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Originally Posted by Leah
It is gorgeous! I love your house lay out too. What amazing job you have done it is just
incredible.
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hehe, thanks :-)
Quote:
Originally Posted by mike31154
Definitely a beauty. I like the choice of white on the stand & hood. What type of paint/finish is that? And you've also decided to have the light fixture above the canopy? Kind of a neat idea too, but would you care to elaborate on the reason behind that decision? I realize it's a fixture not a retro light set up, but it does throw a lot of light into the room the way you have it set up.
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The canopy is painted in a glossy enamel from a spray paint can :-) The stand doors/skin is an Ikea cabinet door "Abstrakt" that was already painted and finished in a smooth high gloss finish.
Actually there quite a few reasons why I went with this design for the canopy and light combination.
1. I wanted to be able to remove the top easily to gain access to the tank for maintenance. I can just pull the light off, then the canopy. Neither are very heavy. I would not have minded hanging the light if I didn't have a two story vaulted ceiling over the tank :-)
2. I also wanted to vent the heat from the tank out the top of the canopy. There are a lot of canopy designs where the light is right inside the canopy and it is completely enclosed. With that design you typically have to install fans or something to help vent the heat. Well, with this design there are lots of avenues for heat ventilation. I did install vent holes on either end of the canopy in case I too needed to install fans for extra air flow but because the top is completely open, it seems enough heat is escaping out the top and I have not had any heat issues with my tank.
3. Having the light sit outside and on top of the canopy also helps to keep the light fixture itself cool. This should help prolong the life of the fixture and bulbs.
4. The lights are high enough away from the surface of the water as to prevent splashing onto the light and developing salt creep. I hate cleaning out light fixtures and with this design I only have to wipe the glass every few months instead of every few days or weeks even.
Agreed it does produce a bit of light spill but not as much if you see it in person. The camera is very light sensitive so it exaggerates that light spill more than what you actually see. In the end it is no different than if you hung the light from the ceiling which many people seem to like to do as well :-)