Putting a retrofit in an acrylic canopy?

[d-monic]

Hey all! Just wondering if its possible to put a retrofit *specifically a coralife aqualight dual 96 watt 36"* into an acrylic canopy...i just got my new tank,and i was going to get new lights..but the lights in my old tank are the same length.. its a retrofit i screwed into a wood canopy. Can i take the retrofit out of the wood canopy and put it into the acrylic one? Since i cant drill it in how would it stay up above the tank? Also are retofits ok above an acrylic tank since the bulbs get so hot with no gaurd?...gah,sorry to sound like a dummy! Info is appreciated! <3

 

[florida joe]

Can you send a pic of your canopy with out seeing it hard to tell but a guess would be since you need to keep the reflector off the canopy with some kind of spacer I would go to my local home depot and see if they have an adhesive for wood to acrylic I am sure they do and cut small blocks of wood, glue them to the canopy then drill the reflector into the wooden blocks again if you can get a pic I am sure if it can be done some one here can tell you how

 

[d-monic]

Originally Posted by florida joe
Can you send a pic of your canopy with out seeing it hard to tell but a guess would be since you need to keep the reflector off the canopy with some kind of spacer I would go to my local home depot and see if they have an adhesive for wood to acrylic I am sure they do and cut small blocks of wood, glue them to the canopy then drill the reflector into the wooden blocks again if you can get a pic I am sure if it can be done some one here can tell you how
ill take a pic as soon as i get home!...let me see if i can find a pic of a similar canopy right now *goes to look* theres def. a peice of acrylic that i need to cut out of it thats in the way but once thats gone it would definately fit,i just dont know how to apply it!

 

[d-monic]

Heres the actual tank,the canopy is one big peice,it doesnt have a door or anything and its open in the back. Ill take a much better pic when i get home!!

 

[fishn808]

Originally Posted by florida joe
Can you send a pic of your canopy with out seeing it hard to tell but a guess would be since you need to keep the reflector off the canopy with some kind of spacer I would go to my local home depot and see if they have an adhesive for wood to acrylic I am sure they do and cut small blocks of wood, glue them to the canopy then drill the reflector into the wooden blocks again if you can get a pic I am sure if it can be done some one here can tell you how
Or you can use small blocks of acrylic instead of wood as spacers, that are Gorilla glued to the reflector and the acrylic blocks Gorilla glued to the canopy. I did mine that way and it works great. I also run a fan to keep everything cool.

 

[d-monic]

Originally Posted by fishn808
Or you can use small blocks of acrylic instead of wood as spacers, that are Gorilla glued to the reflector and the acrylic blocks Gorilla glued to the canopy. I did mine that way and it works great. I also run a fan to keep everything cool.

could i also gorilla glue peices of wood to the canopy,then skrew(filtered me when i spelled that word right!) the retrofit into the wood? If you have any pics of your lighting id love to see! Are there fans on both sides? Thanks for the advice!!

 

[psusocr1]

just drill the acrylic .. its very easy to do with the right bit..its just like drilling wood.. the heat wont effect the acrylic at all, unless the bulbs are laying right on it..

 

[florida joe]

Originally Posted by psusocr1
just drill the acrylic .. its very easy to do with the right bit..its just like drilling wood.. the heat wont effect the acrylic at all, unless the bulbs are laying right on it..
acrylic may be hard to tap for the screws i would go the wood way and you want to we able to remove the retrofit if you have to so i would not clue it to the blocks

 

[fishn808]

Originally Posted by florida joe
acrylic may be hard to tap for the screws i would go the wood way and you want to we able to remove the retrofit if you have to so i would not clue it to the blocks
Yes I forgot to point this out. In my canopy, the reflector is screwed to the acrylic blocks/spacers and the acrylic blocks are glued to the canopy. If I need to remove the fixture, I just unscrew the fixture from the blocks. I'll try to post a pic.

 

[florida joe]

Originally Posted by D-Monic
Heres the actual tank,the canopy is one big peice,it doesnt have a door or anything and its open in the back. Ill take a much better pic when i get home!!

how do you feed your fish do you have to remove the whole canopy

 

[psusocr1]

acrylic may be hard to tap for the screws i would go the wood way and you want to we able to remove the retrofit if you have to so i would not clue it to the blocks
its actually extremely easy to do with the right bit( and i guess if your handy) its the same thing as wood, you also wouldnt have to use screws if you didnt want to. you can use some very tiny bolts that would look good as well... the thicker the acrylic the easier it is to drill