Do I need mounting legs???

I'm looking at a Coralife F/W T-5 Aqualight Double Strip Light-48" to put on my 72" long 125G tank. I'm thinking that maybe I can save some money and not buy the full 72 inch light (double the price of the 48), and the t5s should provide enough light that I am not worried about the extreme sides of the tank not being covered as cichlids do not need tons of light.

I am wondering if it will be a problem (unsafe) to not use the mounting legs and just rest the light on the glass top of my tank?

Also, if you do feel that it is safe, would you think the same about an Odyssea light of the same size and sort? Or is that where you might draw the line...

Thanks for any help!!

 

IMO - No you dont need the legs
I have had twin T8 fixtures placed directly onto the aquarium, but they have always been the full lenght of the tank

if you are not getting a fixture thats the full lenght of the tank, and try to balance it on 2 cross supports that are not very close to the end of the fixture
you could have a nasty accident, if for example you leaned an elbow on one end while performing some tank maintenance this could end causing it to fall into the water

so make sure for your own safety that it is stable and positioned on cross beams that are very close to the width of the fitting and cannot topple into the tank under any circumstances

Steve

 

+1 on what Steve said. You could probably make a couple of cross braces at each end of the fixture to keep the sides stable very easily.Also I'm not familiar with the light fixture but make sure it has a splash guard(more than likely) to keep water off the bulbs and electrical connections.As far as the odyssea lights I have not had any luck with them,I ended up replacing the ballasts and bulbs in my cf fixture so it is a gamble with the odyssea.

 

Yeah, most people would use the legs or a ceiling mount if you were going to leave your tank open without a glass lid (as this helps with oxygenation/gas exchange). However, if you have a glass lid, I see no reason to need the mounting legs, nor even the splash guard (since the glass lid will act as a splash guard).

 

I defnitely do have a glass lid. It has a black plastic strip hinge running down the center of it and the back 2 inches of the tank are not covered by the lid though, for access.

I was planning on resting the light, in front of this gap, completely on the glass, but before the black plastic strip hinge.

Steve raises a good point though. There is also a plastic (I think, same material as tank frame that glass tops sit in) support running through my tank halfway from front to back. (This support seperates my left glass top from my right glass top) I would want to center the light directly over this support for it to be in the center of the tank.

I would think typically I would be leaving the rear portions of the glass tops left down even if I needed to access the tank (would do it through the front portions of the glass tops).

I guess I'm not really sure what you mean by cross braces to hold the light in place...

Would they extend from the rear side of my tank. What would you use to make these? and how?

(I think its between this light for $55 and the Odyssea PC Lunar for $189, or Coralife PC Lunar for $339, but I think the light for $55 will serve my lighting (cichlids) needs minus the moon light)

Thanks again!