Canopy Question

Hi Guys,

I tried to send this from my iPhone at work but was having difficulty. i apologize to the moderators if this results in multiple posts. I am also not really sure where to post this question.

After seeing Triplemom's and Jwin's great canopy build, it made me want one of my own. I have been getting very distracted by the light bleed coming between my new lights and tank. It is made worse by the light reflecting off of the egg crate. One of the issues I have is that my lights are pretty low and wide. I pretty much have to slide them back to feed and take them off to clean the tank. My friend built my tank stand for me and I asked if he could also build a canopy for me. On to the questions....

My lights are currently about 2 1/2 inches off of the water. If I raised them up to 4, would it make that much of an impact? I currently only have a FOWLR tank with some shrimp. I am not really planning on going reef yet, but don't want to cut that out as a possibility.

Also, I am thinking of putting the lights on a block similar to Triplemom's but attaching a drawer slide so that I could push the lights out of the open back to gain better access. Would the metal of the slides have any impact on tank. They wouldn't be in direct contact with the water but will possibly get some mild splashing. What do you guys think? Thanks!!!!

Regards,
Ivy

 

hey ivy. since your only fish right now , moving the lights higher isnt detrimental. also if you go reef, you should still have ample light to keep most corals. and no the slides wont have any effect on your tank since the isnt any contact with them and the water. good luck with it all

guy

 

All your ideas sound good. 4 inches wont make much difference and the drawer slides wont effect the tank in any way but they may rust over time.

 

Awwww.....you're so nice! Karma!

I think that's a cool idea! So far, I've been able to do all my maintenance without moving the lights any. Our lights are pretty low - about 1-1/2 inches off the tank top and about 3 inches off the water line. I do have to wipe salt off the light splash guard at times, so I guess there's some splashing at times. If you moved the tray up higher, you might be just fine.

I was telling Jwin just this morning how much I love the canopy. I got so paranoid about jumpers that I was even putting my egg crate/screen top on sometimes in the daytime if I was leaving the house for a few hours. The canopy does wonders for my peace of mind!

 

Thanks for the replies guys. I am still planning on keeping the egg crate on top just to keep everyone in (hopefully) . Do you think that a coating or paint on the slides would help reduce rust and using stainless steel screws? That was what I was worried about and was looking avoid if possible. Thanks!!!

Ivy

 

why not use stainless steel slides also with the screws.

 

Duh!!! Not really sure why I didn't think of that. Thanks for the idea!!!