Building aquarium hood

[Bandit13]

Gonna be building a hood for my 40 breeder and looking to hear folks thoughts. Planning on using some old barn boards for the hood, unless there is a better recommendation for construction material.

Questions:
How should I treat the wood to make it last against the salt water and not be toxic to the tank? Stain it or some type of paint?

What are some of the ways to design the front panel? Looking to have easy access to mess around in the tank/for water changes. And any advantages or disadvantages to the designs?

Once I get the design sured up I'll post the build progress, thanks for the help!

 

[s_kelley]

I have used kilz white paint inside my Canopys in the past. The white seems to make the light reflect better than raw wood and treats/waterproofs the wood. Barn board sounds awesome, take progress pics and do a build thread

 

[Bandit13]

Like the idea of the white color on the inside. Is the kilz something I can get at Home Depot or more of a specialty item from online or etc.?

 

[s_kelley]

Ya Home Depot, lowes, heck I think Walmart has it, it's a thick primer that kilz mold milder etc but it's so thick it waterproofs too

 

[mchartier]

When I did my canopy I used Rustoleum Epoxy paint on the inside.

 

[Bandit13]

Appreciate the info, I'll be checking out Home Depot sometime this week. Will start a build thread to document the progression.