All in 1 Light Rack for less than 50 bux.

[Cjud7982]

Well I have been getting tired of fussing with cables and hanging kits for my maxpect razors that I have been getting for great used prices. I actually just got a third one and am currently moving them to go over my 180. I also wanted to add some supplemental t5s to help with shadowing and coral growth. So naturally this was getting ugly fast.
Well here is my solution. Still a work in progress as we speak. Just put it down for the night.
I have had this t5 retro fit kit kicking around for 2 years and use 4 36" bulbs. So perfect, 6 foot tank equals 2 rows of 2 bulbs one in the front and one in the rear. Now to see if my razors would fit in between them. bam like it was made to be. So I need to come up with a way to A, mount all of the fixtures to one frame, and B, how to put the fixture above the tank.
Solution, build a frame out of 3/4 x 3/4 x 1/8 aluminum just smaller than the rim of the tank (so my canopy will still work) Position all the lights where I wanted them, added some additional aluminum where stuff needed to mount, and good to go. The solution I decided to go with for getting it above the tank is sort of a neat idea I think. You know the rails that you screw to the wall and hook a bracket into for wire shelving? yep, mount a 1 foot strip on 3 different studs behind the tank at a median height. Next mount the 24" arms that go with the rails to the lighting frame. And now I will have all of my lights nice cleanly mounted under my canopy, so I can removed the canopy without fussing with lights. And also, another benefit, is that the entire lighting system can be easily adjusted height wise by simply raising and lowing it on the rails. No wires hanging above, no brackets mounted to the tank. I hope it works as well as I think it will. The one thing that I know is not the best is programming the lights themselves. They will be ridged mounted so it will be tough to see the end of the light fixtures. Planning to test mount it over my tank this weekend. Here are a couple pictures of it so far. Still need to finish rebuilding one of the razors and get a new power supply for it.
5 sticks of aluminum at 8 bucks a piece - 40
assortment of stainless hardware - less than 10
shelving hardware - free, had some spare stuff laying around from other projects
cost of 50 dollars, beats the heck out of buying 3 new hanging kits, and finding some other way to add t5 lights in a tight space.

 

[cpschult]

Is the aluminum strong enough to hold all that weight?

 

[Cjud7982]

Sure as heck seems like it. there are 4 channels running length wise, and 4 running front to back. really ridged. And there will probably be more once I add the framework to mount it to the wall. Once the razors are permanently mounted, their chassis itself, which is cast aluminum I think, maybe extruded, will add a ton more rigidity to the structure. I have temporarily mounted them and there is little to no flex at all and can hold it up from any point without issues. I don't think that there is any reason for concern, at all. But all will tell when I go to mount it lol

 

[tank o tang]

Here' mine. Held my mh with vho. Now my reefbreeder. Soon to hold my kessil. Is also still wired with my reefkeeper moon lights from mh days.

 

[Cjud7982]

very cool! looks like a similar setup, I like it. I would like to get a reefkeeper to control the t5s and moon lights, that way I can give the blue channels of the maxspects a nightly rest. what are you using for the night lights? the 3 bulb string with the moon light module?

 

[tank o tang]

Using the reefbreeder lights turned down for now. Once I switch lights I'll see how they are on the new lights and if I don't like them I'll go back to using the reefkeeper module.

 

[Cjud7982]

Using the reefbreeder lights turned down for now. Once I switch lights I'll see how they are on the new lights and if I don't like them I'll go back to using the reefkeeper module.

Very cool, Keep me posted!

Finally got the ballasts all wired up and the rest of the framework done last night. Hung the brackets on the wall tonight and then the fixture. Running just the t5s right now. ATI true actinics in the front and ATI blue plus in the rear. Will be working on installing the maxspect power supplies and getting them wired up over the next couple days. I am thrilled with how it is turning out so far. Love not having hanging cables. I was a little worried about the wall brackets not being long enough to support the entire fixture, but the framework is rigid enough that it is plenty sturdy; it is not going anywhere. Next project will be building the solid oak canopy to clean the look up and ps, dont hate on me for the wires going everywhere right now, I am in process of getting this all taken care of. In the middle of a fallow period so I just tore my sump apart to clean it as well as redo all the wiring.