Building a Wooden Hood for new lights on the Beta Reef
Project 12/04/99 - 12/20/99
Status - Completed
Using plans from Aquarium Hobbyist
Supply I am slowly starting to make the new hood for the Beta Reef.
Chronology
Things moving along, framed, and topped. Cut it in half to make
it hinged. Hope this all fits!!! Now, all I want for Christmas is
a belt sander. My arms are killing me. When you are as bad a carpenter
as I, you pay for it in sanding!!! Measure 10 times, cut once. Maybe
that would have been a better idea. Measure twice? Who are they kidding.
Went to Home Depot today and got the wood (twice). I didn't like
the look of the first rectangle I made (too small) so I grabbed two
more 1x4s and tried again. This worked out much better. I have a lot
of sanding ahead of me though, I wan't it to look perfect!
Spending Summary (Excluding Errors in Craftsmenship)
I am well stocked with tools and such, and they will not be included.
$13 - Three high grade 6 foot 1"x4" pieces of pine
$07 - One high grade 6 foot 1" x 6" piece of pine
$01 - One high grade 6 foot 1" x 2" piece of pine
$10 - Guess on cost of glue, stain, and sundries like nails, screws,
etc.
$250 - AH Supply retro-kit for 4x55 Watt PC bulbs. Man they made
this easy!
I'd like to note that I have seen similar pre-built setups costing
well over $500 that will produce the exact same lighting as what I
just finished. And hey, mine kinda matches my oak stand!
Step one, make rectangle, in this case,
4 feet long (length of the tank), using the 1x4 planks.
The side peices are 9 inches by the way.
Well, Step One was about as far as I followed the AHSupply plans.
Then I started thinking of neat ideas. This will probably be my undoing.
Perhaps I should have purchased the lights and dry fitted before making
this decision. But, nobody says I'm that organized, so why surprise
them!
Why do I say that? Well, I decided to cut the thing down the middle,
and hinge it.
You know, so when I feed the fish, I don't have to lift up the entire
monster!
So, here is the front half!
And now, the back, with drilled exhaust holes for heat to escape. Hope
it will be enough
You know, the more I think about it, those holes will probably not be
sufficient.
Well, everything arrived! Here's how it looked when I got started.
All together (I'll be taking it back apart for finishing and sanding
and such).
Here it is on the tank, playing real havoc with the light senser in
the camera. This baby is BRIGHT!, just so you know, in this same room,
two Halogen torch lights are ON and close to the tank. I think the tank
is brighter....
Conclusion
If it were not for things like the marine reefs newsgroup, and other
online resources, I would not have thought about this project as a DIY.
If it were not for AH supply, I would not have tried it. I am happy
to say I am pleased with the results! I am already planning how to redesign
my hood to support fans, and perhaps a central MH bulb to make the SPS
corals I want to get happy. Perhaps another time, another project.
PS. Since added (almost immediatly) the toadstools are EXPLODING
OUT!
PPS. After some time (about a week) of dealing with the new hood,
I can only say that I am SO HAPPY I hinged it. Its easy enough to
drop some flake food in the wake of the Whisper filter in the back
for most of the guys, but the two biggies demand feeding up front.
The hinge makes it very easy to fold the whole hood over, and drop
the chunks where the big guys like it, UP FRONT!
