Peninsula Light Hanging Idea

Weird · Apr 24, 2014

I'm restarting my reef tank and decided to do it peninsula style but I'm having trouble finding a way to hang the lighting fixture. The tank is 60" long and the light is a 60" ATI 6 bulb Sunpower.

Hanging it from the ceiling is out of the question cause there's a ceiling fan in the way.

I've tried hanging it from bent conduit pipes but since I'm hanging it the long way, the metal tube starts bending more and that makes me nervous.

I need some ideas and suggestions on how to hang the light so it'll be aesthetically pleasing.

P.S. I want to avoid doing a canopy since it's a rimless tank.

Thanks

ReeferEric · Apr 24, 2014

I had this exact same issue with my peninsula frag tank. Didn't want to hang it from the ceiling and wanted to keep it as clean as possible. Ended up going with 3/4" Aluminum tube and had an electrician friend bend it for me. The light rack weighs a hefty 20lbs or so. The side furthest from the mounted side to the tank does bend down more but we had bent an offset to counter it. Currently, it's still hanging slightly lower but with the hanging kit I offsetted the wires. It holds very firm in place. Your other option is to run hard steel piping which will for sure hold it, just need to make sure whatever the leg is attached to can handle it.

ReeferEric said:
Tank finally in place! Still need to shim the stand so the tank will be level. Wires are still a mess but that will be taken care of soon. One more wet test before emptying and going through the wall and plumbing.

ReeferEric said:
FINALLY, I can update my thread! After the PBMAS Frag Swap, I'm toasted. It was an awesome swap, saw old faces and met new ones. Had a blast with everyone!

Today I got to work on one of the more important aspects of the tank, LIGHTS. Thanks to a great friend, Bobby an electrician by trade helped me big time with my way to hang the lights. Stopped by his shop and he bent up some aluminum real quick for me. I could never bend 3/4" for the life of me, always kinked them. lol

Initial install, one end was intentionally long so I could cut off whatever excess was not needed.

Held in place with conduit hangers, perfect spacing from the tank.

Used up the RapidLED hanging kits. Drilled the aluminum light rack to fit flush on the reverse side, gotta make it clean!

I had to shorten some of the cord so it would look right without too much slack. Just used crimped aluminum sleeves from Lowes. The balls were like that from RapidLED.

TADA! It's a bit messy but eventually I'll get it all cleaned up.

Not too shabby, that light rig weighs about 20lbs. I was surprised the 3/4" aluminum tubing held it with little flexing, of course we had tweaked it to offset. Still have a few minor tweaking to get it to hang perfectly with the tank but that will be another day.

Things to knock down over the span of this week:

1) Finish repairs on the wall and then paint it.
2) Electronic Panel
3) Repair minor leaks on plumbing

glweek · Apr 24, 2014

i used 3/4 conduit and bent it/ secured it exactly like the above i don't have any pictures though

Weird · Apr 24, 2014

thanks guys for the suggestions. ReeferEric, is the aluminum pipes similar to the steel conduit at Home Depot or is it something stronger?

Weird · Apr 24, 2014

glweek said:
i used 3/4 conduit and bent it/ secured it exactly like the above i don't have any pictures though

I've tried this but felt uncomfortable with the unstable-ness the heavy fixture caused. Idk if bending the pipe as one or using the pre-bent "elbows" make any difference. Can any one chime in on this?

ReeferEric · Apr 25, 2014

Weird said:
I've tried this but felt uncomfortable with the unstable-ness the heavy fixture caused. Idk if bending the pipe as one or using the pre-bent "elbows" make any difference. Can any one chime in on this?

With the weight in mind, the pre-bent elbows will slip. Your better off going solid straight through piping.

If you think electrical conduit is not going to work and have access to Home Depot/Lowes only then go for galvanized steel pipe. It's much thicker then electrical conduit, the down side is bending it is going to be next to impossible unless you have an actual machine that can bend the pipe.

Just realized you for location you put down "33027" also known as Miramar. LOL, I live in Miramar as well.