Floating Canopy

[viethluu]

Because of the coronavirus, I have to stay home and have nothing to do ...

So I come up with an upgrade plan for my lighting system.
Currently, I am using 32 inches black box LED on top of my tank (36x24x24). I am pretty happy with the LED except that there are some shadow areas developed underneath some Acropora corals.
As a result, I come up with a plan to supplement my LED with some T5. My vision is to have a floating canopy with T5 and LED. The LED will be responsible for the majority of coral growth. The T5 will be used to round out some shadow developed by the LED.

My BOM is as followed:

2x38" - whitewood board 1x6
2x22" - whitewood board 1x6
2x22" - whitewood board 1x2
1x36"- T5 HO MIRO-4 RETROFIT KIT from BRS
1x15.7" - Home Dr Black Wood Self Adhesive Paper 15.7" X 197"Decorative Self Adhesive Vinyl Film Wood Grain Wallpaper
2x36" - 90 degree aluminum
1x smart wifi timer/controller
2x ceiling hanger

Accessories include: hanging cables, wood nails, 18 awg cable crimper, powered drilling tools, cable management tools, and hooks.

Today, I just finished the build and would like to post some pictures for your entertainment.

 

[urbanknight]

Nice and clean build!

 

[viethluu]

My current set up. The LED will be placed in the middle of the canopy

 

[FutureInterest]

Looks good Vic. Very clean looking and I think you'll like the t5+led combo for sure.

I have a floating canopy on two of my setups and I used ceiling hangers as well. I found that getting it to float just right was a pain with just 2. So the second one I went with 4 and it was a lot easier to balance it.

 

[boosting99]

Great Work

 

[bluesy1213]

Looks good. I’ve considered doing the same thing recently. Every tank I see with T5’s has awesome growth too.

 

[jbdreefs]

Can we get a picture with the lights off? Curious on the wall paper.

 

[viethluu]

I post some more picture with the light off.
The wall paper is a quick way to dress up your canopy and makes it nicer inside of your house. I find it look better than just black painting. The only downside is: the wall paper cannot hide all of the imperfection from your woodwork.
I will use 4 adjustable cables to hang the canopy (thanks Jin for that advice). I am trying to buy some Black cable; the Orange cables I bought are too tacky . Unfortunately, the Orange cables are the only one Home Depot sells at this point.

 

[jbdreefs]

Thank you! Clever idea!

 

[Doberman13]

Try Walmart in the outdoors section I'm pretty sure that is the same sized cord I bought a few weeks ago. It was black

 

[viethluu]

Try Walmart in the outdoors section I'm pretty sure that is the same sized cord I bought a few weeks ago. It was black

Great, I will check it out. Thanks so much for that hint.

 

[viethluu]

Looks good. I’ve considered doing the same thing recently. Every tank I see with T5’s has awesome growth too.

My black box LED grows coral very fast too. The growth is just not as uniform as T5. There are quite a few of the bare spot developed underneath some acros.

 

[FutureInterest]

@viethluu Looks nice. I like the wallpaper idea.

So another type of cable that works great... is parachute cord. It's what I use on my main frag system canopy. They carry it at home depot, its way thinner than what you have there and more than strong enough for your purpose. The colors can vary and I just ended up using the white ones which blends better with your walls than an orange or black would... unless your walls are orange or black that is .

 

[viethluu]

Guy,

I hanged the canopy up today. So far, I see that the light is brighter than before (LED only). I will update in the next couple weeks any result that I find interesting.

In the meantime, more pictures ....

 

[Reefried]

Very nice, I have been thinking of doing something similar. What size tank is that?