240 Reef Aquarium Canopy

Since I started my 240 gallon reef aquarium over 2 years ago I have wanted to make an aquarium canopy for it.  Finally I got around to it.  I built the canopy because I wanted to add supplemental T-5 lighting and to help keep in the humidity and heat in the aquarium.  Since the 240 reef aquarium is in the basement I have a hard time keeping the aquarium warm in the winter.  Trapping the heat from the metal halide lighting in the canopy should help heat the water. The aquarium canopy is build out of oak 1x2's, 1x3's and plywood.  It also uses prefabricated oak doors that you can purchase at your local hardware store for kitchen cabinets.  I stained it a red chestnut color to match the aquarium stand. The aquarium canopy holds a large lumenmax reflector that uses a 400 watt Reeflux 12k metal halide bulb.  The reflector has 12 diy LED moon lights attached to it.  The aquarium canopy also hold two 36" 39 watt and two 48" 54 watt ATI blue plus T-5 bulbs mounted to it.  This lighting combination is vastly improved from just running a single 400 watt halide with a large lumenbright reflector.   The canopy finishes off the the aquarium nicely and provides a lot of functional benefits for the aquarium. The inside of the aquarium canopy with all the lights on.  I also was still able to use my clear mesh top.  The clear mesh top is removable by lifting the canopy up an inch and the clear mesh top slides under the canopy and out. Check back for future posts for construction photos of this aquarium canopy.

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