DIY T5 mount for a peninsula drop off aquarium?

[Evieeeeee]

I got my hands on a peninsula drop off aquarium as well as a old ATI powermodule T5-LED hybrid fixture. I'd love to use this thing but I promised that I won't be drilling the wall or the ceiling this time around to mount stuff to it so that is out of question. I was looking into maybe building my own with something like 1515, like this , but wasn't sure if it would be strong enough to hold it in place.


What do you guys think? Would a 1515 or similar in a l joint with a corner gusset and other support be able to hold something around 25~30lbs of weight? Or is ceiling mounting my only choice for now? The fixture is 24" long with 4 bulbs.

 

[kyleinpdx]

To what, and how will you be attaching the lighting rack itself?

 

[Evieeeeee]

To what, and how will you be attaching the lighting rack itself?

I was thinking about using brackets to drill the leg into the stand. If you mean the actual T5 fixture, then I was going to use the ATI mounting kit to just mount it directly onto the 1515's slots or to the mounting hooks after drilling it.

 

[kyleinpdx]

I was thinking about using brackets to drill the leg into the stand. If you mean the actual T5 fixture, then I was going to use the ATI mounting kit to just mount it directly onto the 1515's slots or to the mounting hooks after drilling it.

I was talking more the lighting rack to the stand (or what ever it would be mounted to.) I'm guessing the stand is wood? Is the stand particle board for actual lumber? With a span that long/at that weight its going to act as a pretty good lever against your fasteners and stand depending on how you go about it. I would want to make the piece attached to the stand reasonably long so you can help offset some of that teeter tooter affect and bolt it clear through the attachment area of the stand and have your bolts well supported from the back side, such as large washers).

 

[Evieeeeee]

I was talking more the lighting rack to the stand (or what ever it would be mounted to.) I'm guessing the stand is wood? Is the stand particle board for actual lumber? With a span that long/at that weight its going to act as a pretty good lever against your fasteners and stand depending on how you go about it. I would want to make the piece attached to the stand reasonably long so you can help offset some of that teeter tooter affect and bolt it clear through the attachment area of the stand and have your bolts well supported from the back side, such as large washers).

Fair point. I'm not too sure what kind of wood it is, it's a steel stand that has wood bolted onto the back permanently but the side pieces are removable. I was going to make the leg long enough to touch the floor and bolt it in multiple places but now that you mention it I'm not too confident on if it will hold up to the torque...

 

[kyleinpdx]

Fair point. I'm not too sure what kind of wood it is, it's a steel stand that has wood bolted onto the back permanently but the side pieces are removable. I was going to make the leg long enough to touch the floor and bolt it in multiple places but now that you mention it I'm not too confident on if it will hold up to the torque...

It can be done, especially if the stand is metal. I have an aluminum stand and was going to do something similar to you for my t5 hybrid setup. I gamed out multiple alu racks, one attachment/mounting point, two, mounting it behind the stand or on a side, but it always ended up being more than I wanted to spend once I added in shipping. Thats with getting the profiles and fasteners from different vendors. So then I explored the bent conduit route, also with one and two pipes/mounts. I never was happy with the ways I came up with to secure it. I, too, did not want to hang the lights from brackets on the wall or from the ceiling. After a while I realized I was fighting the easiest and most obvious answer. I ended up hanging from the ceiling. I got some nice looking hooks that matched our light fixtures and accepted my fate.

 

[Evieeeeee]

After a while I realized I was fighting the easiest and most obvious answer. I ended up hanging from the ceiling. I got some nice looking hooks that matched our light fixtures and accepted my fate.

Honestly, the more I look the more likely this is what I'll need to do. HOWEVER, one of the requirements set fourth by my family was no drilling . So I think I might try to either trade it away for a LED fixture since unhappy family is bad for keeping a reef long-term

 

[kyleinpdx]

Honestly, the more I look the more likely this is what I'll need to do. HOWEVER, one of the requirements set fourth by my family was no drilling . So I think I might try to either trade it away for a LED fixture since unhappy family is bad for keeping a reef long-term

Or keep the hybrid and pony up the $$ for the aluminum extrusion and brackets. I think t5/led is the way to go lighting wise.

 

[Evieeeeee]

Or keep the hybrid and pony up the $$ for the aluminum extrusion and brackets. I think t5/led is the way to go lighting wise.

Just don't know if the hybrid wood I have for the stand is strong enough to hold it in place. The wood isn't attached very securely to the metal frame either as far as I can tell.

 

[Evieeeeee]

Anyone know any sort of pre-made fixtures or legs I can use or repurpose into a T5 hanger? I see BRS using something to test T5 fixture hanging heights, something similar would be amazing for my purposes.

 

[scsdukefan408]

Anyone know any sort of pre-made fixtures or legs I can use or repurpose into a T5 hanger? I see BRS using something to test T5 fixture hanging heights, something similar would be amazing for my purposes.

Don’t let the light go just yet!! I didn’t wanna hang my unit in my apt. So I went to a auto shop and bought pipes used for exhaust and had them put a 90 deg bend at the top. Drilled a hole in each for the mounting kit to fit through, and braced it to my stand.