Bulding a 7' pendant

To make the fixtue I milled 2 dados in all 4 side pieces the side pieces are made of 8x1 #1 pine Boards
The fist dado accept the ¾ inch birch ply mounting board the second is for the lid the mounting board is not glued and is fitted lose to allow for expansion and contraction. The lid is screwed on the space between is used for a wire chase so no wires can be seen from below. A 5” section in the middle of the rear side wall between the lid and the mounting board was notched out for the wires to exit the chase.

The 4 corners are mitered and biscuits are used to increase the stealth of the joint.

To hang the pendant I used an Adjustable Cable Hanger System for Tek Light Fluorescent Fixtures connected to t-nuts installed in the lid found at home depot they can also be seen here
http://www.specialty-lights.com/750000.html

I have installed in the pendant 4 96w and 6 65w compact Florissant’s

This is the second incarnation of this Idea one the first attemp I used all 1by materials and the lid twisted over a few months I am hoping that by useing 3'4 ply for the lid and light monting board that this wont happen again
heres a photo of the finished pendant sans stain

For Me I will never go back to a fully inclosed hood on a large tank. I have had this tank for around 15 years and have tried several hoods of various forms but they all have 2 Draw Backs weight and access. With the current arangement I can adjust the hieght of the fixture with ease and can compleatly raise it up and out of the way with very little effort. With a full hood if you need to realy get in the tank you have to remove it and that is a 2 person job. Even Feeding the fish can be a real pain if you have a full hood packed with lights and balasts.

For a cornor tank I think I would go with a Mh Pendant or 2 seeing has the mass of the tank is more centralized.