The light mods begin!

So I got my fixture back from Finnex today and promptly started tearing it apart. I have a surface area of 14X24 inches to squeeze 96Watts of T5's and 130 Watts of PC into the Black Acrylic hood I made.

The Finnex proved to be a little harder then anticipated. The grommets that hold the main power cords into the side panel were glued in place. Normally these grommets pop right out. Not that lucky. I sorted out the switch wiring and just snipped the cords. I will solder and heat shrink these connections to make them solid and water tight.

Here you see the full fixture as well as the ballast. In case you need to replace one.

This next pic shows both the Coralife and Finnex fixtures together in hood. Ballasts for PC's will be mounted behind reflector. Finnex ballasts are already secured on top of the reflctor. There will be about a 1" gap between the reflectors and the top of the hood. Stand off's installed with long screws and locking nuts.

In other action, I have installed my American DJ power station. What a great addition to the stand. Layout is straight forward and simple. Now there is only ONE cord visable outside the stand. 1=Main pump, 2=ATO, 3=Skimmer, 4 both 50 watt heaters, 5= 8 bank Coralife digital controller, 6=8 bank Coralife digital controller, 7 and 8= Tunze Nano Streams (left and right)

The Stand

Main construction of the stand is complete. Final size is 27D X 30W X 36H. All 2X4 construction with 1/2 veneer plywood top, bottom and 1 shelve.
I first cut 4 24",30" and 36" 2x4's. I had to take into account the ability to get the stand out of the basement if needed.
I then built two 27"X30" (24"+ 1 1/2" width of 2X4=27") They turned out pretty square! Amazing ehhh!!!!
Next step was to attach main legs. If you notice I installed legs to the inside. This will allow me to install another 2X4 on the outside for added support.

Here is LB standing inside the stand!!!!

Here you can see the other 2X4 installed to the outside of the frame adding support to the top. All connections were made with 2 1/2" sheet rock screws.

Top cut and placed on frame. Top off container sitting in place. An ATO from Ebay will be installed for top off.

Installed a shelve for storage and tank placed on stand. Up next is staining the top. Going with a black stain. Sides will be 1/4" Oak veneer plywood stained black. Front will be the same except it will not be nailed. I will place velcro on the front for full and easy access.