There are many options to consider regarding a aquarium canopy. First of course is what kind of aquarium will the canopy be supporting? Is it is a general tropical fish or salt water fish aquarium? What kind or lighting will you be using and does it have any special requirements like a salt water reef aquarium would have? How about access for aquarium maintenance? Can you comfortably open the canopy for everyday fish feeding? Do you need a Island style aquarium canopy where it is finished on all four sides? Will the canopy deliver enough ventilation to properly disperse the heat and moisture levels that can develop inside a canopy? Unlike your typical mass produced fish tank hood, BRI canopies can be custom designed to fit your individual application. Do it right the first time and save yourself a lot of aggravation and possibly money.

In some of the photos you will notice raised panels in the aquarium canopies and fish Feeding Doorways in the sides of the hoods. Also there are photos of Corner Wraps, Island and Gull Wing type canopies. These are options and need to be discussed when the aquarium cabinet and canopy is ordered.

The Raised Panel Canopy is a very nice extra touch to add to your aquarium canopy. It’s classy and makes a very powerful statement. BRI creates the raised panel by using predominantly hand selected hardwoods of your choice. Then each piece of wood is milled to the exact dimensions for your individual aquarium needs. The aquarium canopy is carefully laid out to mirror and theme the face of the aquarium cabinet. You will notice how the raised panels in the canopy match up with the raised panels in the aquarium cabinet. However the raised panels in the canopy are not operating doors. The canopy panels do an excellent job of mirroring and mimicking the real doors on the aquarium stand below. The canopy opens and operates just like our regular canopy.

There are a couple reasons we do the canopy panels this way. First is due to size or canopy height. All the raised panel canopies you see are a minimum of 18 3/4” tall to 22 2/3” tall. Any smaller and the raised panels themselves become so small that they lose their ability to properly reflect the lower panels in the aquarium cabinet and they look anemic in comparison. Another reason is once you add the extra wood pieces that make up a operating door, the canopy looks to busy at the height range of up to 22 inches. Additionally there is no advantage in terms of aquarium service. The doors actually limit the amount of room you have to work with. If you just want a door way to feed fish through, see the feeding doorway description.

We do build aquarium canopies with Operating Raised Panel Doors. The canopies start at 22” tall and go up another 4”. At this height there is enough room to get the raised panels to a proper size and the extra wood pieces (door stiles and rails) can be properly absorbed into the landscape of the fish tank hood with out the busy look you get at the smaller heights.

A fish Feeding Doorway in the side of the aquarium canopy is a nice touch if you want to incorporate a “no fuss” way to feed your tropical or salt water fish. It is simple and blends in with the rest of the wood work. We find it very popular with office aquariums where the aquarium maintenance provider wishes to limit the amount of access unqualified personal have to the tank. This also is a great feature for people who for various reasons such as their height or strength simply need a easy way to handle daily chores such as feeding the aquarium fish.

BRI also makes Corner Wraps for the corners of the aquarium as another option. The corner wraps are independent of the canopy and the cabinet and in no way restrict you in removing the canopy to perform aquarium maintenance if needed. Aquarium corner wraps add a great finished look to any home aquarium.

There are many instances where you might wish to have the aquarium canopy built as a Island. If the aquarium is located in a open area where it can be viewed from all 4 sides, you need a Island style aquarium cabinet and canopy. If you locate the aquarium stand up against the back of a couch where you cannot see the back of the cabinet, but you can see all 4 sides of the aquarium and the canopy, you need an Island canopy. Low wall partitions, the foot of a bed, these are a few reasons to order a regular aquarium cabinet with an Island style canopy.

The Gull Wing Island canopy is the ultimate access canopy for aquarium maintenance on a Island setup. Both the front and the back face panels of the aquarium canopy open up and fold back. The aquarium canopy must be at least 18” wide for this option. The Gull Wing really helps when you have to perform aquarium maintenance on 24” wide and larger aquariums and there is only one of you to do the job.