# Ask Dennis: MatPat's tank, stand and hood



## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

Here is a pic of my DIY 55g stand/hood. It was built from ¾ “ cabinet grade maple plywood, finished white on the inside (makes things easier to see) and black outside. I built an identical stand for another 55g and also one for a 30g. It is a “european” style cabinet, no face frame or visible door hinges. The total cost for the solid poplar (doors and trim), 4 sheets of 3/4 maple ply, 1 sheet of 1/4" maple ply and the door hinges was $230! This is why we DIY!

There are four ODNO 48” T-8 Nutrigrow lamps in the hood powered by two 4x32w electronic ballasts. One ballast powers the front pair of lights, one powers the rear. This enables you to turn off the front pair of lights when lifting the hood (great eyesight saver). The interior of the hood is painted white with simple shop light reflectors (needed a metal reflector to ground the overdriven lights) Even with a white interior these lights are very bright. I would hate to see what it looked like with a polished reflector. 

Please ignore the jungle look of the tank. Sundays are my water change/pruning day.


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## www.glass-gardens.com (Jun 3, 2004)

Beautiful Work !


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## Daemonfly (Mar 21, 2004)

Yeah, very nice work. Also, looks like the tank fits in that space perfectly!


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

Matt,

Very well done. I really like the ebonized look. I too like simple, dark furniture that makes the tank stand out more. It is all personal opinion though


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

Thanks Dennis. I agree with you on the pool table scenario. One miscue and there could definately be a mess.


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## Daemonfly (Mar 21, 2004)

dennis said:


> I must say, having played pol for years, often in tournament shootouts where the players are very skilled, a pooltable there is a litttle dangerous unless the tank is acrylic. I shudder to think that it only taks one freak mistake to have what, 150+gallons of water all over the place.


Haha! Especially with my "skilled" friends! :lol:


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