DIY hood cost me 16 bucks

[Johnwayne]

SO i sat up on here last wednesday night all night. i came up with a plan to make a new top instead of the old pendants i had:idea:. BUT IM BROKE. anyways the next day"thursday" i couldnt stop wondering how, so i went out and grabbed some 3/4" by 10"tall lenghts cut, also some 3/4 by 4" for braces. enough to make some sort of hood. now im not the type to normally jump on somthing like this, im lazy. So i gatherd up my empties which paid for the wood, screws, brackets and a 6 pack, and got to work:hammer:. now i know im no master craftsman but this hood works for what i want and i like the way the light looks now to, especially the shimmer i didnt have befor. this is before and after.


oh yea, the stand was built by a friend of mine, he wasnt to impressed with my work though:lolspin: hes going to take it some day and put a vineer and a small moulding on it and stain it the same as the stand

[Johnwayne]

top with 2 175w mh and two 54w t5s need to get another attinic.
im still looking for some type of reflector but on a small budget, the tank is alot brighter with the bulbs sitting horizontal instead of hanging, but it should be nicer once i replace that day t5 with the attinic and add a new reflector.

[Night-Rida]

looking good, need to get some stain/paint on it and your good togo. I built both of my 55g hoods for about $40 each including paint and hardware.. so you got me beat! also I used reef optix 2 reflectors from my mh bulbs. they are like 13"x9"x4" and only like $35 bucks a piece.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=2477&pictureid=17152

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=2477&pictureid=17114

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=2482&pictureid=17139