Diy Stand Work, Diy canopy build.

[daniel89]

Hey guys, so recently I have the chance to actually set up my 125g tank again and do it right this time and know what corners to not cut and what not like I did last time.

To start this time I decided to strip off the ugly gloss black paint on the outside of the stand and both inside and outside of the doors. I then Stained the stand since I sanded it down to bare wood. I also applied two good coats of oil based poly to it.

Here to come over the next few weeks I shall be starting the build on the canopy. Not sure what size I wanna build it. But I have a few good ideas on what I wanna do with it. For sure gonna add 8 CFL's in the canopy for the tank lighting so I'm guessing off the top of my head that should be plenty of light to sustain plants.

 

[daniel89]

Just so you guys know those bottom two pictures where the stand is glossy wet looking was after when i put the first coat on. I didn't take pictures of it after i lightly sanded it and applied a 2nd coat. The 2nd coat gave it a much more smoother feel and look.

On the side note here is some pictures of what I got done on the canopy yesterday. As you will noticed I stuck to the theme of the stand and applied it to the canopy. It wasn't completely my idea as i seen pictures of a similar design and decided I would sorta follow it to keep with the theme of my stand so they didn't miss match.

I did the framing with 2" x 2" I think lol. Then after I did that I hit up lowes and picked up some rounded edge pine planks (similar to my doors on the stand) and used those to cover the canopy with. For the back I'm thinking about using a piece of thin wood, sorta like you find on the back of entertainment centers that was if i need to punch a hole into it later on in the future It will be easier than drilling holes. Although I'm not sure how it will hold up to the moisture from the tank. I'm gonna be adding 2 doors to the canopy that swing up so it can get a really wide area to allow for cleaning and reaching into the tank easily without much problems.

For lighting I'm gonna be adding 8 keyless light socks. I will be putting 2 on each end of the canopy then I will be placing 2 at about 1/3 of the tank in and another 2 at the 2/3 of the tank. I will be using CFL's daylight bulbs. Not sure what watt i want but Im gonna be doing 6700k. Anyhows here are the pictures I will quit rambling on .

 

[cali~budfish]

Holy canopy batman! You could throw another tank in that thing lol. I like the stain you put on the pine. Never been a fan of all black paint on stands but usually it's the best option. I think it looks good and you could probably grow a redwood in your tank with all the room for lighting you have. I love the feeling of accomplishment I get after finishing a project like this. Looks like your hard work is paying off. Looks great!

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[daniel89]

Thanks! From the bottom 2" x 2" to the top one it is 14 inches. Plus those cfl's I want is about 4 inches long and the fixtures are another 2 inches so I figure i will loose about 6 inches of room in certain parts from those so I wanted to compensate for that. Lets be honest here do you wanna get burnt from a cfl while trying to clean your tank ? I don't lol.

Anyone got any ideas of the type of paint I should use for the inside of the hood. I know I want some kind of white paint. Gloss? Flat? Satin? Interring ? Exterior?

 

[daniel89]

So I made my doors! Check them out .

 

[yogurt_21]

nice work it looks great, love that you went with a stain over paint, brings back the wood grain and more natural look.

unrelated question, who puts a slider right next to a standard door? Worse, who makes said door swing into the slider?

 

[cali~budfish]

Looks good! Now stain that baby up.


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[Pharaoh]

Great job. Looks good.

 

[daniel89]

thanks guys, I'm hoping to get the lights and stuff wired tonight. Once I get them wired I will be painting the inside of it and using some kind of filler to fill in the cracks so light doesn't leak thru the cracks.

 

[daniel89]

nice work it looks great, love that you went with a stain over paint, brings back the wood grain and more natural look.

unrelated question, who puts a slider right next to a standard door? Worse, who makes said door swing into the slider?

And that would be my girlfriends parents lol. The slider was added to access as a window for more light into the livingroom. But since I moved in we decided to block off that door and were gonna put a curtain over it to make it look like a window from the inside and begin using the slider since a slider doesnt take up any room with a swinging door unlike the regular door lol