Setting up Par38 lighting.

[sillysidewinder]

So as most of you know the Par38 light will fight in pretty much any standard light fixture. However, I do not want two desk lamps hanging off the side of my tank lol. I have been looking around for various ways to go about this. I was thinking about building a wood post behind my tank to hang the lights from. I was also thinking about using a photography lightstand. I can't seem to find a clamp on light stand. Does anyone have any good suggestions...?

 

[Alex]

You can try finding the clamp on lamps at home depot, I've them them there. For a more refined look swing by Ikea, they have a large selection of hanging fixtures that might suit your needs.

 

[Anthony.Luciano710]

why dont you build a canopy with wood going across on the inside and build light sockets into the wood going across the top inside the canopy. thats what i was originally going to do when i had a smaller tank but then i got a 125 and just made a whole big aluminum led fixture and im building a canopy to put it in.

 

[Wes]

Track lighting on the wall behind the tank looks nice.

I also like the NEO arm but they are not cheap.

 

[JonnyJ]

There are alot of options.

Start by looking for track lighting like Wes said.

As long as it has a e26/27 socket without a shroud or one that is removable it will work.


The bulbs are very large and heavy so if you decide to do any random swing arm fixtures make sure that it can handle the weight so you don't wake up and it's in your tank.

 

[Anthony.Luciano710]

lol i had a clip on light fall into the tank once and i put my arm in really fast to grab it and my whole arm got electrocuted. but now i have precautions like everything is grounded and a grounding probe in the water.

There are alot of options.

Start by looking for track lighting like Wes said.

As long as it has a e26/27 socket without a shroud or one that is removable it will work.


The bulbs are very large and heavy so if you decide to do any random swing arm fixtures make sure that it can handle the weight so you don't wake up and it's in your tank.

 

[sillysidewinder]

I really like the idea of track lighting. I need some sort of brace to hang the track from, I can't drill into my walls or anything like that. It needs to be either attached to the stand or free standing.

 

[CONSTANTNE]

Not sure if im allowed to post this from another forum but I really really like the fixture this guy used

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=249829

 

[Anthony.Luciano710]

what about the canopy with the wood going cross like i said then just put a track on it instead of putting light sockets in the wood. or just build a wood thing with legs on the side of the top of the tank with wood going across the top and put the track on that.

I really like the idea of track lighting. I need some sort of brace to hang the track from, I can't drill into my walls or anything like that. It needs to be either attached to the stand or free standing.

 

[sillysidewinder]

Not sure if im allowed to post this from another forum but I really really like the fixture this guy used

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/inde...owtopic=249829

I like that a lot, however I can't do it into the ceiling. Maybe I'll just attach a similar fixture to a free standing bar like Anthony suggested. What do you mean by canopy though?

 

[Anthony.Luciano710]

something like this http://media.photobucket.com/image/aquarium canopy/SirOttis/DSC07869.jpg
it just sits on top of the tank and you can put lights and stuff inside it and you can close it and stuff. go on google images and type aquarium canopy. you can get alot of good ideas from there.

 

[Anthony.Luciano710]

this is a better example http://www.woodweb.com/galleries/project/images/1002/custom_oak_aquarium_cabinet_02.JPG
see how he has the lights going across and being held up by the canopy.

 

[sillysidewinder]

nah, i definitely don't want to do a canopy.