Cilyjr
Supporting Member
Hi all,
Extruded aluminum has been a real game changer in the marine aquarium hobby, light weight, non corrosive, and strong!
Also unusually expensive for what it is.
Recently I put solar on my home. I did it myself and learned a lot about a lot. One of those things was solar mounting rails which are made of, you guessed it, extruded aluminum. And what else is really cool, a 14 foot rail costs about 20 to 40 bucks.
I would not try to build a stand for an aquarium with them but I did use it to mount my lights!
There are many brands with slightly different shapes. 1 thing they share in common, is they have a t slot on at least 2 sides some more.
I chose the iron ridge x10 rails for my project. Because my local supplier had in stock ( they are also holding my solar to the roof).
You will likely need access to a 3d printer to make an attachment for the lights. Connecting the rails a simple L bracket will work.
Mine are bolted to a floating canopy, but one could make frame with the rails if they prefer the look of exposed lights. If I were to do that I'd slice the rails at a 45 and use an L bracket in the corners.
Let me share some pictures.
Extruded aluminum has been a real game changer in the marine aquarium hobby, light weight, non corrosive, and strong!
Also unusually expensive for what it is.
Recently I put solar on my home. I did it myself and learned a lot about a lot. One of those things was solar mounting rails which are made of, you guessed it, extruded aluminum. And what else is really cool, a 14 foot rail costs about 20 to 40 bucks.
I would not try to build a stand for an aquarium with them but I did use it to mount my lights!
There are many brands with slightly different shapes. 1 thing they share in common, is they have a t slot on at least 2 sides some more.
I chose the iron ridge x10 rails for my project. Because my local supplier had in stock ( they are also holding my solar to the roof).
You will likely need access to a 3d printer to make an attachment for the lights. Connecting the rails a simple L bracket will work.
Mine are bolted to a floating canopy, but one could make frame with the rails if they prefer the look of exposed lights. If I were to do that I'd slice the rails at a 45 and use an L bracket in the corners.
Let me share some pictures.
