DIY Tank Hood

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This is tank hood that started life as a tank stand. It is a cheapie made of particle board. It was one of my give aways that I could not give away. I started to pile stuff on it to make a big donation to Goodwill until I got a hair-brained idea at 3:00am one night. I grabbed a tape measure and sized up the parts. I had enough in that stand to put together a hood for my spare 30g. Step one was to take the stand apart and decide which parts were in the best shape.

 

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I re-used the fasteners from the tank stand. This was a 3:00am project after all. BTW, in areas with noise ordinances, the cops really will sit outside your house to see if you are going to fire up the saw again. Just kidding, my saw is pretty quiet. (Quiet enough that I did all of my cutting in the house.) This first pic is a close up of the fasteners, and the other is the completed front lid.

 

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This is the back section. I added extra corner braces because of the larger size and because it is what will be holding the lights…and where things will be set on.

 

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And here are both parts assembled.

 

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For the reflector and because it is particle board, I used foil with spray adhesive. It made a mess of everything that was not covered with paper. The foil effectively became a large piece of silver tape. Scraps cut off were used in other places and to fill gaps. I also used the scraps to reinforce corners and other vulnerable areas.

 

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The wiring for the lights had to be taken apart. They came with in line switches that I did not want to use.

 

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The lights are wired in parallel. This is a must. If they are wired in series, then they will only receive half the power that is supplied.

 

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And here are the lights installed. The hood only needs a set of hinges and plexi barrier to be complete.

 

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Here is the finished hood. Until I completed the plexi barrier I could only use this as a terrarium.

 

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Here are pics of the plexi barrier. I didn’t think about taking pics during the making so we all will have to be content with the finished product. Besides it is not like I can cut and drill while holding a camera. The opening cover is made from scrap that was glued together.