Restore Aquarium Cabinet and Canopy

Restore aquarium cabinet & canopy:

A fancy aquarium is like a piece of art. An aquarium looks pretty if it has natural plants, pretty decorations, colored gravels, beautiful fish & it is larger in size. However, an aquarium is aesthetically appealing if it has hard & polished furniture such as cabinet & canopy. Custom cabinet & canopy can be built according to your room furniture & can be colored like your living room. It is also advantageous to have a canopy which offer space for aquarium light & can cover the upper portion of aquarium where you can fit air pump, wiring, pipes, or can add an overhead SUMP filter. Hence you can hide necessary equipment under canopy which is affecting the beauty of aquarium. The main use of canopy is to stop predators from reaching fish or stop certain species of fish to jump out of aquarium. Also insects like flies won’t enter clean water if it has a canopy. 

A cabinet is also required for aquarium where you can store tools that are commonly used for aquarium. You can easily pick up required tools & store them inside cabinet to protect stuff from dirt. Make sure you clean the furniture to remove dirt that might enter your aquarium. Cabinet can save time when you are maintaining aquarium because all required tools are near & you only need to open drawer & pick up the right tool.

I will show you how to reuse aquarium cabinet & canopy after restoring it. Cabinet & canopy was already used & I bought it for a very cheap price. It was in a pretty bad shape when I received it.

It is a challenge to clean it & modify it a bit with paint to make it in good form before I can use it. At the end of this tutorial the cabinet & canopy will look brand new.

In this video I will show you how to restore used aquarium stand & canopy.

Restore stand & aquarium canopy

Tools required for restoring stand & canopy:

• Electric Screw Driver
• Roller Brush
• Brush Set
• Quality Paint
• Decking Tiles

Steps: How to restore aquarium cabinet & canopy:

How to restore stand & canopy

First part of the tutorial is to remove all the dust & spider web from the aquarium stand. It is easy to paint aquarium stand & the basic supplies required for this purpose are roller brush, brush set & a quality paint. I gave 2 coats to aquarium stand & canopy, & after it was dry I placed aquarium on top of the stand.

Step 1: Remove foam which is stuck to the stand:

Step 1: Removing foam gently

The foam was not in a bad condition but it was stuck to the stand [1] & I had to remove it before I begin aquarium restoration process. I am taking extra care while removing this foam because if I try to be a bit rough or try to remove it quickly then I will make a big mess & it will be difficult to clean it using a vacuum cleaner [2].

Step 2: Remove all dirt & cob web:

Step 2: Wiping out all the dirt

It is time to use a vacuum cleaner to remove all the cob web, dust & pieces of foam. There are also some dead leaves which need to be removed [1, 2]. This process requires care because if you are trying to be fast, then you will leave some dirt & before painting aquarium stand, it is recommended to clean stand & canopy properly.

Step 3: Paint old stand & canopy:

Step 3: Painting stand & canopy

Supplies required for painting stand include roller brush, brush set which includes 5 different size brush, & a good quality paint. Painting stand & canopy is not difficult. I used a roller brush to smoothly paint the surface of canopy & stand [1, 2]. I gave 2 coats to stand & canopy.

Step 4: Attach light to the cabinet:

Step 4: Attaching light to the cabinet

This light came free with the package & attaching light to the cabinet is very simple. Use electric screw driver to attach it to the cabinet [1]. Cabinet looks pretty cool & I placed some decking tiles at the bottom for placing aquarium stuff on top of that [2]. Now I have fully restored my old cabinet & canopy into a brand new.

Pros & cons of restoring cabinet & canopy:

Restoring an old stand & canopy is easy & cheap, & it is better than buying new. I have painted the cabinet & canopy, which makes them look brand new. However, cleaning & restoring an old aquarium stand & canopy is challenging because you have to remove all dirt. Old stand & canopy could be in a pretty bad condition & restoring them requires hard work & patience.