new MH light crashed into my tank

[CoralBeautyII]

I went downstairs to add alk to my tank and i noticed that my new mh fixture was leaning off of my tank. one of the legs just broke off one side, luckily the fixture didnt land in the water.
its a very heavy light, 72" long, but still the legs should have been able to hold it.
I called up dr fosters and they are sending me out a new light, but now im worried the same thing will happen. And just now i checked on the testimonials and another person in TX had the same thing happen to them.
It has hooks on top where it can be ceiling mounted, but i have a drop ceiling down my basement, how would i go about hanging it? or is that even safe? if the legs broke maybe these hooks can too and crash down not only my ceiling but have a worse catastrophe in my tank
this is so bad, my poor corals just got used to the light and now they have to go back to PC lights until this new one comes.
dr fosters were great for sending me out a new fixture.
is there anyway i can secure these legs better? the leg literally broke in half.
heres the light, i got the 72" one 942 watts. its half price, now i know why
im really scared, like what if it would have landed in the water? would everything get electricuted then? would the power turn off being its plugged into a power strip that is plugged into a GFCI? would it have caused a fire?
maybe reefing is just way too dangerous

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+8075+14704&pcatid=14704

 

[levischilz]

Remove the drop ceiling tiles and mount from inside above them. Would be fine. Or find the anchors for the drop down and mount the light to those.

Levi

 

[CoralBeautyII]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14709472#post14709472 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by levischilz
Remove the drop ceiling tiles and mount from inside above them. Would be fine. Or find the anchors for the drop down and mount the light to those.

Levi

thanks
i have to look i guess, it was installed by a contractor and i never looked at the ceiling :lol:
well it seems like the hangers wont hold anyway, the light kinda came appart a bit on one side where it came crashing down. pieces of it are in my tank at the bottom under the rocks.
what a disaster
im gonna try and tape the light together so it will hold and prop the light up some how maybe with wood blocks?
its gonna take at least a week before the new light arrives, i got my pc light on it now but its not enough light for the corals.
these legs should have been made out of metal or aluminum, flimsy plastic broke right in half.
coralife sells adjustable mounting legs, i think its on hinges to lift the light? i wonder if that would fit on this fixture, or if its stronger than the four little legs it came with.
it weighs 61 lbs...im kinda scared to hang the new one

 

[bushh23]

Look behind the drop ceiling. I have mine mounted to the support beams that actually hold the drop ceiling up. You just have to make a small hole in the ceiling tile for the metal line to come through to the light. If they are letting you send yours back you shouldve just upgraded to a better light since you are so worried about this one. The GFCI is a protection in case it falls in the water and it will trip and save you from death had your arm been in there. Good job on that just make sure you dont have anything but the light plugged into that surge protector or it will turn everything off!

 

[bobbied]

I JUST BOUGHT THE SAME LIGHT FROM DR FOSTER AND SMITH FOR MY 150GAL. THE LIGHT FIXTURE SEEMED REALLY HEAVY FOR THE LEGS THAT CAME WITH IT. I HAD A PREVIOUS SUSPENSION KIT FROM A OLD LIGHT THAT I ATTACHED TO THE TOP OF THE LIGHT. THE LIGHT IS NOT HANGING BUT HAS JUST ENOUGH TENSION FOR ADDED SUPPORT OR IF THE LEG WAS TO FAIL ITS A SAFETY SO IT WOULD NOT FALL IN THE TANK

 

[CoralBeautyII]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14725727#post14725727 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bobbied
I JUST BOUGHT THE SAME LIGHT FROM DR FOSTER AND SMITH FOR MY 150GAL. THE LIGHT FIXTURE SEEMED REALLY HEAVY FOR THE LEGS THAT CAME WITH IT. I HAD A PREVIOUS SUSPENSION KIT FROM A OLD LIGHT THAT I ATTACHED TO THE TOP OF THE LIGHT. THE LIGHT IS NOT HANGING BUT HAS JUST ENOUGH TENSION FOR ADDED SUPPORT OR IF THE LEG WAS TO FAIL ITS A SAFETY SO IT WOULD NOT FALL IN THE TANK

good idea
well since then i added wood blocks as support. i added a wood block to the leg that is missing and a few others at the other sides, three of the plastic legs were still in place.
it didnt take less than 24 hours for another leg to break off, luckily the wood legs prevented it from falling in my tank.
so now the tank has the two remaining legs and several wood blocks holding it up, weakly at that, i still dont trust this thing.
mounting it to my ceiling it out.
so im going to lowes tomorrow to get more wood, im going to place 2x4's at the corners of my tank to act as a brace just in case it falls it will be blocked by the wood.
dr fosters is great, its not their fault coralife legs suck and cant handle the weight load of the light. someone can get really injured this way, like a child or anyone naive enough to grab the light if it falls in the water.
drs fosters allready shipped my new light. i will use the plastic legs but with alot of wood blocks too as a back up.
i have pics. i only wish i took a pic the first night it happend when the light was nearly dangling off of my tank!

heres after i placed the wood (its kinda bad still but its all i had in the house at the time lol)

then the second night when another leg popped. both legs are in the bottom of my tank..kinda unretrievable. i do have half a leg tho that popped out onto my carpet.

so left and right now are both missing a leg :mad2:
the two that are left are now not sitting properly because the difference in the blocks...it was kinda hard to cut an exact fit

 

[Dalmerjd]

Lighting woes, not fun. I had a six foot hood suspended from the floor joists when one of the anchors snapped. The light was on, the fan running then snap, crash spash whoooooosh. Ever seen a six inch fan spray saltwater all over your basement...
The lights never got submerged but they definetly got wet. No breakage though, just a mess to cleanup. Not thinking straight at the time, I just jammed my hands under the water and lifted the hood out, power still on...no shock...thanks god.
Fun and games!

 

[CoralBeautyII]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14726358#post14726358 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Dalmerjd
Lighting woes, not fun. I had a six foot hood suspended from the floor joists when one of the anchors snapped. The light was on, the fan running then snap, crash spash whoooooosh. Ever seen a six inch fan spray saltwater all over your basement...
The lights never got submerged but they definetly got wet. No breakage though, just a mess to cleanup. Not thinking straight at the time, I just jammed my hands under the water and lifted the hood out, power still on...no shock...thanks god.
Fun and games!

yikes! i never thought of the fan part...:eek1:

you stuck your hand in? hehe your very lucky
things like this never happend when i had power compacts :lol:
those fixtures are sooo nice and light.
these mh's are too dang heavy...and the ballast? i squealed when i lifted those

 

[Dalmerjd]

Yup, jammed both hands in not thinking...lucky
y fixture isn't heavy really, just a bad anchor. The anchors are lots bigger now. I left a ladder next to the tank, later I found a 23 pound cat sitting on the hood meowing proud as could be. Needless to say the ladder has a new home now! I should have taken a picture!

Just imagine a cat sitting on top of this light...

http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss294/Dalmerjd/DSCF1127.jpg

http://s585.photobucket.com/albums/ss294/Dalmerjd/?albumview=slideshow

 

[CoralBeautyII]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14726555#post14726555 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Dalmerjd
Yup, jammed both hands in not thinking...lucky
y fixture isn't heavy really, just a bad anchor. The anchors are lots bigger now. I left a ladder next to the tank, later I found a 23 pound cat sitting on the hood meowing proud as could be. Needless to say the ladder has a new home now! I should have taken a picture!

Just imagine a cat sitting on top of this light...

http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss294/Dalmerjd/DSCF1127.jpg

http://s585.photobucket.com/albums/ss294/Dalmerjd/?albumview=slideshow

hehe oh man, cats are evil! I have five, but none of them are allowed down the basement

do you collect salt? thats quite a salt container collection :lol:

 

[Dalmerjd]

I just buy lots when I find a sale!!!

 

[CoralBeautyII]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14726984#post14726984 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Dalmerjd
I just buy lots when I find a sale!!!

and i just buy the little bags :lol:

nice tank btw

 

[reefscape15]

There are clips that you can buy to twist into your drop ceiling grid. I've hung tons of lights in schools with these and they seem to work great! Just make sure that the piece your attaching to is a main and not just a small piece that joins 2 mains together. Here's a link to what they look like and i would think you could find them pretty cheap at your local electrical supply store:
http://www.erico.com/products/CADDYcfcTwistOn.asp

 

[CoralBeautyII]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14741384#post14741384 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by reefscape15
There are clips that you can buy to twist into your drop ceiling grid. I've hung tons of lights in schools with these and they seem to work great! Just make sure that the piece your attaching to is a main and not just a small piece that joins 2 mains together. Here's a link to what they look like and i would think you could find them pretty cheap at your local electrical supply store:
http://www.erico.com/products/CADDYcfcTwistOn.asp

thanks

but i dont want to remove my drop ceiling permanently. we just spent a fortune having it refinished and hubby will kill me if part of the ceiling has to be removed
i kinda dont trust the hooks on the light either, im sure it will come crashing down because its so cheaply made

 

[reefscape15]

You don't have to remove any part of your ceiling to install these. They are just pushed upwards and twisted on. If you can get these (i'm sure they are pretty cheap) you can drill out the screw stud and it will leave you with a nice hole to hang some wire from. You deffinately won't have to take anything apart on your new ceiling, and you husband should be excited about a DIY project! I know i always am! And by the way, i must say it would be completely awesome if my wife was as involved in reefing as i am. Your man is a lucky guy!

 

[CoralBeautyII]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14761996#post14761996 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by reefscape15
You don't have to remove any part of your ceiling to install these. They are just pushed upwards and twisted on. If you can get these (i'm sure they are pretty cheap) you can drill out the screw stud and it will leave you with a nice hole to hang some wire from. You deffinately won't have to take anything apart on your new ceiling, and you husband should be excited about a DIY project! I know i always am! And by the way, i must say it would be completely awesome if my wife was as involved in reefing as i am. Your man is a lucky guy!

ok i'll ask him

lucky guy..hehe nah hes not into reefing, he said one time "why cant u be like a real girl and buy shoes"
:lol:

 

[reefscape15]

HAHA!!!! I have to tell my wife to stop buying shoes! But now that i'm getting a few fish into my reef she's become much more interested, and doesn't mind me spending most of my free time messing with the tank. Now i'm on a mission of talking her into a tank for our son's room. I guess we'll see how that goes

 

[stugray]

To hang my MH lights in my drop ceiling, I:

removed some panels above the tank.

Drilled 1/4" holes through the middle of the joists ( horizontally )

Pushed the smallest cable you can get at HD through the holes & let dangle down to the light.

Installed eyes in the cable & crimped using the cable crimp ties you get right next to the cable reels.

Used clips ( also avail right with the cables ) to connect to the light.
They looked like caribiners.

Then you can cut a slot in the panel to allow the cable to slip by & put the panels back up.

Stu

 

[CoralBeautyII]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14802022#post14802022 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by reefscape15
HAHA!!!! I have to tell my wife to stop buying shoes! But now that i'm getting a few fish into my reef she's become much more interested, and doesn't mind me spending most of my free time messing with the tank. Now i'm on a mission of talking her into a tank for our son's room. I guess we'll see how that goes

there was a time i would disapear for hours just playing with my tanks lol
hubby was mad, hes like you pay more attention to the tanks than me, you disapear blah blah, its not like i left the house :lol: