Big K
Reefing newb
Hello, Peeps!
So, a few weeks ago I was moaning about our T5 fixture and how we needed new bulbs and how great it'd be to get an LED fixture. My wife said "get whatever you want, you deserve it!" So I went to ReefBreeders.com and bought the Photon 48 I have been drooling over for a long while. Isn't my wife awesome!?
Anyway, when it arrived I realized that I hated the idea of the light just hanging by the cabled kit that comes with it. Luckily I love the building/engineering aspect of this hobby almost as much as the pretty nature end of it. So I decided to build a bracket that hung from the window frame behind the tank with a sliding mount for the light. This would allow for the light to "hover" over the tank without blocking access and get it to easily slide out of the way for any big job required in-tank.
Like an idiot I didn't take any WIP pictures but here is the end result:
I mounted two pieces of wood at a 90 angle with large brackets underneath. Then trimmed the upper board with two 3" "rails" I could mount the drawer slides to. The slides were mounted to the inside of those. Then I got another board to mount on the top of the light fixture itself. I mounted two 3' boards to the top of it at the same width of the inner parts of the drawer slides from the bracket piece. I took the top off of the fixture and removed the existing hardware that the hanging kit mounts to. I cut an access in the back of the board for the power cord then drilled 3" holes to accommodate the cooling fan vents. Then I lined it up to the fixture top piece, clamped it down,and screwed it on from the underside using the old hardware holes. After taking the slide apart, I mounted the slide pieces to the boards on the fixture cover. Then (with help from the wife) I mounted the bracket to the window frame and slid the light piece into the slides on the bracket piece!
Sorry I didn't take any WIP shots, I was too busy figuring out the bugs and staining the wood!
So, a few weeks ago I was moaning about our T5 fixture and how we needed new bulbs and how great it'd be to get an LED fixture. My wife said "get whatever you want, you deserve it!" So I went to ReefBreeders.com and bought the Photon 48 I have been drooling over for a long while. Isn't my wife awesome!?
Anyway, when it arrived I realized that I hated the idea of the light just hanging by the cabled kit that comes with it. Luckily I love the building/engineering aspect of this hobby almost as much as the pretty nature end of it. So I decided to build a bracket that hung from the window frame behind the tank with a sliding mount for the light. This would allow for the light to "hover" over the tank without blocking access and get it to easily slide out of the way for any big job required in-tank.
Like an idiot I didn't take any WIP pictures but here is the end result:
I mounted two pieces of wood at a 90 angle with large brackets underneath. Then trimmed the upper board with two 3" "rails" I could mount the drawer slides to. The slides were mounted to the inside of those. Then I got another board to mount on the top of the light fixture itself. I mounted two 3' boards to the top of it at the same width of the inner parts of the drawer slides from the bracket piece. I took the top off of the fixture and removed the existing hardware that the hanging kit mounts to. I cut an access in the back of the board for the power cord then drilled 3" holes to accommodate the cooling fan vents. Then I lined it up to the fixture top piece, clamped it down,and screwed it on from the underside using the old hardware holes. After taking the slide apart, I mounted the slide pieces to the boards on the fixture cover. Then (with help from the wife) I mounted the bracket to the window frame and slid the light piece into the slides on the bracket piece!
Sorry I didn't take any WIP shots, I was too busy figuring out the bugs and staining the wood!
