Aquatic Life Hybrid MOUNTING help

[Reefacist]

I have a similar setup in the works but I'm eurobraced and 6.5" from the wall. Your picture looks closer to 8" away but that could be angle of photo. At any rate it looks like you are lined up with the back of the tank wondering how far off the front are you?

Also wondering if 48" is wide enough for a 5' tank?

Thanks,

David h

Hey @NabberNate I’ll get you exact measurements tonight but to answer your question about the width why not go with the 60”? I don’t think it’ll be wide enough because I don’t see much light out of the tank from the sides. Unless you don’t plan on using 6inch on either side then I guess it’ll be ok. I’ll take pics in the dark tonight so you can see the light spread

 

[NabberNate]

Hey @NabberNate I’ll get you exact measurements tonight but to answer your question about the width why not go with the 60”? I don’t think it’ll be wide enough because I don’t see much light out of the tank from the sides. Unless you don’t plan on using 6inch on either side then I guess it’ll be ok. I’ll take pics in the dark tonight so you can see the light spread

I don't have any LED lights at the moment just getting into the hobby after decades out of it and want a dimmable option for sunrise / sunset is the main reason for 48". Probably won't aquascape all the way to the edge so in hoping it will look ok. Of course dimmable requires a controller too but $150 for Profilux light wifi isn't too bad.

 

[Reefacist]

I don't have any LED lights at the moment just getting into the hobby after decades out of it and want a dimmable option for sunrise / sunset is the main reason for 48". Probably won't aquascape all the way to the edge so in hoping it will look ok. Of course dimmable requires a controller too but $150 for Profilux light wifi isn't too bad.

Here are the pics so it’s about 8.25 off the wall and 6-6.5 away from the front. I don’t have rocks in the front quarter of the tank so it should be fine since I couldn’t get the lights to come off any longer without adding some support on the wall. I got 2 kessils in the middle but I had just the dx18 for a couple months and it looked nice on its own too. I’m running two blue plus and 2 coral plus.
Not too familiar with the controllers. I bought the apex but haven’t had too much time to dive really into it. I got it all set up but couldn’t even simply just turn my lights on just now lol. Ya any simple light controller will be fine and I love the sunrise/sunset feature. I personally enjoy seeing the lights slowly going into sunset.

let me know if you need any more help/advice. I’ve asked and read a lot on here and would love to help others in return.

 

[NabberNate]

Here are the pics so it’s about 8.25 off the wall and 6-6.5 away from the front. I don’t have rocks in the front quarter of the tank so it should be fine since I couldn’t get the lights to come off any longer without adding some support on the wall. I got 2 kessils in the middle but I had just the dx18 for a couple months and it looked nice on its own too. I’m running two blue plus and 2 coral plus.
Not too familiar with the controllers. I bought the apex but haven’t had too much time to dive really into it. I got it all set up but couldn’t even simply just turn my lights on just now lol. Ya any simple light controller will be fine and I love the sunrise/sunset feature. I personally enjoy seeing the lights slowly going into sunset.

let me know if you need any more help/advice. I’ve asked and read a lot on here and would love to help others in return.

Thanks so much. I am leaning towards the dimmable also because I think it's just one power cord and I can choose which side versus the non dimmable is two cords and they are on opposite sides.

You can barely see in my picture an electrical outlet just a little above the tank on the left. I made a few last minute changes to raise the tank higher so it's lower than I wanted. With the dimmable I'll have one cord visible I don't want two.

Thanks again,

David h

 

[NabberNate]

Update. I called aquatic life directly and asked if they had any open box items. They had 1 dx48 so it's being delivered. Never hurts to ask.

 

[Reefacist]

Update. I called aquatic life directly and asked if they had any open box items. They had 1 dx48 so it's being delivered. Never hurts to ask.

Very nice. Ya they have great customer service.

 

[NabberNate]

Very nice. Ya they have great customer service.

Can I ask you a question? What do do to stop a siphon when the power goes off? I have a 90 degree fitting before my loc line and or is very low in the tank. Maybe drill a hole like this or from behind?

 

[Greybeard]

My one issue with the AL Hybrid is that the design makes for one cord coming out either end of the light. In a peninsula style setup, this is unacceptable. Took me about a half hour with a screwdriver and a drill to re-engineer the thing so that both power cords exit at the same end.

In my case, I wish that the space between the two T5 fixtures were a bit wider, but aside from those two minor issues, I'm quite happy with my AI hybrid.

Mounting? For a peninsula, ceiling worked best for me.

 

[NabberNate]

Good to know you could make that wiring change.

 

[Reefacist]

Can I ask you a question? What do do to stop a siphon when the power goes off? I have a 90 degree fitting before my loc line and or is very low in the tank. Maybe drill a hole like this or from behind?

I think that would cause water to spill out. Don’t do it unles that 90 is in an internal overflow

 

[NabberNate]

It was a spare 90 degree fitting I tested and it works great! Never mind the cloudy water I just added more sand. You can see on the back a small piece of plastic from where I drilled. I run my sump very high water level so I can't have 4 inches of tank siphon into the sump. I will have to make sure this doesn't get clogged. Hopefully the small amount of pressure going through keeps it clear and I'll check by turning off water on occasion.