Hi' there,
I got a 4ft long tank that i made the stand and the lid for , what i did was measure out the require length by popping a piece of wood i had left over from an old cabinet, measured it so that its was spot on size wise.
i then cut the wood to the required size and used what was left to make the sides of the lid . once i had the wood cut i made some blocks of wood that would go futher down than the lid so it would sit onto the slats i have going accross the tank and at the ends. i then attached the sides , mixtures of tacks and glue.
this gave me the general lid,however now for the lights , i got the t5 tubes and places them into the newly made hood and fit them going accross the wooden blocks i had made, i screwed in some hooks (like the ones used for hanging calanders of etc) i attached the light fittings into here so i could attach the lights.
on the inside of the lid i taped it all with silver electrical tape to act as a reflecter.
on the top of the tank at one side i got a funnell and drew a circle round where i wanted it to go and cut a hole so the funnell would go in. The reason i used a funnell was to save me having to lift the lid, i pop the food through there.
once the funnell was fited i made a hatch so there wasnt a open hole all the time.
I got some acrylic sheets and ct them the size of the tank lid, i fitted the lights in and cut holes for the cables for the lights yo go through the hood and screwed the acrylic into the hood. this acts as a condensation tray and stops the lights getting wet.
once the lid was lined up i made the holes for the two filters and the heaters to go through and painted the lid the black to go with the rims of the tank.
i'll get some pics wont be long
opening for food:
excuse the mess on the funnell
this is the filter opening at one side of the tank:
lights as well as the funnell , the lights as described is held in with the clips that come with the lights but the clips are held in by hucks meant for hanging things on.
the below is the image of the lid on tank
Please note that the lid was my first one so not the best of quality , the tank looks really good once the ligths are on , i just turned them of for taking the pictures. i'm not sure of what type of wood extra they it was just the top part of a unit i had in the living room which i butcherd.
