Teeleton

Well, I finally got enough free time together to get this project started in ernest. The original plan was to build a full stand and hood, but since that wasn't happening, I split the difference and just settled for the hood.

Here's the rough hood going through the bondo stage


I just used a piece of scrap plywood that was 3'x5' to make the entire hood. It would have taken a week solid to sand smooth, so I elected to fill the voids in the wood with bondo and sand it all out.

Here's a quick shot of the interior of the hood in the midst of construction. I skinned the inside of it with aluminum foil for cheap reflectivity. Used a cheap-o dual tube 4' T-12 enclosure, a digital timer, a photocell, and a strand of blue christmas lights I picked up for $2 on a clearance rack for moonlights. The cutout you see is for one of the canister filter (fluval 304) lines.



Finished hood on the tank




Day lights on (used 2 phillips plant & aquarium bulbs)



Moonlights on



The camera makes the lights look brighter than they actually are.

Looking down into the completed hood with the canopy fully open (it lays completely back and out of the way). You can see the folding glass tops that I got to help keep the water out of the hood.



First plants....




I just have a handful of neons and danios in the tank right now. Plant selection is some anachris, wisteria, cabomba, small vals, and a brazillian sword. The substrate is some sifted earthgro potting soil covered with the gravel from my previous plastic plant tank that I've kept submerged in several buckets since then. The canister has only sponges and charcoal in it, and the intake and return were split to opposite ends of the tank to facilitate flow across the tank. The timer triggers the daylight bulbs, and a photocell in the hood switches the moonlights. A small pump and airstone round out the hood. Everything in the hood is wired up to a single plug. It's been running about a day and a half now, and the water temp seems stable with the unvented hood. Its nice to finally have the 55 back up and running again.

Thanks for all the inspiration that I got from this forum. I'm hopeful that this tank will grow in soon and I can post some better progress pics.

Teeleton