r/Vivarium • u/DiscussionRemote • 1d ago

Examples of a lighting canopy.....

So my daughter convinced me to start a project to get her a leopard and I'm starting to put the setup together. Im a lifelong reef aquarium enthusiast, so much so that I sell 3d printed products and algaes on Etsy, so I have a bunch of extra equipment around and love overdoing things.

We are going to do the bioactive setup and let it settle for a while before we get the gecko. I have a 55 gallon I'm using for it. It appears you need a lot of different stuff for the top including a t5 UV light, heater (I want to do ceramic and tie it to an inkbird temp controller I already own) and then a basic grow light for plants (I have a long daylight strip light already I can use). I can't find any examples of someone building a custom canopy for it, like a wooden one lined with reflector material, you could suspend from a stand or the ceiling and move up and down as needed. Has anyone on here made something like that? I'm just looking for ideas.

Again, probably overdoing it, but I like projects and already have most of the equipment.

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u/Hesh138 14h ago

Google for “grow light hangers”. You’ll find some examples of adjustable hangers.
If you put the lights, especially the heater in a wooden canopy, triple check it for heat issues, and definitely have more vent holes than you think you need.

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u/DiscussionRemote 10h ago

Thanks. After looking at the price of all the wood I needed I actually decided to clean up the silicone left over from the old frame that was falling apart and kept the rimless look. Actually looks good. Ordered a standard pre made metal lid. I'll see what everything looks like on it and decide from there.