Building A Hood - Ideas Please

[Realtree]

I am doing a major makeover on a 54" x 24" x 18" tank
It needs a hood / lid but to be honest scratching my head on how to go about it.
Due to size of tank need it to have feeding and maintenance access as well as obviously completly removable if need be.
I am planning to put blue led strip down its centre to create moonlight appearance but the daylight tube will be housed on back wall of tank so doesn't need to be on the lid.
Any advice or ideas greatly appreciated.

 

[Aaron89]

pop to your local maidenhead aquatics and look or ask for the Seashell aquariams, there lid consists of 3 sides and an open back this way the lid can easily slide off for maintainance and it also has a lid.

however they charge hell of a lot for such a bad build of lid, so just steal they design, i am going to build my lid in their way or even better and will be cheaper

 

[Realtree]

pop to your local maidenhead aquatics and look or ask for the Seashell aquariams, there lid consists of 3 sides and an open back this way the lid can easily slide off for maintainance and it also has a lid.

however they charge hell of a lot for such a bad build of lid, so just steal they design, i am going to build my lid in their way or even better and will be cheaper

Will do
thanx for reply

 

[dgwebster]

I used the guide on the pinned topics diy section to make a hood for my 4'. Had to modify the top cross bar to a T bar because otherwise the cat sitting on it was simply bending it but the missus loves how it looks, enough for me to be let loose on a home made stand.

 

[OldMan47]

I used a router extensively when building my own hood. By having a rabbet on the top, I was able to leave a lip all the way around the bottom of my hood that could sit on the top frame of the tank. I also built the hood with a hinged section that had a rabbeted groove that interlocked to keep from having light shining out through cracks in loose fitting hinged portions.
The interlocking lid pattern to prevent light leakage is visible here.

The bottom rabbet is visible here.

The white primer on the inside helps reflect light back into the tank.

 

[Mikaila31]

I make simple hoods. Following a design that came with a retrofit kit. 5 pieces of wood. There are gaps left in the top piece to allow heat to escape, a reflector is necessary with it which can be made out of aluminum sheet. Mine sit flat on the top of the tank. Similar to a strip light. I spray paint them black usually.