Lets see pics of your flip front canopies (or any other cool designs)

[marino420td]

I'm trying to get ideas for my diy canopy. I have seen several posted in which the entire front flips up for easy access to the tank. Lets see the pictures.

[EdMiller]

This is my 50 gallon FOWLR tank. This picture was just after I built it. I have since added some support struts to hold open the lid.

http://www.telusplanet.net/public/millerea/images/50-gal-FOWLR-2.jpg

http://www.telusplanet.net/public/millerea/images/50-gal-FOWLR-1.jpg

[Qwiv]

How is this?
http://homepage.mac.com/qwiv/.Pictures/Reef%20Tank/Hood%20Open%20Before%20Actins.jpg

http://homepage.mac.com/qwiv/.Pictures/Reef%20Tank/Complete%20all%20open.jpg

Sorry the image is so big. A few construction pics in my Gallery.

[sales weasel]

Qwiv,
Were those two photos taken at different times? I ask because the bottom photo looks like it has cooling fans while the top photo only has holes for wiring or plumbing.

[Qwiv]

Yah, I added the fans later.

[BigJPDC]

So, I kept the whole column thing going with the canopy, and it is indeed heavy, but nothing I would think 1,000 pounds of water and glass can't handle.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/584/105579IMGP4015a-med.jpg

another construction pic showing the lid . .

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/582/105579IMGP4355a.jpg

Final closed:

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/582/105579IMGP4399a.jpg

And with only the small door open.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/582/105579IMGP4395a.jpg


One thing I'd advise is to have all your equipment purchased beforehand. I actually demo'd this one because when my SeaSwirl arrived because of the way I built the back bracing. It's an easy fix, but now I'm also waiting for my T5 retro so that won't happen again.

HTH - post #100.

jp

[countertopguy]

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b397/hambiscuit/P6160698.jpg

During the construction. No finish. There is also a door on top to access the lights.

Steve

[LegoZ81]

Prefinish as well...
http://a5.cpimg.com/image/3F/12/55989055-bfdb-02000180-.jpg
http://a6.cpimg.com/image/40/12/55989056-551b-02000180-.jpg

[scbadiver]

I made mine so both sides are completely removable. The entire hood is white acrylic inside to which I attached the finished oak panels to make it match the stand. The sides have an acrylic "hook" top and bottom that attach it. I don't know how to post photos but they are in my gallery if you want to look. I just finished the trim on th hood about a month ago. I don't have any of the final pics posted yet.

[epicentyr]

My hood is raises by the touch of a button. The front 1/3 opens by a pully system and a 1/2 hp garage door opener in the attic. I don't have any picts of it open. The tank is 3 ft front to back so I wanted a cool way to open that heavy hood. PS My whole setup is for sale. PM Me


http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/9274mini-DSC03359.JPG

[horkn]

nice onehander stoppie:) is that you?

i used to do those, but the one time i slid over the tank and barely caught myslef from going over freaked me out. now i just keep my tl on the rear wheel. is that a zx6 or a 9? i cant tell if it has usd forks or not to let me know without asking;)


nice tank as well, that is something that i would love to have some time in the future.. way out of my $$ range for now, and like i would have somewhere to put it at the moment..not

[AcroSteve]

Countertopguy, Do you have any more pictures of that canopy? I need to build a new canopy for my tank and definiitely want to be able to fold the front up completely out of the way like you have.
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6923245#post6923245 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by countertopguy
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b397/hambiscuit/P6160698.jpg





I also plan on attaching the canopy to the wall behind the tank with some strap hinges so the whole canopy can be lifted out of the way for major access.

Here is my canopy now. I got it with the tank and it does not match the stand and it is a little "rough" for my taste.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a159/sbowman01d/CanopySupport.jpg

The middle section of the front also opens up 180 degrees similar to Countertopguy's.
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a159/sbowman01d/CanopyUp.jpg


For those of you that think it would be a little suicidal to work under that thing, I drilled two holes in the plastic trim on the tank to accept small screws that stick out of the supports.
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a159/sbowman01d/CanopySupportStick.jpg

This will keep them from sliding out of place.

[AcroSteve]

The canopy on my 90 opened like this one. After hitting my head on the corner of it several times, I can tell you it is better if it will open completely out of the way.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6923222#post6923222 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BigJPDC
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/582/105579IMGP4395a.jpg

[AcroSteve]

Here is my old canopy.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a159/sbowman01d/Canopy-Front-Open.jpg

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a159/sbowman01d/Canopy-Top-Open.jpg

There where times I had to take it off the tank to do some maint. Now, with it hinged at the wall, one person can move it out of the way.

[BigJPDC]

Acro - that's much appreciated advice. Not ever actually having a fish tank I figured i would only need to fit an arm through to feed - thus the smaller access panel. A design goal was to leave it entirely open, in the event that someday this setup requires some type of hanging MH rig.

The whole thing does come open though:

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/582/105579IMGP4397a.jpg

I like the way my stand came out so well, I have actually been thinking of chucking this design for a very low profile one instead.

jp

[thesaent14]

here are some of my diy canopy

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a388/thesaent14/my%20progress/MH003.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a388/thesaent14/my%20progress/100_0180.jpg

its a work in prosess is not donde yet this are my remob reflector also i can adjust to the front and back depending on the ligth or where i wan it

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a388/thesaent14/my%20progress/canopysatelites004.jpg

this is the track
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a388/thesaent14/my%20progress/canopysatelites002.jpg

this is inside the canopy i will have 3 fans moving the air and 2 bringing the air from the house my ligth have independent conections in case i want to remove them

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a388/thesaent14/my%20progress/100_0182.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a388/thesaent14/my%20progress/MHconections002.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a388/thesaent14/my%20progress/100_0179.jpg

ligths on lol

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a388/thesaent14/my%20progress/MH002.jpg

[mc-cro]

here is my bowfront flip front:



http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/71809mini-front_view.JPG


http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/71809mini-open_from_top.JPG

[charles6299]

flip lidhttp://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/1/90038flip_lid.jpg

[jaimwolfe]

Here is my Tank and Stand:

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/7385standpic-side-small.jpg

Here is the canopy with just the front flipped up:

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/7385canopy-frontopen-small.jpg

Finally, here it is with the entire top flipped open / up (Sorry I don't have one with the lights off so you can see it better):

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/7385canopy-fullopen.jpg

[thrlride]

Building the Canopy

The front panel
I started out with some 1x4’s and some 1x8’s for the front panel. If you’ve paid close attention to the images you will see where I actually messed up. The initial images had the wood on the sides of the front panel running vertically. After I got the whole thing together it dawned on the that the grain on the main part of the canopy runs horizontally. So, I had to redo that part.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v73/thrlride/180%20Salt%20tank/IMG_0973.jpg

I simply pocket jointed the 1x4’s to the 1x8’s and then used corner clamps to line up the side pieces and then used the same pocket jig on those. I then measured the entire opening on the front panel to find the mid point and cut the 1x4 to fit in that opening to box off the door openings.
After that was done I cut the length of the 1x8 pine to form the top of the front panel. Since the measurement of the sides of the front panel is 6 ¼” and a 1x8 is actually .75 x 7 ¼” I had to cut an inch off the long end. I just used a circular saw for that and went slow to keep the line as straight as possible. A table saw would have made it much easier but I don’t have one.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v73/thrlride/180%20Salt%20tank/IMG_0974.jpg

This image shows all the pocket joints displaying how it is all held together

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v73/thrlride/180%20Salt%20tank/IMG_0975.jpg

The main shell
The main part of the canopy is assembled just like the front panel. I made the canopy 14.5” tall so that two 1x8’s glued and screwed together would make that height perfectly. You can see in the following image that the two pieces were clamped and glued together then screwed using the same jig as before.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v73/thrlride/180%20Salt%20tank/IMG_0976.jpg

I then cut a 1x2 piece of red oak to length and screwed it to the two side panels. I used oak here since the wood is so small and the front panel will be stressing this part as it is opened and closed.
The clamp in the following picture is because my side panel split the wood when I put the screw in.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v73/thrlride/180%20Salt%20tank/IMG_0977.jpg

This is where I didn’t do many pictures but should have. Here is the image:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v73/thrlride/180%20Salt%20tank/IMG_0978.jpg

I used a piece of 1x 3 oak on the top rear of the canopy for the halide door to be mounted. On the inside of the canopy, beneath the 1x2 and 1x3 I just mentioned I also glued and screwed a 1x3.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v73/thrlride/180%20Salt%20tank/IMG_0998.jpg

This has two benefits.
1) Added strength to the door mounts
2) It provides a lip for the halide door to rest against which is visible below

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v73/thrlride/180%20Salt%20tank/IMG_0999.jpg

After mounting the two 1x3’s I simply got two 1x8 pieces of pine, cut them to length and mounted the first one. The second one needed 3/4” cut off to make it flush on the bottom.
The halide door was assembled just like the front panel. The openings in the door are for heat escape and to allow me to mount the halide pendants through them if I wanted.
I then lined up the front panel and then attached the piano hinge.

[thrlride]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v73/thrlride/180%20Salt%20tank/IMG_0979.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v73/thrlride/180%20Salt%20tank/IMG_0980.jpg

For the halide door I simply set it in the hole and attached the piano hinge.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v73/thrlride/180%20Salt%20tank/IMG_0981.jpg

You can see in a previous image that the fan holes were cut out using a jigsaw because I don’t have a hole saw. The next steps are deciding how to mount the halides and finding appropriate trim and mounting it. Then mount the two doors as well as lots of sanding and staining/painting.

Just to draw this to a close, for those that don't know what a pocket jig is, it looks like this:

http://www.coastaltool.com/a/ab/kreg/images/mini-kreg-jig.jpg You can get them for $20 at your local Lowes Hardware Store.

[countertopguy]

AcroSteve - You can find more info by clicking my "red house" in the meantime here are some pictures

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b397/hambiscuit/P6120682.jpg

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b397/hambiscuit/P6120690.jpg

Steve

[Micki]

Here are a few of mine. Since I have a room divider tank, my canopy opens on both sides.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v637/Mickis125/MH%20Lights%20in%20canopy/DSC01191.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v637/Mickis125/MH%20Lights%20in%20canopy/DSC01194.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v637/Mickis125/MH%20Lights%20in%20canopy/DSC01193.jpg

[jaimwolfe]

Looking good Thrlride! One question though, why didn't you make it so the two piano hinges were on the same piece so you could flip the entire top up for complete access (not have just front access or top access, but both?

Looking great. I love the space heater in the garge with the door open! Just kiddng.

[thrlride]

That's a great idea jaimwolfe, I never even thought of that!

LOL, I think I even had the space heater on! It was chilly that day. :)

[ricka]

I'd like to play a bit. I had to make this one special to fit two lumenarc reflectors over an 18" wide tank.

Front:

http://www.arabian.am/fish/gallery/canopy/EPSN0045.JPG

Front open:

http://www.arabian.am/fish/gallery/canopy/EPSN0047.JPG

Top open:

http://www.arabian.am/fish/gallery/canopy/EPSN0049.JPG

Everything open:

http://www.arabian.am/fish/gallery//canopy/EPSN0050.JPG

--Rick

[bob1965fish1]

heres my new top

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/56689top_vent.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/56689111.jpg