the hood is done now time to paint

[WarOrks15]

well so today i finished the hood. here are some pics. but now what is the best paint to use? all of the wood is 1/2 in berch plywood. and i had to use some oak 1x2 in to get it to sit on the tank right. the outside i would want to paint black and the inside just the wood color or white (some light color) it will have 4 96 watt pc lights. so what do you think?

 

[Mr Burns]

when i finish building my canopy, i'll apply a white exterior paint on the inside. that's what others suggested to me, even though i'm using AHS lights with the awesome reflectors.

 

[youronlysin]

Wow. You used Birch plywood and your going to paint it black???? Must be nice to have a little money!

Its gorgeous, by the way.

 

[WarOrks15]

well i wanted it the same color as the stand. and that is black. the 8x4 sheet of plywood was only $50 and the oak was only $10 so that is only $60 woth of wood that is getting painted. but i look at it this way. i have put how many 1,000's in to the tank? i want the top to look just as good.

so just use exterior paint paint on the inside and the out side? sweet. will have to make a home depo run today

 

[ellisz]

I used a the Behr exterior paint in black suede for mine. I just have primer white inside.

 

[Mr Burns]

did the exterior paint work ok for you?

 

[WarOrks15]

well i just put on the 2nd layer of the black (the outside of the top) and it seems to be doing great. in a few hours the white will be going on the inside

 

[BillyZ]

for painting the inside of a hood I made for a FW tank, I used a can of "silver appliance spray" paint. Made for a VERY high reflective surface. Whatever paint you end up using, be sure you let it dry and cure for a few days before placing on your tank. If you can, I'd even find a way to "keep it warm" while drying. When you put your lights in there it will heat the paint and may re-release some fumes. When I did my FW tank I noticed an "oil-slick" film on top of my water after putting the hood on the tank. I let it sit for 2 days before putting it on. I think if I did it again, I'd wait a week at least.

 

[WarOrks15]

well i already put on the exterior paint. but that would be a great idea. but on well you have to save some ideas for the next tank right?

 

[Mr Burns]

hmm..that's a good idea billyz. i may stick with a high gloss white exterior paint though.

 

[WarOrks15]

well the past few dyas i have been painteing the hood. and last night whent eh tank went to bed i pulled off that hood and took it a part and added 2 more 96 watt pc to the set? (now i have 4 96 watt pc) and it took me about 6 hours to do all the wireing for the fuull hood. and now i have it on the tank. and it really dresses up the tank a lot. but now i have to make an order for a new reflecter for the light. (the one out of my csl light unit was broken) so right now i just have a really big hood with 2 96 watt pc in it. here are some pics



more to come after i get back from work

 

[William]

How do you have it set up to access the tank innards?


DO you just take the hood off, or do you have a hatch somewhere?

 

[Mr Burns]

that's such a beautiful tank! makes me want to set up a salty with my 29gal when it becomes available....

 

[WarOrks15]

i have 2 doors on the top that flip open.

thank you. i love wakeing up to looking at my fish tank. it is in my room and i made it so the lights turn on before i get up and go out when i am in bed. i never watch tv any more. just watching the tank.

 

[Mr Burns]

i just switched rooms today, so i didn't get to the lfs to get supplies for the 10gal i'm going to set up next week. because i wanted to be able to lay in bed and watch the fish in my 85gal, i had to make the switch. this is a much bigger room, better lighting, better circulation, more electrical outlets it'll be great once i get the plants established and the moonlights on a timer (or remote.) that "all blue" look must be really comforting in person, just like the "all green" planted looking i'm going for. hopefully the filters/tank won't be noisy at all, but then again, my computer fans drown out everything else..

 

[WarOrks15]

ya my computer (right next to the tank) is not that loud or maybe i hjave just grown to hear the hmmm of the fan becasue i never turn the thing off.

 

[Mr Burns]

i never turn my comp off either, but the fan sounds are starting to get to me. i'm going to search through newegg tonight and see if i can find something quieter (more quiet?) if i can, i'll order my stealth fans for the canopy, the fan controller/dimmer for the moonlights, and the new comp fans.

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edit
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it's nice having the money to be impulsive! i just bought four of the 92mm vantec stealth fans for my canopy, an arctic cooling cpu heatsink/fan, and two zalman fanmates. one of the fanmates will be for my moonlights and one for my cpu fan if the arctice cooling isn't as quiet as i'm expecting. if the arctic cooling cpu cooler is quiet, i might put the second fanmate on the canopy fans.

 

[ellisz]

My paint is holding up fine. I have not noticed any slicks.

As for quieting PC's, Panaflow L1's under volted are silent. I have rubber grommets on my HD's too. I might incorporate some of this in my Canopy fans. I am running them at 9v and they could be quieter.

Nice pics of the canopy waroaks. Hood looks simialr to the one sumphead built that I have now. The front flips up though.

 

[Mr Burns]

i installed the arctic cooling CPU fan yesterday. after i woke up this morning i actually looked at the computer to check and see if i had left it on. the harddrive is the loudest thing now, but that's not a problem at all. my computer is finally QUIET!! it's so nice i can't even explain it

i also tested out the vantec stealth 92mm that will be used on the canopy. you seriously have to put your ear a few inches from the fan to hear it. they also move a lot of air.

 

[WarOrks15]

well i just cleaned the fish room (my bed room) and here are some more pics of the room and the full tank with stand.