DIY Canopy - Paint the inside or leave bare wood

[RyansReef]

Nice fixture!!

You can paint, but if you want to protect the wood, use a water based varathane.
Couple of coats, and it will be waterproof (after it cures)
Not sure about the other products since painting would required good ventilation, and long drying/curting time.

My wood canopy made 18 years ago was never protected (on inside Panels). Still good till this day.

I varathened ONLY the outside.

Certainly consider painting the part of your canopy that touches the tank. It will get beaten up by salt, water, etc.

What you see is just the stain on the inside.

However I did something different for my side panels.
I put on a reflective sticker, to add more reflection inside the canopy.

In my Case to Refect the T5's. Not needed so much for a Hanging LED fixture.

Also the film has protected my wood. I just wipe the salt on it every so often.
The film has also stayed on (not peeled) for 15 years.

The reflective does make a difference for lighting.

The one thing I have enjoyed, that you still can add/modify on one side at least, is a HINGED side panels for access.
I can't imagine running, maintaining my tank with deep access from above (canopy on top).

Maybe in you case the plan it to remove your canopy each time. Probably not too much work for 29 Gallon Tank.
Mine is a 90 Gallon, 4 Foot tank.

Have you also thought how you are going to run plumbing with the Canopy.
Things like that make removing Canopy difficult, and affect you access to inside tank.

Again, maybe a 29 Gallon Tank is small enough to avoid the concerns I mention.

Nice canopy! I was going to try to fashion a hinged door for front side access but as the whole height is not bad plan to just remove or flip up the top panel.

For plumbing I made a notch for overflow on left and return on right.

 

[RyansReef]

See the two little levers on your coping saw where the blade attaches to the frame? If you rotate those 45 or 90 degrees it will make trimming the dowels flush much easier, the frame of the saw will no longer be riding on the wood when you get to the left side, you can rotate them 180 degrees and not have to saw in an awkward position.

Thanks for the great tip. I have never really tried to make something like this before. Fun to learn and awesome to have a great community to learn from

 

[9975]

Best stuff ever! Leaves a hard white shiny coat to reflect light

 

[radiata]

I apologize for joining this thread a little late...

If you are considering painting/coating the inside of your canopy, I STRONGLY suggest you consider this FLEX SEAL product:
https://www.flexsealproducts.com/product/flex-seal-liquid-rubberized-coating/

In the past year I replaced the canopy on my 180. I purchased the original stand and canopy from R&J, which I bought a few years before the introduction of "high-hat" canopies. The height of my canopy was low, and I went through an extremely unpleasant succession of lighting ~ VO T8s, then 150w halides, then LED strip lighting, and then T5s. And, I really hated my low canopy throughout the many years I tried those different lighting /retros. (Last year I found a local reefer was selling a 180 canopy of a decent height.) Over the many years my low canopy was in use, it showed in the unpleasant effects of salt water. I recollect I treated the inside of the canopy with 2 coats of marine varnish before I started using it. (My high-hat canopy now supports Kessil 360Xs and T5s.) The replacement canopy I picked up also showed the signs of salt water splashes and humidity. After some research, I elected to use the above FLEX SEAL.

I used the white version. I liked the way it went on ~ it was nice and thick, and it covered any damage/split plywood layers/fixture installation holes/etc. on the inside of the canopy. I used two coats.

I found two issues with the usage. (1) The surface of the coating does not allow anything with 'peel and stick' functionality to adhere to the surface (things like "Cable Tie Mounts Wire Tie Base Holders" ). These attachments must be screwed into place. (2) The surface isn't especially smooth (see what it covered above) and seems to collect small black spots. I assume these spots are some form of mold, and I expect they can be removed with a little sprayed on hydrogen peroxide.

When I applied the coatings, I only applied it to the lower 8 to 10 inches of the front, back, and sides. I was in a hurry to get it in place. If I had it to do over, I'd coat the entire inside.

And, if I had it to do over, I'd certainly use FLEX SEAL again...