# Hagen Glo T5 HO brackets



## Kris (Feb 27, 2004)

Christmas was very good to me and I got a new lighting system for my tank.
The upside is that it is very bright, but because of the size of my tank is between 2 and 2.5 wpg, which is what I planted for.
The downside is that the brackets (which I need to hold the light high enough off the tank support bracket in the middle of the tank) are shaky and ugly. I checked the Hagen site and there were no bracket alternatives available though them. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks!


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## Jdinh04 (Mar 15, 2004)

Your lighting system should come with cords which allows you to suspend the light if you wanted. I am using the brackets right now and they are sturdy enough to hold my lights.


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## oldpunk78 (Nov 1, 2008)

pictures?


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## Kris (Feb 27, 2004)

i will post pictures soon, as i am very proud of the tank, but not tech savvy.
:fish:
i wanted to suspend the light as well, but my house is a split level and to anchor the light, my husband would have needed to get into the attic.
he said there was no way.
the tank has a brown band around the top which has a lip running around the inside for setting the lights which came with the tank onto. the brackets aren't able to get over the inner lip. dh suggested just cutting part of the lip away, but i am worried about the mess and structural integrity. are those founded worries?
thanks!


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

The little bit you would cut off won't hurt anything. Just take only what you need away.

Or you can just slide out the siler bars on the ends and have it close to the water.

Craig


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## Kris (Feb 27, 2004)

here are some pictures of the tank and the light, and the up close of the brackets.


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

The easy way would be to take the plastic brackets off and just have the metal bar hold the light up. Thats what I did with my old Hagen Glo fixture.

If your set on the plastic mounts cut the trim as you would need to with a sharp razor or dremel.

Craig


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Kris said:


> i wanted to suspend the light as well, but my house is a split level and to anchor the light, my husband would have needed to get into the attic.
> he said there was no way.


You don't need to get into the attic. Use a stud finder to locate the ceiling joists, and see which direction they run. Then using that information you can usually figure out where to put a couple of screw eyes into the ceiling, long enough to reach through the dry wall and into the joists. Hang the light from those. Very few light fixtures are so heavy you need to be concerned about the load on the points where you attach to the ceiling. The one you have actually looks light enough to use mollybolts to hold it up.


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## Left C (Nov 15, 2003)

Kris said:


> here are some pictures of the tank and the light, and the up close of the brackets.


Those brackets sure look like they will open wider to me and fit your aquarium. Look closely at the photos and the fixture. It looks like the bottom portion of the clamp should be able to open wider.

It would be odd that they designed it to open very narrowly. Most All-Glass and Perfecto aquariums have that lip for various tops.


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## Rev2eight (Jan 11, 2008)

thats interesting... I have the the same fixture and the brackets fit snug on the rim of the tank. Youve already tried cranking those little plastic adjustment wheels all the way?


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## lebeau (Oct 28, 2008)

I have a similar setup and found the brackets would not fit over the lip of the tank. I used the supplied wires to hang the light from the ceiling. I could not find a floor joist over the tank so I just used expansion screws made for drywall. I doubt it would fall unless someone tried to hang from it.


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## Jdinh04 (Mar 15, 2004)

Left C said:


> Those brackets sure look like they will open wider to me and fit your aquarium. Look closely at the photos and the fixture. It looks like the bottom portion of the clamp should be able to open wider.
> 
> It would be odd that they designed it to open very narrowly. Most All-Glass and Perfecto aquariums have that lip for various tops.


Thats what I was going to say! I was able to open mine more wide than that. Give it a try! I will take photos of my setup if you want to take a look.


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## jinx© (Oct 17, 2007)

You could always consider making some light bars to suspend the fixture from. 
There's other threads and how-to's on making them, but that was handiest link I had at hand.


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## rpayer (Jun 9, 2008)

As stated above you can just remove the plastic clips and use those metal legs that slide out of the side. It would put the fixture a little closer to the water but you should still be fine. Mine is hung but if it wasn't I would have just used that method rather than the supplied plastic "legs".

You do realize that your tank is no long low-tech huh?


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## Kris (Feb 27, 2004)

oh yes, i know this tank is no longer low tech! 
(small giggle) 
there is a dividing bracket or a brace of some sort that runs across the middle of the tank. the lights that came with the tank were two uni-bulb strips that set inside the lip and the bracket. the new light rests on the brace if i don't use the brackets.
is the brace structural or can i cut it out, thus eliminating all issues?
it flexes some when i push on it, but that doesn't really tell me anything.
thanks for everyone's advice and for the link, jinx, i will also look more closely at the brackets' adjustability.


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## NanoDan (Oct 11, 2008)

I cut out a slot in the lip of the trim so my brackets would fit down and tighten securely. That worked very well. I agree the brackets are ugly and hard to deal with.


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## rpayer (Jun 9, 2008)

Kris said:


> oh yes, i know this tank is no longer low tech!
> (small giggle)
> there is a dividing bracket or a brace of some sort that runs across the middle of the tank. the lights that came with the tank were two uni-bulb strips that set inside the lip and the bracket. the new light rests on the brace if i don't use the brackets.
> is the brace structural or can i cut it out, thus eliminating all issues?
> ...


I would say that brace needs to stay there...


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

The center brace is definitely structural. Keeps the glass from bowing and glass breaking when filled with water. A 55g will bow about 1/2 to 3/4" when Filled with a broken center brace. I know as I tested one out outside jsut to see how far it would go. It did hold water for 2 days but I would never trust it in the house. The stress on the seams must have been great.

Craig


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

+1 don't cut the brace; the tank needs it to support the weight of the water.


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## Hubiedoobie (Jan 13, 2009)

I have the same light and the same top. My light was used (trying to use 'hand-me-downs' to get my 75g done) and it didn't come with legs. I've been running the light with just the pull-out arms and it hasn't heated up the plastic support beam at all.


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## Madfish (Sep 9, 2007)

Im the same way. I dont use the legs that it came with. I just use the pull out metal legs and set it right on top of my tank. It works great that way and no overheating problems at all.


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## robbob2112 (Oct 7, 2007)

I have my metal legs shoved all the way in and they sit on the rim of the tank... the fixture is about 1/2" above the center brace that way.

You can hang it from the ceiling with toggle bolts (like they hang swag style light fixtures).... no problem... the only reason to go into the attic would be to run an electrical outlet and plug it in at the ceiling.


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