sad day

cheapfish1

cheapfish1

Member
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sry really need to vent. SO i want to make my tank a reef tank and had previously bought a jebo 20 in ch MH pendandt. After first finding out that because my tank is a bow front the legs wouldnt work i opted for hanging it from the ceiling. So me and my dad set it up, attached it to the ceiling using the supplied kit. It was up for ten minutes had all the lights on looked awesome. My mom got home and i went in my room to show her. We walked in without touching it one of the parts that attaches to the lights give out. I dive for the plug and unplug it in time apparantly. NO fish were harmed in the making of this but scared the crap out of the owner seeing 200 watts falling into water. O and by the way any ideas on how to hang the lights
 
mikeyjer

mikeyjer

Active Member
Originally Posted by cheapfish1

[hr]
sry really need to vent. SO i want to make my tank a reef tank and had previously bought a jebo 20 in ch MH pendandt. After first finding out that because my tank is a bow front the legs wouldnt work i opted for hanging it from the ceiling. So me and my dad set it up, attached it to the ceiling using the supplied kit. It was up for ten minutes had all the lights on looked awesome. My mom got home and i went in my room to show her. We walked in without touching it one of the parts that attaches to the lights give out. I dive for the plug and unplug it in time apparantly. NO fish were harmed in the making of this but scared the crap out of the owner seeing 200 watts falling into water. O and by the way any ideas on how to hang the lights
I used a plant hanger in my ceiling and hang the lights with a metal chain. It's been there for 3 months now, it hasn't fall yet. I also use the S shaped metal hanger and hang it to the sides of the light box and hang the other side of the S to the metal chain. :happyfish
 
fadec40

fadec40

Member
If you need to hang the lights from the ceiling, you need to pick a joist/ or wood beam. Screw a metal hook into the wood and you're good to go!
 
mikeyjer

mikeyjer

Active Member
Originally Posted by Fadec40
If you need to hang the lights from the ceiling, you need to pick a joist/ or wood beam. Screw a metal hook into the wood and you're good to go!
No that's really not needed. They have those hanging kit that has that metal support thing and it flips open when you push the front end in(a dry wall mounting bracket or something, can't remember the name of it, just look for plant hangers at wal-mart, it comes with it), then just screw on tight. But finding the beams is a better way to go, but if you can't find it, this is a way to go too! :happyfish
 
puffer32

puffer32

Active Member
Originally Posted by Mikeyjer
No that's really not needed. They have those hanging kit that has that metal support thing and it flips open when you push the front end in(a dry wall mounting bracket or something, can't remember the name of it, just look for plant hangers at wal-mart, it comes with it), then just screw on tight. But finding the beams is a better way to go, but if you can't find it, this is a way to go too! :happyfish
I believe they are called molly bolts. They are on a spring and when screwed into the wall they spread open and keep the hook in the ceiling.
 
mikeyjer

mikeyjer

Active Member
Originally Posted by puffer32
I believe they are called molly bolts. They are on a spring and when screwed into the wall they spread open and keep the hook in the ceiling.

That's it!...
 
madison

madison

Member
I have dated several rough necks in my past life...so trust me when I say this...
The underside of your ceiling is drywall.
Drywalls are made from used toilet paper and water...it really doesn't matter if you have those 50lbs dry wall anchors, mollies or butterflies...if given enough pressure or time they will fail!
Think about it...you are hanging semi heavy electriflied objects above your head and water and glass...
Dude! drill it into a stud!
Some people drive Mercedes and others drive Pintos...they both can get you to where you need to go...but it all depends on how you would like to arrive.
 
darknes

darknes

Active Member
You definitely want to attach it to some floor joists or studs in the ceiling.
If you cannot find any that will get the lights to hang above the tank as you want, screw a board across the ceiling between two joists.
Then, you can hang your lights from that board.
I would never suggest hanging anything from only the drywall.
 
cheapfish1

cheapfish1

Member
yeah we looked for the stud but the issu is that the stud is about 7 inches in front of my tank. so it would kind of defeat the purpose of lighting the aquarium. Also it wasnt the ceiling that gave out it was the cheap little part that holds the cord into the lights
thanks for the replies and ideas, keep them coming.
 
mikeyjer

mikeyjer

Active Member
I have hang things from drywall before without a problem! Another thing you can do is by building a little stand on both sides of your tank and run a piece of 2x4 across the top to where you have enough height for the light and hang it from there. Be sure to secure your 2x4 of course, or you can use a nice piece of solid wood that has decoration designs on it so it won't look crappy. Another thing is to make sure your stand is nicely secured so you won't risk it tipping over. Just a thought! :happyfish
 
madison

madison

Member
cheapfish1 ~ if the stud is 7" away from the tank...that means there's a another stud 5 " behind your tank...since studs are put in 12" apart...maybe that's just a California Building Code...different states may vary.
Drill into the front stud and attach a nice looking wood plank painted to match your ceiling and drill into the stud behind the tank....then hang your lights anywhere on the plank...this way the weight is distributed between the 2 studs...AND the anchors/mollies/butterfies are secured into wood rather then used wet paper (drywall)...you can even hard wire your lights into the ceiling
 
pfitz44

pfitz44

Active Member
Originally Posted by Madison
cheapfish1 ~ if the stud is 7" away from the tank...that means there's a another stud 5 " behind your tank...since studs are put in 12" apart...maybe that's just a California Building Code...different states may vary.
I thought it was every 16".... thats why they got every 16" marked off on a tape measure.....?
 
J

jdragunas

Guest
i was told to do this: You know those shelves that have the two long metal things that attach to the wall, then you put the two metal things into those, and a piece of wood on top? You can get some sort of setup like that... wow, this is much more difficult to explain than i thought, hold on, i'll draw a diagram...
 
J

jdragunas

Guest
ok, wow, this is crappy... but i think it gets the point across.
I made the fish tank and stand see-through because it was easier... lol. The shelving kit comes with two metal bars that you attach directly to the wall. Then it comes with some other metal pieces that are the support unit for the shelf. These metal pieces fit into slots in the metal bars on the wall, and are designed to hold a piece of wood - which becomes the shelf. I was told to get one of these kits, and instead of putting a piece of wood on it, put the lighting unit on it... Now i don't know how sturdy these things are, but they're shelves, so i imagine they'd be designed to hold quite a bit of weight... just another suggestion.
 
mikeyjer

mikeyjer

Active Member
Originally Posted by jdragunas
oopsy, forgot to attach the pic...
Some are quite flamsy. Get the industrial ones, they're heavy duty. :happyfish
 
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