48" light on a 5ft tank (mounting?)

[mabel_photo6]

Okay, so it's really getting on my nerves...
My 100 gallon is 60" or 5ft long and my light is 48" long.
I was going to buy the 72" but that would have been longer so I figured the 48" would be fine.

So I've been trying to figure out a way I can make like a diy "stand" for the light.
But I haven't been able to come across solutions online.
Does anyone have any ideas?

Just so you guys can see... this is a pic of my tank when it was first set up:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/mabels_corner/Pets/Fishy/Saltwater/100%20Gallon%20Tank/IMG_0126.jpg

[Gseclipse02]

can you hang it ?

i have made some home made fixtures for t5 retros and i love using door hinges makes it nice and easy to lift ... i honestly would of love to put a trunk shock to hold it in place but yea it shouldn't be to hard

[mabel_photo6]

Yeah I can hang it but I'm 5'3" lol and it's going to be hard for me to hang it.
The ceiling is a little high too.
I saw this one video of a guy who had the light hanging from a pole; a light stand that sat on the extra side space of the tank stand.
Buuuuuuuut I don't have any extra space on the stand.

[Gseclipse02]

a ladder will become your friend lol and put a blanket over your tank so junk doesn't get in

[mabel_photo6]

Indeed... but I was hoping to do something else.
I feel bad drilling some holes to the ceiling... my dad would probably not agree. lol

[ballardjr2000]

How about a canopy? I mean many people have them, you can mount the light inside the canopy thats what i did with my T-5's just used some L brakets and sat the light on them some zip ties to hold in place and done. I can get pics if intrested.

[mabel_photo6]

Yessss! That actually sounds more like something I can do.

[Europhyllia]

I LOVE my hanging light fixture. The ATI unit (60" by the way) came with super thin wires and mounting hardware. It's completely unobtrusive.
I can easily adjust it up or down for maintenance if I want to. I can gently swing it out of the way to reach something. Hanging is the way to go. No heat trap like a canopy either.
Think about it before you settle on a canopy. You'll use a ladder once. After that you have a nice easily adjustable light fixture. Lots of options. Easy access. No heat retention. It's perfect.

[mabel_photo6]

I mean I would hang it but it's not my house.
I still live in my parents house and I feel bad drilling a hole in the ceiling.
How big are the holes any way? Mine didn't come with any mounting hardware... just the mounting legs.

[ballardjr2000]

Yes Mabel heat can be an issue with a canopy however if setup right heat can also not be an issue, for example I use 2 AC fans i got at radio shack to blow the heat out the back of the canopy it was wither that or drill hole for the exhaust ports on my lights. I have no heat issues but I am running T-5's not MH. However I do know some here on maast that have canopys with the MH's with no heat issues. Trick is mounting them high enough so heat is not an issue and a good setup to rid the heat. If your still thinking about the canopy I can get pics later today of my setup

[Big_Pun]

can you get to the back of you tank, i used electric conduit in a L shape used a 90 degree elbow and bolted it to the back of my stand and hung my pendent from there. disregard the light under it was just temp till i got the MH light going. you could use 2 of them to hang it from

http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu357/stangchris/hqi.jpg

[corruption]

Chris -- any idea of what kind of weight the conduit can support? I'd like to do exactly this for my tank, but I fear my 54lb IceCap fixture crashing down on my tank :)

-Justin

[Big_Pun]

the only sagging ive seen is a lil foward but i used the thin conduit brackets and thin walled conduit to hold it, i believe they make conduit with thicker walls which should be better, you could also use that pipe made for gas line very heavy and uses threaded connections. i love cruising threw HD and lowes lookin for DIY things to modify

[corruption]

Good point.. How'd you put the bend in the conduit? I can't imagine the thicker stuff is too easy to bend by hand -- if it is, I can't imagine its secure enough to hold a 54lb light :bigsmile:

-Justin

[Big_Pun]

sorry for the hijack(hope this helps you also): i used a 90 degree elbow, the gas pipe has threaded ends and also there are elbows available for them, and the gas piping is more that strong enough to hold your light

[corruption]

Good call -- I may have another DIY project once my ATO is done... Mabel -- this should be a very simple addition to do, if you could provide pictures of the back of your tank, we could tell you the possibility of doing similar! :)

-Justin

[Europhyllia]

Mabel the hanging kit for the ATI fixture I have used 2 screws that need to go into something solid (not drywall) like a stud. I mounted a board on the studs and then put the screws for the fixture in that but you could also just go straight into the studs as long as your light will end up being centered the way you want.
The pole solution looks like it would work well if you don't want to make holes.