80/20 aluminum floating light fixture

galantra · Sep 26, 2021

Hey I am looking for some help to
Build a floating light fixture from
One end of the tank. I am looking to add a aquatic life T5 hybrid with some ecotech lights.

So I know this would be heavy but I would have it anchored onto my steel stand but what kind of fitting should I buy? Or should I make two floating fixture to support the weight?

Where should I go buy 80/20 aluminum as well? I know there isn’t one locally. I also reached out to a framing company but never got a reply

fishguy242 · Sep 28, 2021

hi, length you are spanning? @Eagle_Steve @dantimdad ??

dantimdad · Sep 28, 2021

I get everything from Amazon or 3d print it.

Depending on the length and weight, I can have a structural engineer friend tell me the sag at the end.

We are talking two beams, one end supported with weight evenly distributed?

howaboutme · Sep 28, 2021

I used 80/20 for my lights:

I went direct to 8020.net. I provided a drawing (3D model) of what I want it to do and provided them with the weight of the lights plus the cantilever. They confirmed the parts/sizes needed. There are other vendors and I believe they will do the same. They can't help if you don't provide that information though.

rgulrich · Sep 28, 2021

I used 80/20 for mine as well:

During the setup phase.
Figure out how you want to approach getting the lights over the aquarium, draw it up, and talk to the folks at 80/20 - they should be able to walk you through everything you need.
Cheers,
Ray

galantra · Sep 30, 2021

fishguy242 said:
hi, length you are spanning? @Eagle_Steve @dantimdad ??

Tank is 60x30 so within that range

galantra · Sep 30, 2021

dantimdad said:
I get everything from Amazon or 3d print it.

Depending on the length and weight, I can have a structural engineer friend tell me the sag at the end.

We are talking two beams, one end supported with weight evenly distributed?

Yes two beams, was thinking of some how attach the aquatic life side holding up the whole fixture I am thinking? All I know is I want a clean sleek look

galantra · Sep 30, 2021

howaboutme said:
I used 80/20 for my lights:

I went direct to 8020.net. I provided a drawing (3D model) of what I want it to do and provided them with the weight of the lights plus the cantilever. They confirmed the parts/sizes needed. There are other vendors and I believe they will do the same. They can't help if you don't provide that information though.

Yeah I reached out to you up one locally never heard back from them yet

HuduVudu · Sep 30, 2021

TNutz.com is a lot cheaper than 80/20. I am not sure if they will help you build. They may I haven't tried that with them.

You will need to experiment on what works for joints. It takes a bit to get the hang of where you need to re-enforce and by how much.

It is very doable and very much worth it.

I have definitely come to love T-Slot though.

dantimdad · Sep 30, 2021

howaboutme said:
I used 80/20 for my lights:

I went direct to 8020.net. I provided a drawing (3D model) of what I want it to do and provided them with the weight of the lights plus the cantilever. They confirmed the parts/sizes needed. There are other vendors and I believe they will do the same. They can't help if you don't provide that information though.

Sorry to hijack but what size is that tank and do you have a build thread?

galantra · Sep 30, 2021

Truly appreciate the info guys
This is the tank so wanna try doing a clean look

howaboutme · Sep 30, 2021

dantimdad said:
Sorry to hijack but what size is that tank and do you have a build thread?

It's a UNS 75s (26G DT). No build thread for this specific tank. I did put a few images of my upgrade process in my old build thread (click on build thread button or in my sig).

howaboutme · Sep 30, 2021

galantra said:
Truly appreciate the info guys
This is the tank so wanna try doing a clean look

You will have a huge load with those lights. Assuming it can be done, you will have to have 2 attachment points. One at the top horizontal tube and one at the bottom to anchor the cantilever. This is an example but you obviously have steel.

There are people that have done that long cantilever. You have to do some creative googling.

Try Framingtech. They can help. 80/20 is the most expensive but service is top notch. Plan to have a 4-6 week wait as well.

galantra · Oct 1, 2021

That’s who I reach out to was framing tech haven’t heard back from them yet

fryman · Oct 2, 2021

How much weight is your fixture and do you know what kind of ceiling joists you have?

I used lag bolts to affix 8020 to my ceiling joists, which is a very easy and clean way to hang lighting imo. It seems quite strong but admittedly my lights aren't heavy so I didn't stress about strength and I don't know what they are safely able to hold.

You can get simple lengths of 8020 cheaply from tnutz.com, and lag bolts from a big box hardware store like home depot.

My tank stand is also 8020. I got a few quotes for my stand but many suppliers either ignored me or said they had plenty of business due to covid and weren't interested in doing my tank stand project. 8020 was willing to quote based on my design but were not helpful consulting on the design. So I went with framing tech, and am very happy with the result. They weren't cheap but were a little cheaper than 8020 with better customer service.

My contact was Anthony: [email protected]

Ratherbeflyen · Oct 3, 2021

My floating hood is not suspended from the long end, but my floating mount is made from tv all mounting brackets. I did a video of how it works.

galantra · Oct 8, 2021

fryman said:
How much weight is your fixture and do you know what kind of ceiling joists you have?

I used lag bolts to affix 8020 to my ceiling joists, which is a very easy and clean way to hang lighting imo. It seems quite strong but admittedly my lights aren't heavy so I didn't stress about strength and I don't know what they are safely able to hold.

You can get simple lengths of 8020 cheaply from tnutz.com, and lag bolts from a big box hardware store like home depot.

My tank stand is also 8020. I got a few quotes for my stand but many suppliers either ignored me or said they had plenty of business due to covid and weren't interested in doing my tank stand project. 8020 was willing to quote based on my design but were not helpful consulting on the design. So I went with framing tech, and am very happy with the result. They weren't cheap but were a little cheaper than 8020 with better customer service.

My contact was Anthony: [email protected]

My ceiling in the room is pretty high so suspending it’s wouldn’t be a option for me. Hence why using the floating option.

So I am using Aquatic life hybrid and 3 ecotech g5 light so it will be a bit of weight on the fixture