How to mount Radion under canopy

ReefBeta · Aug 14, 2020

I have 3 Radion over 6 ft tank. There is only 9" space from under the canopy to the top of the tank. So I want to mount the light as close to the canopy as possible.

My thought so far is to get a RMS track to put the lights on. But then I'm lost at how do I suppose to mount that track onto underneath of the canopy. Thoughts?

If there is other better way, I will love to know. Thanks.

Mastiffsrule · Aug 14, 2020

Evening

9 inches is really tight. Are you trying to attach the rail right to the underside of the canopy? That is probably what I would do.

Slide the mounts onto the rail and hold the rail up to the bottom of the canopy lid. Measure the distance between the rail and the bottom of canopy. That will give you the size of a spacer block you will need. You are basically screwing the rail to the underside of the canopy lid. Since the mounts go around the rail the rail will not sit flush to the lid. The block will fit that space so the mounts don’t interfere. I would cut a lot of spacers, use glue and tacks or staples to hold the spacers on. Once they are dry and solid drill holes in the rail. Mount the lights on the rail and screw the rail onto the canopy.

I hope that made sense and that is what you were asking. If not disregard. One other thing, I would have a fan on each side of the canopy. One pushing and one pulling air thru the canopy if you don’t have one. Otherwise those radion fans will suck up the humidity that is stuck in the canopy.

proxy001 · Aug 15, 2020

yes its gonna be tight. Here is what I did:
My canopy has transversals wood beams.
I drilled the RMS rail so it would match the beams then installed the plastic sliders on the rail.
I had the opposite problem though my canopy is a bit high.

ReefBeta · Aug 15, 2020

Mastiffsrule said:
Evening

9 inches is really tight. Are you trying to attach the rail right to the underside of the canopy? That is probably what I would do.

Slide the mounts onto the rail and hold the rail up to the bottom of the canopy lid. Measure the distance between the rail and the bottom of canopy. That will give you the size of a spacer block you will need. You are basically screwing the rail to the underside of the canopy lid. Since the mounts go around the rail the rail will not sit flush to the lid. The block will fit that space so the mounts don’t interfere. I would cut a lot of spacers, use glue and tacks or staples to hold the spacers on. Once they are dry and solid drill holes in the rail. Mount the lights on the rail and screw the rail onto the canopy.

I hope that made sense and that is what you were asking. If not disregard. One other thing, I would have a fan on each side of the canopy. One pushing and one pulling air thru the canopy if you don’t have one. Otherwise those radion fans will suck up the humidity that is stuck in the canopy.

The rail don't have holes on it, right? So I need to dry it and screw it onto the canopy with spacer, right?

Mastiffsrule · Aug 16, 2020

zsxking said:
The rail don't have holes on it, right? So I need to dry it and screw it onto the canopy with spacer, right?

That would be my thought. I am only theorizing not seeing your set up. There may be other ways. A pic of your set up may help spark some other ideas.

azreefkeeper · Aug 16, 2020

Is your rail system similar to this image but with 3 Radions vs. 2? This is a 5ft tank.

ReefBeta · Aug 17, 2020

The canopy looks like this. Haven't bought the track yet. Want to figure out how it will actually work first.

azreefkeeper · Aug 17, 2020

Okay, so the sides of the hood take up the space that would normally be allocated to the RMS "arms" found at the end of the RMS track. Things would require some engineering...and likely a good amount of cutting to fit those in. Maybe the easiest solution is to just do away with the RMS arms and cut a small curved hole similar to a "(" shape on each end of your canopy to accommodate the RMS track itself. The highest point on that curve would be towards the top of the canopy.

You would need to carefully match the RMS track to the length of your canopy. I see that you're dealing with a 6ft tank so the RMS rail would need to be at minimum 72-76". The only size RMS rail that I see close to that range is the 70.5in which fits a tank width of 68.5in - 78.5. However, I think that assumes the remaining 2 inches will be covered by the RMS arms.

You might be forced to get the 80.5in track which is slightly too long, leaving at least 2-3 inches protruding from each end. Perhaps that's not a problem but I am skeptical. Obviously you would need something to keep the RMS track from sliding left-to-right so maybe this gives you something to clip onto for that purpose. Since the Ecotech "slides" used to mount the lights have very little material above the RMS track you should be able to make each "(" shaped hole on the ends of the canopy only about 1-2 inches below the top.

Good luck and keep us posted!

ReefBeta · Aug 18, 2020

azreefkeeper said:
Okay, so the sides of the hood take up the space that would normally be allocated to the RMS "arms" found at the end of the RMS track. Things would require some engineering...and likely a good amount of cutting to fit those in. Maybe the easiest solution is to just do away with the RMS arms and cut a small curved hole similar to a "(" shape on each end of your canopy to accommodate the RMS track itself. The highest point on that curve would be towards the top of the canopy.

You would need to carefully match the RMS track to the length of your canopy. I see that you're dealing with a 6ft tank so the RMS rail would need to be at minimum 72-76". The only size RMS rail that I see close to that range is the 70.5in which fits a tank width of 68.5in - 78.5. However, I think that assumes the remaining 2 inches will be covered by the RMS arms.

You might be forced to get the 80.5in track which is slightly too long, leaving at least 2-3 inches protruding from each end. Perhaps that's not a problem but I am skeptical. Obviously you would need something to keep the RMS track from sliding left-to-right so maybe this gives you something to clip onto for that purpose. Since the Ecotech "slides" used to mount the lights have very little material above the RMS track you should be able to make each "(" shaped hole on the ends of the canopy only about 1-2 inches below the top.

Good luck and keep us posted!

Cutting a "(" is an interesting idea. But I don't think it will look too nice with a 80.5" track. 70.5" is not even enough to each the inside ends. I measured the distance inside, it's 72.25". My thought currently is to screw to 2" thick wood piece on each side, then the 70.5" track can sit on it. Then I will need some way to secure it so that it won't slide.

The other idea is from its hanging kit, which include a bracket. So I could 3D print an extended bracket like that, and screw that onto the canopy. Then get a 60" track, so that there are spaces on each end that I can slide the track onto the bracket one side at a time.

ReefBeta · Aug 18, 2020

I ended up screwing the lights directly onto the canopy, screws went in from the top. I found some M5 flat head screw so to go flush with the top. Updated pictures to my build thread.

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