5 Feet, 110 Gallons of Fun

[cvrle1]

Originally Posted by titus

Hello

Maybe weld?

Electrically controlled to raise up and down?

Titus

I was thinking about welding to begin with, but dont have access to anyone with welder setup for aluminum. Brazing should produce similar results I hope. Not as strong of course, but whole frame is solid as is, so I jut need to fill in the holes to make it look better.

As for the height, not electrically. Main reason i wanted something that can have adjustable height is because I am not sure at what height I will want lights to start with. I am thinking that once I find height that works I wont be adjusting it again. It is hard to explain what I am thinking about, so I will post up pics as things progress.

[titus]

Hello

Okay but if you do want to service the tank perhaps raising the rig up would be good to get stuff out of the way.

Titus

[DKoKoMan]

The light frame has come together nicely! Having the mount adjustable will be a good idea, especially if your rock scape ever changes down the road

[cvrle1]

Originally Posted by titus

Hello

Okay but if you do want to service the tank perhaps raising the rig up would be good to get stuff out of the way.

Titus

Yes, valid point for sure. If it works out as I have it planned in my head, it should be easy enough to raise or remove as well for cleaning and maintenance. Bracket is quite light, and Noopsyche K7 lights I will be using dont weight much either.

[titus]

Hello

All of a sudden I started thinking about these.
https://www.alibaba.com/product-deta...64035c77VX1TP6

Titus

[cvrle1]

Originally Posted by titus

Hello

All of a sudden I started thinking about these.
https://www.alibaba.com/product-deta...64035c77VX1TP6

Titus

Hmm, thats interesting contraption I never knew existed. It would be a cool project to see if it could be repurposed for aquarium use. Thanks for sharing!

[titus]

Hello

They are quite popular in mainland China. I think it'd be fine because a rack of wet clothes is likely going to be heavier.

Titus

[cvrle1]

Finally have an update. Weather has been crappy and cold last few months, and since I do most of the work in the garage, it was cold. That prevented me from doing much. I finished light mount, or at least have it 99% done.

As can be seen above, I made a frame using square aluminum tubing and didnt lineup some of the corners perfectly. I used Blue Demon Triple Play Low Temp Aluminum-Zinc Brazing Rod and MAP gas to fill in the gaps that can be seen above, and to braze legs to the whole structure.

Since I never did this before, there was a lot of reading and watching of youtube videos. Really important thing that absolutely has to be done to get this to creat proper hold is to make sure that aluminum tube is up to the temp. If it is not, and you melt the rod onto it, it will not stick at all, and will create for really weak connection. Few pieces I had to break off several times as I couldnt get one side to braze properly. Once I figured out how much I need to heat up the tube, it was really easy and fast work from there.

Once it was all done, I painted it black, mostly to cover imperfections in brazing as much as possible









As you can see, there are legs inside of legs. Unpainted legs are brazed to the frame, and then I created another set of legs and base that top frame goes into (all black part). This will allow me to move whole top frame up and down about 5 inches. I wanted to have option of moving it, so that when I start figuring out PAR and height I should place lights at, I can play around with height and see which one works the best. I just have to drill few holes to hold it at various heights. Finally, I plugged square tube ends at the bottom with plastic caps.

Also, light mounts (aluminum bars) where NP lights are mounted can be removed via screws, so if I decide to use different lights I would just have to space those bars around in new position. Then again i can play with height and re-adjust as necessary. I also made sure that I have enough space so that I can mount a single T5 fixture on each side, if/ when time comes for that

[titus]

Hello

Very nice. Can't wait to see the next update.

Titus

[bauder1986]

Now this is a proper DIY! Good on you for not using a grinder to clean up your welds but really good on you for building this unit yourself! This is on serious light fixture now! I wouldn't be surprised if you ended up being stuck at less than 30% power on those lights.