Building a canopy questions

[Bdial]

So I'm finally going to build a real canopy. I'm not going to make anything super crazy and amazing. Just something to hold my lights and stop all the light spill. I was looking at smedlin's canopy and I really like it. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2490690

I want to mount my light to the top of the canopy. I have a 48" Hamilton Tech Cebu sun. So it's pretty heavy. And then I have diy t5 fixtures on the front and back. The light has four holes in the top for hanging. I'm wanting to run bolts straight through the top of the canopy and into the light to hold it and the extra t5s will be mounted to the actual light fixture.

I am looking at the pine boards at lowes so I don't have to do much cutting. The light would be mounted on a 6x12 board over the tank and near the front portion of the board. It would be centered and about 1-2" from the front edge.
Will the board be strong enough to hold the weight of the light without breaking or do I need to run a support beam of some sorts? I was thinking that I could run a 1x2 long ways across the top and have the bolts going through both pieces of wood.

Does anyone have any links to blueprints for canopies? I want to make mine have the flip top but also have doors for quick access.

[GimpyFin]

I did almost the exact same thing with mine when I built it. I used the pine project panels/boards from Lowes. They work quite well. I just sorta made a box the size of the tank (No extra framing pieces were needed) and put a few pieces of wood on the inside with foam weatherstrip for it to rest on the top of the tank. I don't have front doors, but there's a piano hinge in the top middle so that the top and front swings up. I also drilled holes in the top to run bolts through to mount the lights inside. (Yours may need a little extra support if your lights are heavy, not sure.) Kinda low-tech, but I just used a couple heavy duty gate latches from the hardware section on the inside to prop it open. My ATO is mounted in the back, so I also have a small hinge panel on the top back so I can refill it easily. Anyway, just thought I'd share since what you are wanting sounds similar.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=10859&pictureid=75923

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=10859&pictureid=74473

[FamilyTank]

Brian so what came first the canopy build or the stairs?

[Bdial]

Did you use those 12" boards? That's what I'm looking at. I actually need like 13-14" but I'll settle for 12". I'll just have the canopy resting on the top of the tank instead of sliding over and covering the black trim.