The next big project was lighting the corals in the vats. The three pendants over the reef could be suspended over the troughs, but a frame structure had to be built first. Each design I thought of was dismissed as being a bad idea for variety of reasons. I didn’t want legs going down to the floor. I didn’t want the lighting to topple. I didn’t want the framework to be in our way when the aquarium was pulled out, nor as the new one would go in. The geometry of placing three fixtures over these vats was a little tricky with most structures. Finally, I decided the best route was a frame that stood on the rim of the two vats.
Drilling 1 ¾” holes through a stud and then cutting them exactly in half, I was able to create upright legs that fit on the rim perfectly. A few trips back and forth to the garage resulted in a nice solid frame that would support 60 pounds of pendants and included a spot for the ballasts. Extension cords were strung from the timers in the fishroom to the ballasts placed over the holding vats, permitting the Aquacontroller III to control them like usual.
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