New Canopy Plans & Lighting - Pictures - Page 2 - Finish

[greenmaji]

you could add a 3rd lamp with a 4-F32T8 ballast to fire it (20 bucks maybe I got mine for 16 [acronym:827f558fa8="Laughing out loud"]LOL[/acronym:827f558fa8])
and Im not disagreeing with you JProx.. but Im doubt oil based pait would be an issue.. that stuff is very durrible just make sure its good and dry before use (only problem is there working on getting rid of it like they did lead paint and you cant paint over it with latex so just stick to laytex if you think youll need to repaint it some time down the road)

[noteworthy]

Project is finished. I have 20+ photos from start to finish. I'm pleased with the design but I couldn't quite make the canopy match the stand because the stand is a laminate over particle board from walmart. The finish is too smooth. My dad and I had fun with this project and he was anxious to see if my measurements were correct.

He had several old 4 ft [acronym:71f5ba3619="Normal Output Fluorescents"]NO[/acronym:71f5ba3619] fixtures with reflector laying around. I tore everything off the reflector, drilled 6 holes for my moon lights and hung the lights between my [acronym:71f5ba3619="Very high output fluorescent"]VHO[/acronym:71f5ba3619] tubes. I hooked up my [acronym:71f5ba3619="Very high output fluorescent"]VHO[/acronym:71f5ba3619] tubes where the [acronym:71f5ba3619="Normal Output Fluorescents"]NO[/acronym:71f5ba3619] bulbs are suppose to go on the fixture. I did flatten out the reflector some to get it to work. Drilled new holes on the end of each bulb side. Hooked it up and we were golden. The 10k and [acronym:71f5ba3619="Actinic lighting"]03[/acronym:71f5ba3619] bulbs are much whiter and blue over my [acronym:71f5ba3619="Normal Output Fluorescents"]NO[/acronym:71f5ba3619] bulb originally with the tank.


My moonlights turned out the best. Absolutely beautiful! Anyway I had fun with this project and hope you enjoy the pictures to come soon in the future.

[noteworthy]

More pictures from start to finish.

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More pictures from start to finish.

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Finished project below -

Tank gap inside measured is 48.25" x 12.75" - The canopy barely squeezed on and set down on the frame inside.

[greenmaji]

not too shabby.. :P

[noteworthy]

Yeah.. the pictures don't do it justice. Looks nicer in person. Anyway I need to figure out how to hide that wood grain better.. I used a 3" roller on it to get more paint coverage to fill in the gaps. Maybe a one coat bruss will do better.


As for adding and removing water I had an idea.

Greenmaji... you know about my skimmer project.

What if I were to hook a pipe where my collection cup goes.. and elbow it down into a bucket or up as a drop line to add and remove water. All that would be needed is to adjust the output valve.

To remove water simply turn off the return pipe to the tank. My Mag 7 will pump water out to the pumps height. To restore water put the valve back like it was and pour water into the skimmer.

[greenmaji]

easiest way to hide the grain... many coats of paint and alot of sanding inbetween coats...

are you talking about some kind of [acronym:399d8d7f53="Partial water change"]pwc[/acronym:399d8d7f53] plan with the plumbing?
if so right about anything would work.. :P