Hood Type For Big Tank?

[mattlee]

im getting a mate to make me a hood for my 6.5/2/2 tank and wondered what type would be best suited.

also if anyone has pics of their hoods an a bigger tank then i would appreciate looking at them for ideas.

im thinking of having 2 x 3ft flaps with 2 x 3ft light tubes fitted onto them and a 6 inch panel in the middle or something like that......

what is the best type of wood to use for a hood? obviously it will need to be quite light for removal and fitting but also strong and robust.

 

[the biffster]

i would say use untreated pine(soft wood) and marine ply the one i made
was from this i used pond sealer to seal it on the inside
mind you you could probably paint it white in side i used to
use cover glasses on my 5 footers they used to keep the condensation
down in the hood

 

[bolwin1]

im getting a mate to make me a hood for my 6.5/2/2 tank and wondered what type would be best suited.

also if anyone has pics of their hoods an a bigger tank then i would appreciate looking at them for ideas.

im thinking of having 2 x 3ft flaps with 2 x 3ft light tubes fitted onto them and a 6 inch panel in the middle or something like that......

what is the best type of wood to use for a hood? obviously it will need to be quite light for removal and fitting but also strong and robust.

Mine sounds similar to the design your thinking of (although my lights are different). I think you might struggle to get 2 3ft light fittings in, once you've considered the end caps etc. One work of advice - make sure the hood is supported in the middle as well as at the corners. Mine isn't & has started sagging a bit in the middle. Next time I need to take it off (which is a major exercise), I'll get it sorted.

As has already been mentioned, definitely get cover glasses.

I think any hood that size is going to be quite heavy. Due to the size of it, you're going to need help to remove it anyway (mine is only 6ft & there's no way I'd try to remove it myself), so the weight is is not a major issue in my opinion.

 

[chrisrm]

i used plywood for my 4 ft ,stained it and painted the inside with waterproof paint after this pic i put a brace in the middle and have 6 x 2ft flaps, the middle ones hold the lights and the back and front ones are flaps that lift up

 

[OldMan47]

For a 6 foot tank I simply used a hinged glass arrangement, with fairly thick glass. For lighting I built a simple box that was supported off the end trim of the tank. By building a box of 1x6 inch rabbeted lumber, it had the strength to span 6 feet and still hold up the lighting fixtures that I attached to the inside. I even put a switch in one end to control the power to all the lights. The idea was to match the trim on the tank with the appearance of the light fixture. I drilled a few large holes into the back of my light fixture so that heat could easily escape from the fixture. By placing the holes above the 4 foot fixture reflector, I don't get light leaking out those same holes. To fill the entire 6 feet, I used a 4 foot light fixture in the middle and mounted a lamp socket on each end that I used for some of those new spiral type screw-in fluorescent bulbs.

 

[mattlee]

not got this sorted yet... can anyone post a few pics with the lids up and down please of their hoods.

 

[BackToTheFishes]

not got this sorted yet... can anyone post a few pics with the lids up and down please of their hoods.

Mine is hopefully going on tomorrow so I'll get pics mate
Plywood and 1"x1/2" framing