I'm kinda cheap :) And it gives me great satisfaction to make things on my own and save a lot of money!

On the other hand, some of the things have to look nice so you can't always make things yourself. This canopy is going to cost me approximately 30$ US, and thats for the paint. The wood is from a construction site, and from my carpenter roommate.

I'll try to guide you thrugh the process, step by step, and show some pictures too!

I had an old DIY canopy, which I didn't like very much. The fact that I was moving some tanks around the house and setting up a new tank, helped me decide to try and make a new canopy. I took the old canopy apart, because I was going to use some of the plywood and the light fixture. After taking it apart, I started cutting out an other piece of plywood I got from my roommate.

When done cutting, I piled up the pieces to make sure I had all I needed. (Some of the smaller pieces of wood, and the short light fixture is missing in the photos above.)
 

Then I started out by attatching the sides on the back.

Then I added the front part, and top of the canopy. Also the pieces of wood that will lean on the edge of the tank, and hold the canopy.
 

A big light fixture holding to 36w tubes and the front hatch were then added. The fixture is placed like that, because of the filter in the tank the canopy is going on. The tank has a filter behind the background, with no top on and there's no need for light down there.

Adding the small fixture holding a 18w flourescent tube was the final step.
 

I tested the canopy on a tank, the same size as the one its going on, and it fits like a glove. Gives great lighting too!

And last a picture with the flash off. The canopy of course need some paint, and I'm going to the store tommorow!

This is not very hard to do. You can save a lot of money and get a very nice canopy for your tank at the same time! It does require some tools and time, but I would say that almost everyone would be able to do this! I had fun building it, and I think it will look very nice when I get it painted! □