DIY Canopy Design Questions - clearance

[nodima]

I have never had a canopy on any of my tanks, and will be acquiring a second 150 in the next week or so. This one needs a stand, and as I in the planning portion of a basement renovation which includes 22 linear feet of built in cabinets and shelves along a basement wall, and want to include the tank in this project.

I have posted this at a couple other forums, but have not received a lot of feedback, and have lurked here for a while and know there is a significant DIY element here.

For those who have a canopy on their tanks, how much clearance is necessary when the front piece is folded up for tank access? I have tried to figure this out based on my existing tanks and *think* 10" vertically, and about half the tank's depth (F2B). Does this seem reasonable, or should I go larger?

Is there any advantage to having the top hinge upwards, vs side to side, like cabinet doors might?

If you have made one--and had to redo one, what changes would you make in design, and why?

Thanks

Nodima

 

[Pharaoh]

As far as the hinging, it would be all personal preference. If you do it side-to-side, you would have to worry about locking hinges.

I would think 10" would be plenty of room. My one canopy doesn't have near that amount of height.

 

[cvermeulen]

I like having a canopy hinged in the center of the top piece so a corner section folds up and rests on the back half. I can't imagine having the top hinge sideways would be a nice solution. Nice fancy ones have both a swinging door on the front for feeding and also the whole front section folding up for tank cleanings and so on.

 

[paulW]

For those who have a canopy on their tanks, how much clearance is necessary when the front piece is folded up for tank access? I

I have been thinking about this too.
I am probably going to make my canopy around 16 inches high, and have front cabinet style doors. This should make the main tasks (feeding and scooping out dead fish) realitively easy.

My tank is drilled, so I do water changes by using a ball valve. If you are planning on using a syphon to do your regular water changes, you need to design the canopy so that it's not a pain in the rear. The more inconvienent water changes are, the less often they happen.

My tank is a Malawi community. If you plan on doing a lot of breeding (or another task involving frequently moving fish in and out), a canopy might be more trouble than it's worth.

Also, make the canopy as light as possible. There's probably going be times where despite all planning, you are going to have to lift it off.
This is not something you want to overengineer

I guess most of this post is common sense. I hope it is not taken as insulting