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Hanging/Suspending Your Light
Over Your Tank
There are many
benefits to hanging your light over your tank.
Hanging makes it easy to get your light out of the
way for tank access. There's less wear & tear
on your light from shoving it on it's legs.
The vibration from doing so can easily break
bulbs...& on. Important
Note! You will not want to hang your light
dead center of your tank but rather a little towards
the front of your tank. You want the majority
of your light to illuminate your corals which
because of your rock structure & the room it takes
up will be more to the front.
There are many
different ways to make a simple light hanging
system. All
items needed can be found at most hardware stores
like Home Depot etc.
The following
pictures show the hanging system I use on the store
220 gal display tank. It is a 2 eye-bolt &
slippery nylon rope system. In my case my
ceiling stringers were not where I could connect to
them & have the light where I needed it so up in the
attic a 2x4 board was screwed across 2 stringers
then my eyebolts screwed into the 2x4. Some
people may not be able to access the stringers from
above so another solution is to make a decorative
board & secure it to your stringers from over your
tank.My ceiling eye-bolts are
secured to a 2x4 anchored to the ceiling stringers
from the attic side. Click on images to see
larger version...
The majority of
hobbyists will hang their light from a ceiling.
For some with cathedral ceilings you may consider
using "L" brackets from the wall behind the tank.
For this explanation let's assume we're hanging from
the ceiling.
The first thing to do
is to locate your ceiling stringers. Do they
run horizontal with the length of the light or
opposite? This is important as you need to tie
into something strong which will take the downward
force of the light itself as well as the force of
pulling the lights up. The diagram above shows
the ceiling stringers not where we need them to tie
into direct so we use a board to tie into the
stringers then we tie into the board. Make sure the
board is strong enough to withstand the downward
forces. You can mount this board on top of the
stringers from the attic side or from the ceiling
side. The diagram here show from the ceiling
side. Remember, mount this board so that the
center of the board will hang the light a little
front forward on your tank. Take the time to
measure well.
Next, you install
either eye-bolts or you can use pulleys.
Eye-Bolt
Application - If you use eye-bolts, only
use 2. Do not mount a third bolt as shown in
the diagram for the handle. Doing so makes it
very difficult to pull the light up. Use a
slippery braided nylon rope so it will easily slide
through the pulleys. Roping will be the same
as in the diagram.
Pulley Application
- Pulley units work the easiest. Use 3 units.
Connecting To The
Light System - Many light systems come ready to
hang & some even come with their own hanging
systems. The diagram depicts a 4 bolt system
found on Hamilton halide systems. Orbit PC
lights & Outer Orbit Halide lights come with a
single right & left end mounting system. For
this example I'm using a Hamilton 4 bolt diagram.
You can choose to use decorative chain links, rope,
metal suspension wire etc. (indicated in red & blue
lines in the diagram). Whatever you use be
sure your connectors are exactly the same on both
right & left ends to allow the light to hang level.
In this explanation we're using rope. You will
use one piece from the left end of the light
(indicated by the blue line in the diagram) and a
second from the right end (indicated by the red line
in the diagram). Be sure to give yourself
excess rope/wire etc. so that when you're finished
the pull handle/rope is long enough to hang behind
the tank keeping it out of view. :0)
Stop Washer - This is
important as it is what keeps your light from
falling into the tank!
I use a metal washer to make a stop. This
is what will allow your lights to come down & stop
in place. For lights with a splash lens I hang
my lights about 2 inches above the tank rim.
Be sure to use a washer that's large enough & strong
enough so it won't fit through the hole of your
eye-bolt or pulley. After threading your
rope/wire through the eye-bolts/pulleys loosely tie
your rope onto the washer. It's at this point
that you will want to have everything connected to
your lights, then pull up your lights to the level
you want the lights to hang normally over your tank
& tie the rope securely
to the washer. I make several knots on top of
each other to be safe.
Making A Pull
Handle - I simply use a straight piece of PVC
pipe. Cut it so it is a little wider than your
hand for comfort. Take each rope & thread
through the PVC handle piece. Tie both ropes
together under the PVC handle.
Mounting A Holding
Hook - To keep your lights up above your tank
you will need to hook your rope to something.
I recommend using a strong double ended rope
fastener. These normally come with 2 mounting
screws & can be installed to the tank stand or wall
beside the tank....as long as you screw it into a
wall stud! It is
critical to secure the rope fastener to something
solid that is strong enough to withstand the weight
of the light suspended! I tie the
ends of the 2 ropes below the handle to a length of
linked chain. The linked chain allows me to
secure the light in the "up" position at different
levels.
You're done!
:0)
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