Something different DIY canopy ideas?

[b4tn]

Hey all, I am going to be picking up a pair of 16" 165w LED's to cover a 48" aquarium. My original plan was to just hang them over the top of the open tank which is what I prefer. But.... the topic came up with the boss and since the aquarium is going to be in the living room next to the kitchen table, and the TV, and the couch lol. She doesn't want the glaring bright light escaping all around. So first thought was just build a box canopy with two square holes on top to set the lights on. My problem is for some reason I think that having a 14" wood box on top of an aquarium is ugly. Has anyone done any DIY canopy's that are not just a wood box? I dont really have any ideas other than maybe some sort of cloth shade that I can pull down from the lights to the edge?

 

[saltyphish]

you could frame a canopy and cover it with a different material than wood but I would be concerned of the moisture.

 

[redfishbluefish]

I'm not sure what you want when you say that you don't want a wood box???? No matter what you do, it's going to be a wood box. Now you could add fancy molding if that's the look you want....but it's still a wood box. HERE's what I did with my plain wood box.....at post #3. I purposely didn't add fancy molding because I didn't want the woodworking to distract from the tank.


Now after typing that I did think about a floating canopy....but it's still a box.

 

[b4tn]

I guess I don't like the look of a huge rectangular box near the size of the stand itself on top. I am going to mock something up tonight with cardboard that is 9" wide on top and then 19" wide on the bottom so it's sort of pyramid shaped if that makes sense. I may try and make it from some sort of flat black acrylic instead of wood.

 

[redfishbluefish]

And then you can make this smaller box "float" over the tank.

 

[b4tn]

Now I actually love the way that looks over an open tank. But I... my wife Lol is concerned about how bright it will be in the living room without a full canopy. She is a sonographer and works in the dark all day so she is sensitive to bright lights. Our living room is generally pretty dark during the day.

 

[redfishbluefish]

 

[b4tn]

lol!!!! Ha ha

 

[NicksMixedReef]

Hahahaha that just cracked me up ^^

 

[pbauec]

I am mid way thru my 90g build. Will be skinning the stand and building the canopy out of hardwood flooring to match the adjacent room. Still a wood box, but a variation on the theme.

 

[sfg]

Check out my build.. I had to mount the pipes for the light to a piece of lumber on the wall due to the weight.. not happy about how that part looks, but using the galvanized pipes to hide the wiring is a nice touch.. you can build the canopy to encase your fixtures and possibly use taller wood on the edges to control the amount of light spill.. the pipes and flanges are readily available from Home Depot or Lowes in pre-cut and threaded lengths so you can play around with the height...

just an idea
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/sfgs-cadlights-45g-shallow-reef-build.207817/

 

[Noremac]

Here is what Im running... I am going to fill the joints, and do a dark stain and polyurethane over it. The wires will run down the back of the upright