T5 mounting advice

[twhit030]

okay r2r I need some help from the people lol.
I have a 75 gallon all sps system going up. I just got my new 48 inch t5 giesmann 8 bulb fixture in and considering I’ve used the el cheapo Amazon version in the past… this things way heavier. I NEED MOUNTING OPTIONS!!

I’ve considered rim mount on the tank but I want the lights up about 10 inches off the water snd don’t know where or how I’d make a 10 inch leg mount.

I’ve considered hanging from the ceiling but of course our Florida home is one of the few with like 13ft ceilings.

I’d also thought about doing mount off the wall from behind but of course as you can see in the picture above there’s a window (will always be converted to control algae growth) and nothing to drill into. (I guess I could go out from the sides of the window and just have the cords pulling outwards a little.

please help with ideas I want to use these lights but if I can’t find a realistic mounting option I’ll have no choice but to get rid of them.

 

[dank reefer]

Maybe can be mounted with a custom extruded aluminum hanger that's attached to the tank stand?

 

[LeftyReefer]

If a wall mount or ceiling mount isn't possible, it looks like you will need to mount something off the back of the tank stand.
or perhaps a couple hanger brackets screwed to the inside/top of your window frame?

 

[fishface NJ]

Conduit pipe and bend it with the conduit bender. Painted it black. Rests on the floor with a bracket holding it to the stand

 

[reefingaz]

How about you use some cool black 3/4” gas pipe with 90’s. Mount it above the window then bring down with one 90’ to the 12-14” above tank then another 90 to be horizontal to tank. Wish I could show a pic

 

[twhit030]

So I did that with a previous build on some ai primes (individually) and it worked very very well. But idk how to begin haha I was thinking some steel square pipe from homedepot then figure out how to bend it

Conduit pipe and bend it with the conduit bender. Painted it black. Rests on the floor with a bracket holding it to the stand

ohhh I like that that’s a good idea. My father in law sells conduit as well haha.

 

[twhit030]

How about you use some cool black 3/4” gas pipe with 90’s. Mount it above the window then bring down with one 90’ to the 12-14” above tank then another 90 to be horizontal to tank. Wish I could show a pic

If you could find a picture or drawing of that that would be awesome.

 

[twhit030]

If a wall mount or ceiling mount isn't possible, it looks like you will need to mount something off the back of the tank stand.
or perhaps a couple hanger brackets screwed to the inside/top of your window frame?

I never thought of doing the inside of the window Frame im sure that would work really well actually. Might even hide where it attaches to the wall itself with it being recessed into the window frame like that

 

[twhit030]

This is exactly why I ask you guys haha. I’m creative but sometimes you get so stuck on one thought and can’t get it out of your head

 

[twhit030]

Okay here’s a slightly off topic question it’s a 3 channel 8 bulb fixture from left to right numbered 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

channel 1 = 1,8
Channel 2 = 2,3,6,7
Channel 3 = 4,5

ive been seeing par numbers people put up in an identical tank and I’m seeing a lot of people hitting 500 part 4 inches below water with all 8 bulbs.

I was considering doing channel 1 and 2 then just leaving channel 3 empty. Is there anything wrong with that? Any problems that may occurs? There’s 3 plugs for the 3 channels.

should I plug all 3 plugs in and just not put in bulbs in channel 3 or should I just not even plug it in at all? The fixture does have a plastic clear screen that keeps salt splash out of the inside so I don’t see why it would be bad to leave them empty