light hanging, help?

sharuq1 · #1 10-08-2008, 04:41 AM

We just moved and we are having a heck of a time trying to hang the lights as we are not allowed to make any holes in the wall or the ceiling. My tank has little 45 degree angle triangles on each corner and a center brace for the top bracing, so is not the most stable thing in the world, and is glass only (no plastic rim, etc.) We want to hang the lumenbright reflectors (not the fancy black ones, the silver ones). These have two eye hooks, one in the middle of the light and one on the back for hanging the light with.

Anyone have any idea what we can do? We tried making a thing out of pvc pipe, but it is godawefully, painfully ugly even though it will probably do the job... *grumble*

Anything we could buy that would work? Or some other idea that wouldn't look quite as terrible? Can't afford to make a fancy wood canopy unfortunately.

mike31154 · #2 10-08-2008, 04:56 AM

What type of stand is your tank on? If it's a wooden one, you could try rigging/attaching two L-shaped brackets to the back of the stand so they extend over the top of the tank and hang your lights from that.

sharuq1 · #3 10-08-2008, 04:57 AM

it's a metal stand. I'm not really sure what you mean by L brackets?

mike31154 · #4 10-08-2008, 05:26 AM

Inverted L, I guess. You would screw a long piece of wood vertically to the wooden stand and then attach another piece horizontally with an angled brace, like a hangman's scaffold. Should be able to make it work with a metal stand too, you just need to find a place to drill some holes to attach the vertical part of the rig. You may even be able to find some metal brackets that are already bent at a right angle. Most stands have a lip that extends beyond the dimensions of the tank, so you need to offset or shim the vertical supports to clear that. I've seen some newer tanks for sale that have these brackets as part of the setup. This way the weight of the lights is supported by the stand instead of sitting on top of the tank.

mike31154 · #5 10-08-2008, 06:22 AM

edit/delete. Tried to draw an ascii diagram but it sucked.

MikeP · #6 10-08-2008, 03:41 PM

Something like this...

http://s134.photobucket.com/albums/q...t=IMG_3225.jpg

http://s134.photobucket.com/albums/q...t=IMG_3226.jpg

I had tabs welded on the stand just so I could attach these "L" brackets. I don't think that's an option for you since your tank is running but maybe you could bolt something in place?

Glennrf38 · #7 10-08-2008, 05:08 PM

On one of my earlier posts, I have a picture of my old lighting setup. Basically all it is is a piece of metal tubing (1 inch or so) shaped like a big upside down "L" that I attached to the stand behind the tank that the light attached to using 1 1/2 eye bolts. I could swing it out of the way for feeding and cleaning and swing it back for normal use. It worked great for me. Look through my old posts or if you still need it, I can find the picture tonight.

Glenn

DanG · #8 10-08-2008, 11:39 PM

Out of curiosity, what sort of place won't let you put holes in a wall or roof as long as you patch them when you leave?

sharuq1 · #9 10-09-2008, 05:35 AM

How do you attach it so it can swing? Is there any way to make it height adjustable?

Glennrf38 · #10 10-09-2008, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sharuq1

How do you attach it so it can swing? Is there any way to make it height adjustable?

I used plastic conduit hangers from home depot to allow it to swing and a ring with a wing screw in it to adjust the height. I will look for the pictures tonight and post them.