DIY Lamp Tree

[tskinner]

So rather than buying one of those Zeroedge Lamptrees for a ridiculous price, I decided to make my own. I live in a rented house so I didn't want to put any holes in the ceiling and this is what I came up with.  To me, it is very strong and I don't see an issue with using this design for a bigger fixture.  I took some pictures and added them to the bottom of the thread to give you an idea of what was done and below I've explained it step by step of what I did and where I found all the materials.

Materials:
        -3/4" EMT - From Home Depot - $8.44 per 10ft.  I used 2 since it would make the bending alot easier.
        -3/4" EMT U Clamps - From Home Depot - $1.48 for 6 in a bag.  I only used 6 but if you want more security you can use more.
        -3 1/2 Wood Screws - From Home Depot
        -2" Machine Screws - From Home Depot
        -2" Machine Bolts and Washers - From Home Depot
        -Krylon Fusion Spraypaint - From Walmart
        -2 x 8ft of 2x4 - From Home Depot - $1.50 each I believe.
        -3/4" EMT Hand Bender - About $70 to purchase.  Luckily I found someone at work that owned one and borrowed it.  For the bender,   every different size EMT has a different size bender.

Step 1:  For my stand I used a Audio/Video tower since it was taller so it I could view my tank easier.  I used the 2x4 and cut it the width of my stand.  I then used the 3 1/2" wood screws to attached the wood horizontally to the back of the stand.  At the bottom, I made a L with 2 pieces of 2x4 so my EMT so could have something to rest on.  My EMT didn't go all the way to the floor because of my stand design so your maybe different.  The more 2x4 pieces you have attached, the more secure the EMT is going to be to the stand.

Step 2: Remember when I said I bought 2 10ft pieces of EMT for easier bending.  Now I'll explain why.  I'm not sure if you've ever worked with EMT but every different size of EMT, the 90 degree bend is long/shorter dependent on the size.  I knew the math(Youtube) but didn't want to measure and figure it out.   So all I did was measure the with of my tank and measure that out on the EMT and add about 10 inches for error.. .  Say if your tank is 24" wide and you add 10".  This is 34".  So for the height, you have about 7'2" to play with.  For this you can research (You Tube is the best) but this is how I did it.  Once 1 piece was done, I did the other piece exactly as the first.  I then placed them behind my tank and used a Hacksaw to cut off any excess EMT in height or width.

Step 3: Now comes the fun part.  Not sure how your fixture is rigged or if it has mounting holes the top, but me and my girlfriend spent about 2 hours on this step and had to put it down and walk away acouple times since we were so frustrated.  I inserted the machine screws in the top of the fixture and then measured the distance from each.  I transferred these measurements to the EMT and drilled the holds all the way through.  I did this for both pieces.  Next you have to attach your fixture to the EMT to ensure all the holes match up and its nice and secure and it should be.

Step 4: Mount the EMT with the fixture on it to the back of your stand using the EMT U Clamps and some 1 1/2" wood screws and voila.  You attached.   

Step 5:  You can do this different but this is how I did mine.  Since the EMT is silver, I want to paint it black so everything matched.  Since it took me 2 hours to get the fixture mounted, I didn't not to remove it for painted.  So I used tape and garbage bags and covered the entire fixture twice.  I then to the whole thing to my garage and applied two coats of black Kyrlon Fusion paint and allowed about an hour and a half in between coats.   Once this was all done, I brought it back inside and put it in its permanent position.  Then I used small black tiewraps from Walmart and secured all the wires to a pole for a nice clean look.   

PICTURES ARE BELOW.....

Here you can how the 2x4 is attached with the L at the bottom.


From View of finished product.  It was alittle high so I removed it and cut about 3inchs off the poles.


All lowered with moonlights on.  Wires aren't attached in this pic.


Here you can see how the one side is attached to the EMT.  For the front plug, you can find those at Home Depot but I found two on a old piece of gym equipment in our basement...


Just a front view to give you an idea.


And the Clamps for the back.  Not to good of a pic since I had to stick my hand behind the stand and hope for a good pic.


And just a picture of my corner of the living room.....


Hope this helps anyone looking for this type of system.  If you have any questions please feel free to ask and I'll answer however this is a simple DIY project.

Tyson

[Vincenzo.]

good job, and it looks sleek to.

[tskinner]

good job, and it looks sleek to.

Thanks.  I like it since they is no drilling in your ceiling, it looks sleek, and it pretty easy to get the height you want to compensate for the heat from the MH.

[QueensU]

Tanks look great! The 20gal has a "mini-me"!

[tskinner]

Tanks look great! The 20gal has a "mini-me"!

Thanks.  Too bad the 20 is closing down soon.  But with that comes a new build.......