah the light fixture.


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## kjhydock (Apr 28, 2009)

I've considered the glass tops, but my tank has no molding of any type at the top and I am unsure how I would get them to set on the tank correctly. Also from all accounts my tank is a nonstandard size and quite old. The secure fitting of the glass tops is why I'm not really considering them to solve the cat problem. I don't think I have the skills to make something where they will sit in and not slide off should the cat get brave. The solution I've considered is to get rid of the cat...The wife would likely rather get rid of me though.

I would like to put glass tops on it as well as the canopy though. That would add piece of mind with a barrier separating the lights and the water. I'll look more into this.


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## MalawiLover (Sep 12, 2006)

With out glass tops I would be rather hesitant to enclose the top of the tank with the lights inside. There are some light fixtures that are quite water and moisture resistant, but can be quite expensive.


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

I highly recommend a canopy but with a word of caution thrown in as well. I have been around canopies that can be a real pain in the neck. One that opens at the top only can be a strech to reach over for any work. One opening only the front can be awkward as you have to reach in and then down. Sometimes the arm doesn't fold the right way. Depending on the cat, glass might or might not be enough. I would trust the wood much more. I copied and modified some plans I picked up here on this forum that have the front panel fixed solid to a front portion of the top. The top is divided 2/3 way back so that the front as well as a large part of the top are lifted out of the way. A prop to hold it is nice. Piano hinge serves quite well for the hinge. Depending on wood skills this can be made with pretty much stock lumber with the edges cut at 45 degrees to fit nice together or pretty cheap plastic type corner molding can be used to cover the raw ends if they only overlap. I do recommend using yellow carpenter glue like Elmers to keep any joints solid. Buy clamps and glue it all together if nailing is not your talent. If you go with a canopy, consider whether it is wise to make it solid across the back to save evaporation. Being in Virginia, the heat buildup inside a canopy may overheat the tank. I left mine open as much as possible. Makes working in them easier also. Good luck. There's lot of info on here and lots more suggestions any time you shout out.


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## kjhydock (Apr 28, 2009)

I figured out the glass tops and for relatively cheap. Since my tank is non-standard and didn't come with frames in the first place, no where supplied anything to fit it. So I dipped into Lowes on my way home from work and saw the molding pieces for suspended ceilings. I bought a single 4' piece to bring home to see if it would work and it looks like it will. It's sort of Z shaped, so it doesn't wrap all the way around the glass like stock molding would, but due to the design they should hold the weight just fine.

Right now the only snag I'm having is trying to decide how I'm going to make the center brace. I know it's not necessary since the tank is fine without it, but I don't want a hinged 19"x50" piece of glass as the top. I'm looking into this now.


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

Not sure as I have never looked but I believe there will be several pieces here on this forum addressing replacing the center brace. Might save some head scratching on your part. :wink:


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## kjhydock (Apr 28, 2009)

It's not so much replacing the center brace, but creating one (two in my case) all together. They're not for support so much as just making dividers so I don't have ONE big glass top. Basically I'm just going to silicone one or two dividers in on top of the framing I just made and installed. Then put framing on the dividers if I can manage to get the glass the right height (should be fine if I can find 3/8" glass cut to size). It should help stabilize the ghetto framing if nothing else.

Anyways, on to the canopy...I broke down my 55g a few days ago and put the lights from that on the 80g just to mess with the lighting and I've decided that I do want to make a canopy just for the better lighting. Now I've noticed my 48" shoplight with the aquarium bulbs from Lowes looks horrible compared to the 24" shop light with the same brand bulb. Do 48" strips just naturally look worse? It's more of a yellow/orange light when the 24" is a blue/white light. I'm not sure if the bulbs need more juice to produce the same light in the 48" or if it's just not capable.

Other than that, I think I'll begin the canopy on Wednesday. The only wood I'll need to go buy is some bracing since 2x4s would be a wee bit overkill. If anyone offhandedly knows a good canopy buildup thread, please link it. I've been searching, but I haven't found one that details the canopy in particular.


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## kjhydock (Apr 28, 2009)

I have the framing and center dividers attached to the tank now. The last bit I need to do is cut the plastic for the framing to go along the sides of the center dividers.

As I mentioned earlier, I used this piece of ceiling grid to make my frame:
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=p ... lpage=none
I put a bead of silicone in down the middle of it and clamped it to the glass with the longer side on top. That worked out perfectly as I have 1/2" thick glass on my tank.

For the center dividers, I used 2 pieces of 4"x18.5", .220 plexiglass from Lowes. I needed 5/8" to perfectly fill the gap, so a little sanding was needed to get the plexi to fit just right. It's not super rigid like equally thick glass would be, but it will serve it's purpose.

Now to the question of the glass for the glass tops. As you can tell, most of this has came from Lowes and I'd like to continue along without waiting on the mail. Is the standard 1/4" non-tempered glass available at Lowes good enough for this? I just plan on using the cheap "bead of silicone" trick to use as a hinge. If that doesn't work I'll just buy the hinges from glasscages.com. I really don't want to order glass though. My main concern is the rough edges on the glass freshly cut from Lowes. Any suggestions and comments on this will be greatly welcome as I plan to finish this part of the project this evening.


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

The silicone bead "trick" works. It will hold up better if you keep it low and wide, about 1/8" tall and 1/2 to 3/4" wide. Make the bead on a whole piece of glass where you want the hinge. Let it dry a couple days, flip it over, score and snap. If you have to butt two pieces, you may have to razor blade out any silicone that seeps between them and that can always start a tear in the top where you don't want one.

Quarter inch glass should be fine for a top. It's a little thicker than some commercial tops. If you can wait, fresh glass is sharper than glass that has been sitting even just a day or two after cutting. I'm surprized Lowe's doesn't buff off the sharpness. For liability reasons most glass sellers won't sell seamed glass. They want to buff or grind it. If you sand this yourself, do it with the glass submerged in water and use a foam block sander. The dust from glass causes silicosis, a debilitating and eventually fatal disease.


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## gnomemagi (Jun 13, 2009)

As bulbs age, they lose some wattage and sometimes change the color range they project in. I'm gonna guess the 48" bulb is older as it is fading into the yellowish color range. Sometimes they come out of the manufacturer a little off too.


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## kjhydock (Apr 28, 2009)

gnomemagi said:


> As bulbs age, they lose some wattage and sometimes change the color range they project in. I'm gonna guess the 48" bulb is older as it is fading into the yellowish color range. Sometimes they come out of the manufacturer a little off too.


http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=p ... lpage=none
That's the bulb I have a complaint about. I'm thinking the 3100K is the problem. They were also fresh out of the packaging with the dull yellow color. I tried 6500K "daylight" bulbs which were slightly better, but still didn't have the blue coloring of the other bulbs. 
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=p ... lpage=none
These bulbs (I have 3) are all fantastic and they're 10,000K. I just haven't been able to find a 48" 10,000K bulb locally in my price range. Even then, I'm not sure if my cheap-o shoplight will be able to handle it.

For that reason I'm looking back to LED lighting potential. I'd have to buy 2 more fixtures at about $15-$20 plus 4 bulbs ($32) to get the lighting I want for florescents or I could spend about $30 on the LED lighting setup I've devised. In theory the LED lighting I've planned should work as well, consume less energy and have a much lower profile.

As for the silicone hinge, I read a neat way to do it. Put a thick bead down over the joint with painters tape about 1/2" to either side and smudge the bead down with your middle and index finger. Afterwards peel up the tape and it'll be a clean look.


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

In a canopy, I just put in several "closet" light fixtures and put in twisty bulbs. That way I can change the brightness (wattage) and color range or mix them. I also like the closer to point light source from the twisty bulbs.


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## kjhydock (Apr 28, 2009)

I went ahead and ordered 12 high power LEDs (9 "super white", 3 blue) and a waterproof 12VDC power supply from superbrightleds.com . For $20 including shipping, why not just see what I can make from it? Also, shopping for hobbies is about the most time consuming thing I can do at work right now.

One thing that has always really turned me off about canopies is how tall they are and how goofy (at least to me) they make the tank look. If I can pull off a nice LED setup, I can make the canopy reasonably shorter and just make the entire top of it hinge open for maintenance.

The "closet" fixtures won't really help with the power, cost, or space concerns. I already have enough crazy power consuming light fixtures in the house, trying to cut down on that. The ease of the mix and match does sound nice though.

I'll probably get my toys in on Monday or Tuesday, so hopefully I can have a picture of them up soon after.


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

The twisty bulbs do help with power consumption, as or more efficient than flourescent tube lights and while not cheap are less than some options you mention. Also they are much less in the way than the tube bulbs, and they attach to the ends and back so the entire front and top can open. Plastic closet fixtures are inexpensive. I put them on surface mounted plastic work boxes so that the bulbs are closer to centered over the tanks.

LED's may be the wave of the future, but for now they don't produce enough bang for the buck, and are more for night lighting than full illumination. Great for that though.


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## impeza (Oct 25, 2009)

I have built the canopies in the past and they are great...they IMO make the tank look complete and less messy. I cant remember the light i used on my tank but i believe it was a T5 HO light by GLO and it is only 4" tall so my canopy was only 5" tall which is a very small canopy and the bulbs on this unit are sealed with o-rings so no danger from all the water evap under the canopy...I even installed a few small computer fans on the back of the canopy to keep the inside of the canopy cooler when the light was on. IMO canopy is the way to go completes the tank i think. but to each his own!!


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