Finnex Light Help

[Fresh2o]

I just purchased a 30" Finnex FugeRay for a 20 g long tank and I am having issues with positioning it on the tank. (BTW lights looks great; nice output). I was going to remove the hinged glass canopy and use the included legs, however, due to the ledge present on the rim of most standard tanks, the legs do not fit securely.

I'm thinking about trimming away the ledge where the legs will go. How easy is it to remove the rim? I was not going to do any cutting on the rim while it was attached to the tank.
My second option was to build up the rim above the ledge with PVC. I have some 1 1/2 x 3/4 PVC boards that I can trim down to 1cm to match the rim width. Secured with super glue.

If I simply place the light fixture on the existing glass canopy, I find that it does not sit evenly (one side is higher than the other):

Also, even or not, the amount of light reflecting off the glass is blinding:


Any suggestions?

 

[misterpenguin4]

Thats how myn is on my 10 gallon. I had a glass top but i noticed that it blocked alot of light. I just screw in the screws as much as possible. As long as you dont have cats or kids hitting the tank you should be good.

 

[Fresh2o]

Thats how myn is on my 10 gallon. I had a glass top but i noticed that it blocked alot of light. I just screw in the screws as much as possible. As long as you dont have cats or kids hitting the tank you should be good.

What I found was that the ends of the screws hit the rim about halfway, halfway off. Also, the plastic on the other side tends to bend with pressure. If this assembly was made out of metal I would have no problem tightening it but with plastic I'm a little wary.

 

[Fresh2o]

I came up with a DIY solution for this. I cut two strips of PVC in to "rails", painted them black and glued them to the tank rim along the side sections. I can still use a glass canopy if I choose to and there is room to position the light fixture anywhere from the front to the back. Or I can add another Finnex fixture.

Each end:


It raises the lights up about 3/4" higher than if mounted on the tank rim


FTS:

 

[misterpenguin4]

I came up with a DIY solution for this. I cut two strips of PVC in to "rails", painted them black and glued them to the tank rim along the side sections. I can still use a glass canopy if I choose to and there is room to position the light fixture anywhere from the front to the back. Or I can add another Finnex fixture.

Each end:

It raises the lights up about 3/4" higher than if mounted on the tank rim

FTS:

How did you make that? Do you have a thread for it?

 

[Fresh2o]

How did you make that? Do you have a thread for it?

As I was making it I was in such a hurry to finish that I did not stop to take pics. My goal was to create an extension to the side rail which is 1 cm wide. This is what I did:

1. I started with a piece of 3/4" x 1 1/2" board of PVC I had lying around (although wood would be fine).

2. I ran it through a table saw to get 1 cm strip about 20" long

3. I then cut that in half to get a pair of 10" x 1 cm (yes I am mixing US and metric) rails.

4. I taped the pair together and then cut the top corners to make it look nice (taped together to get even cuts).

5. Light sanding to remove burrs and splinters

6. Applied a couple coats of flat black spray paint

7. I lined it up onto the tops of the side rim making sure it was even front to back and marked where it should be with blue / masking tape.

8. I temporarily taped the rails to the rim so that I could mount the light and see if things were the way I wanted.

9. I removed the rails and applied super glue to the top of the tank rim and carefully placed the rails on top, applying pressure for a few seconds. Remember, it's super glue so you should put the rails right the first time.

10. I let the glue dry for a few minutes before mounting the light fixture.

Note:
Instead of PVC or a wooden board, you might be able to use paint sticks that are available at most hardware stores. Depending on the thickness, 2 or 3 sticks glued together may get you close to the 1 cm width. Paint sticks are about 1 1/8" wide which is slightly (3/8") taller then the setup I have. Cut, sand, paint, and glue. May not get the same look but it will allow you to securely mount the lights.
Good luck!

 

[misterpenguin4]

Thanks! Ill have to try something like that or maybe cut part of the rim.

 

[Fresh2o]

Thanks! Ill have to try something like that or maybe cut part of the rim.

Before you cut the rim, see what kind of effort it will take to pry the rim off the tank. Of course, a bit more challenging with a tank already in use.

Also, you could trim part of the mounting bracket...only the part that contacts the ledge. It should still give you enough "lip" to clamp onto the rim securely. Disclaimer: this is a suggestion only and if not done properly can render the mount useless.

 

[misterpenguin4]

There is no water in the tank. I think i could get the top rim off pretty easily but im not sure how nice it would look with the bottom one still on.

 

[Fresh2o]

There is no water in the tank. I think i could get the top rim off pretty easily but im not sure how nice it would look with the bottom one still on.

Oh, meant to remove the rim so that you safely cut out part of the ledge (away from the tank/glass).
Unless the tank was designed to be rimless, not sure how stable it would be without the top rim.

 

[misterpenguin4]

Some people do remove the rims on up to 20 gallons and they are fine. The rim is mainly to hide bad glass cutting. I was also thinking about cutting out only this little lip here: just where the light would sit.

 

[Fresh2o]

Some people do remove the rims on up to 20 gallons and they are fine. The rim is mainly to hide bad glass cutting. I was also thinking about cutting out only this little lip here: just where the light would sit.

Really? Cheap rimless option. My tanks are not 100% level and I think the rim helps hide this.

Yep, that looks like a good place to cut.

 

[Fresh2o]

Some people do remove the rims on up to 20 gallons and they are fine. The rim is mainly to hide bad glass cutting. I was also thinking about cutting out only this little lip here: just where the light would sit.

Is that DHG growing in that last pic? Are you getting good results with the FugeRay?

 

[misterpenguin4]

Yea, Eleocharis parvula. Its in a dry start right now but its doing great. I think higher light like the ray 2 would of been better but this works fine.