Coralife Aqualight 150w HQI Tank Mount Modification

[masterswimmer]

The CL tank mount MH is a great nano light. There is an inherent problem with the factory mount though. The mounting bracket, when installed according to the enclosed instructions causes the fixture to hang over the front of just about all nano tanks. Mine is on a 16 gallon bowfront and this is what it looked like, installed 'correctly', as per directions.

Notice the mounting bracket attached to the tank:




I will now show the end result of the modification and then proceed, with a pictorial to show how I accomplished this mod.

Now notice how the mounting bracket is attached to the tank.

End result:

[masterswimmer]

Here's the fixture off the tank, notice the large articulating screw in the middle of the fixture:



Here's that articulating screw removed:



With that screw removed we can now remove the tank mounting bracket:

[masterswimmer]

This is the side view of the slide arm still together:



This shows the screws and second set of articulating screws removed:



This is the slide arm totally taken apart, but also shows the source of our problem. In the middle of the wires is the slide itself that needs to be reversed:

[masterswimmer]

Here is the slide that must be cut in order to turn it 180 degrees:



This is the slide with the small piece cut out. The cutout is just big enough to remove the wires. The slide is still on the wrong way in this pic (you can see on the left the tiny piece of plastic that I cut out):



Now the slide is reversed on the wires and ready to be reinstalled on the slide arm:

[masterswimmer]

Here's the slide assembly reattached, screwed together. Notice the circular piece in the center of the pic. It is now reversed from the original picture. The pic also shows that I used a Dremel Rotary tool with the Cutoff Wheel #409 to execute the cut:



This pic shows the mounting arm now installed appropriate for a nano tank:



And once again, the fixture mounted 'properly' on my nano:



I know this explanation was very picture intense, but I hope it helped those of you who were agonizing like I was about the way the light looked over your tank.

Any feedback is always welcome.

Russ

[EdKruzel]

Thanks Russ, I'm sure there are plenty of Nano-ites that will appreciate the help.

Ed

[BLKTANG]

Originally posted by EdKruzel
Thanks Russ, I'm sure there are plenty of Nano-ites that will appreciate the help.

Ed

thanks man,i had mine apart,& knew i had to cut that piece,now that i see it will work i will be performing it today,thanks sooooooo much.

[masterswimmer]

My pleasure guys. I just hope Coralife gets wind of this and at least makes the slide reversable without having to go and modify it so drastically.

Russ

[jasper24]

Good post. I had that light over my 20H and it hung over. Luckily I had the tank on a large desk sitting on the back corner at an angle. I had room behind the tank so I mounted a 16 inch tall 1 x 6 piece of wood in an old 1 gallon ice cream container in concrete and mounted the light to the 1 x 6. It worked great.

[masterswimmer]

Originally posted by jasper24
Good post. I had that light over my 20H and it hung over. Luckily I had the tank on a large desk sitting on the back corner at an angle. I had room behind the tank so I mounted a 16 inch tall 1 x 6 piece of wood in an old 1 gallon ice cream container in concrete and mounted the light to the 1 x 6. It worked great.

Thanks. But your mod sounds a whole lot more fun to do than mine.

[nano10]

thinking about getting on of these could some one post a pic of the there reef lite up?

[vanmo92]

thanks for the tip

[BLKTANG]

Originally posted by nano10
thinking about getting on of these could some one post a pic of the there reef lite up?

there is a pic of my 10g,with that light 2 pages back,I will post in it so its on the first page.

[nano10]

picked one up today and made the mod tonight boy was that easy and i can't believe how much better it looks!!!!!

[masterswimmer]

Glad it worked nano10. And glad I could be of assistance. Isn't it amazing how easy it was! Honestly, if I wasn't doing the picture documentary, I could have done it in 10 minutes.

Now lets see your pic.

Russ

[nano10]

yeah i saw this last night and when i went to do it tonight it was so easy but i didn't do it the same as you. i cut 1 straight line across the middle of the left side opened it up pulled the wire out fliped it put the wire back in and i actually was able to glue it closed again.

[BLKTANG]

Just did the Mod,took 10 min.Thanks masterswimmer.Check it out.

Now.






Before.

[masterswimmer]

EXPEDITION, that looks awesome man. Great job. Can you believe Coralife didn't foresee this? What a poor job in R & D.

Told you, 10 minutes. Not sure, but was it worth it? LMAO, j/k.

Russ

[masterswimmer]

Originally posted by nano10
i cut 1 straight line across the middle of the left side opened it up pulled the wire out fliped it put the wire back in and i actually was able to glue it closed again.

I was going to try it that way. I just didn't want to put too much stress on the opposite side and have it crack. Great job.

Since you did the mod, the way I did it, you can see that cutting the slit would compromise absolutely nothing. The slide mounting screw holds that side in place and the grooves in the slide arm hold the rest of it. Either way it works great with no compromising.

Glad you tried it different though. Just goes to show you there is more than one way to skin the cat.

Russ

[crrichey]

That was an awsome mod! For a little bit I was thinking that I was going to have to find a different fixture!

[Sugar Magnolia]

Great mod MS. I'm going to add this to the sticky thread.

[aural]

this is BRILLIANT! I am definitely going to do this on my fixture! thanks for sharing!

[masterswimmer]

ChinChek787, Sugar Magnolia, aural,

Happy to be of assistance. Glad everyone is having success with it. I would love to see pix of everyones setups. I'm still in the prep/research stages and I can use the ideas myself. This is my first nano.

Russ

[tre16]

Great mod. Just did it on my light and it looks much better.

Thanks

[Ronald]

I just ordered that light and look forward to doing this mod when i get it. thanks

Ron