Mounting Legs

K

KAYBEE

New Member
Hello....I am looking into ordering an aqualite 20" power compact fixture for my 10g. My question is.....are the mounting legs needed?? or can the unit sit right on the all glass tank? I will also be adding a 3/4w moonlight.

tia,
Kay
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
I spent the money on the legs for my coralife fixture that is very similar to that but took them off and it now sits right on the tank - I like it better this way IMO
 
K

KAYBEE

New Member
johnanddawn said:
I spent the money on the legs for my coralife fixture that is very similar to that but took them off and it now sits right on the tank - I like it better this way IMO
Click to expand...
That is my thinking....I have an autistic son who is drawn to water and having the tank covered works better for me. I think it would look better too.

Thanks for your reply!
 
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Anonymous

Guest
I would either leave the glass top on or place some egg crate on the top of the tank (that is what I have cause I don't like glass tops) cut to fit so that there are no accidents with your son (or you for that matter accidents happen) bumping the light or something and it falling in
 
K

KAYBEE

New Member
Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2005 10:35 am Post subject:

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""I would either leave the glass top on or place some egg crate on the top of the tank (that is what I have cause I don't like glass tops) cut to fit so that there are no accidents with your son (or you for that matter accidents happen) bumping the light or something and it falling in.""

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OK, I'm still in the equipment collecting process here. :loveface

I have my light fixture but it doesn't sit securely on the tank so I sent for the adjustable legs. I don't really care for the light sitting that high though.

My question to you is.......would the egg crate cause a shadow effect with the light shining thru it?

TIA, Kay
 
M

mikeguerrero

Active Member
Raising the lights off the glass is very important, becuase the lights do give off heat and you would only transfer that into the tank.

Also the elevated legs will spread the light more evenly than just on the glass.

Mike
 
K

KAYBEE

New Member
Thank you for your input Mike & Sadie!

I do think I'm going to have to use the legs in order to leave enough room for some of the other gadgets. I am putting the set-up together from scratch. I just bought a glass tank that has no top so I am thinking of going with egg crate for a cover. My only concern is if there would be a shadow effect. Well.....I want it to look nice too, of course. :alice

I suppose if I don't care for the egg crate I can eventually use it as a pattern to have some glass cut for the top.

Thanks again,
Kay
 
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sadielynn

New Member
As I said before some minor shadowing will occur but not alot the glass top will also raise your temp and possibly give you problems down the road with ph and 02 exchange. At first I thought that the egg crate looked tacky but alas I got use to it and now it doesnt look bad at all matter of fact it sits on the inner lip of the tank . We had a jumper so I had to get something to cover the tank , we were open on most of the top (till Sushi our fish jumped out he was the second to carpet surf one happened in the middle of the night so we found fish jerky on the carpet the next am ) we had a piece of plexi glass cut that warped , so we had glass cut and then the temp went way high I think it was something like 85 degrees here is a link discussing the glass top issue
http://nanotank.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1860 I hope this helps you out some :)
 
skipm

skipm

Moderator
Staff member
Kay,
Eggcrate is designed to go one way, if the shadowing is too noticeable turn it over and see if thats better. One side of the gridwork is alot narrower than the other side but I can't remember which side should go up. HTH, Skip
 
K

KAYBEE

New Member
Thank you Sadielynn!

So egg crate is in the "lighting" section at Home Depot! LOL, I was wondering what the stuff was used for! duh :lol3:

Hehe, as you can tell by the date I started this thread I have been putting this tank together since Aug/Sept slowly as I can buy the pieces. The 96w light fixture was the biggie $$$ though, next being the skimmer which I have now also. :banadance:

Kay
 
K

KAYBEE

New Member
skipm said:
Kay,
Eggcrate is designed to go one way, if the shadowing is too noticeable turn it over and see if thats better. One side of the gridwork is alot narrower than the other side but I can't remember which side should go up. HTH, Skip
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Oh, good to know!!

Thanks Skip!
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
you will notice on the eggcrate that one side has thinner edges and one side thicker. It is disigned so that if the thin side is up (what you want) the light is kinda funneled downward. this not only directs the light better but it also cuts down on some of the surface reflectence. The other way allows for dispersing of light like you would want in a room. also I see your from WI too where you at??
 
K

KAYBEE

New Member
johnanddawn said:
you will notice on the eggcrate that one side has thinner edges and one side thicker. It is disigned so that if the thin side is up (what you want) the light is kinda funneled downward. this not only directs the light better but it also cuts down on some of the surface reflectence. The other way allows for dispersing of light like you would want in a room. also I see your from WI too where you at??
Click to expand...
That makes sense! Thanks for the explanation J & D.

I'm just outside of Wausau.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
I 'm not too far from there maybe when your all set up I can hook you up with some frags, I usually have some softies, shrooms and zoas to share.
 
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