lighting frustrations... or not

[Matty]

Hey guys hoping you might be able to shed some light on my light dilema.. no pun intended. Okay.. so I have a 30g Oceanic Tank.. I love it when I bought it 5 years ago to keep a Percula.. and he lived a happy life until a few weeks back when he passed on. At the time I only used a basic lighting system... one flourescent bulb.. standard issue tank stuff. To this day.. I am still using the basic tank light.. for a fish only set up.. or rather good enough for FW. So I want to make the jump to keeping coral... vary basic stuff.. like mushrooms and zoos. I have found a few interesting lights such as T-5's .. but I have a small problem...

My Lovely pain in the "Wrasse" tank has a step like ledge that goes around the edge of the tank. It has caused a problem with a hang on skimmer that I bought.. the intake tube does not clear the ledge.. so it sits on a slant.. I am not using it.. as the water pours out funny and makes a mess.

I have not seen lighting units outside of the box.. so I can only go by what I see online available to buy.. I wonder can I still mount a light onto my tank.. will the legs to hold it up still sit or clamp onto my tank. I figure my tank is an Oceanic Model.. it was meant for SW.. this Ledge this is annoying to work around.

Does anyone know if I will have any problems and if so how to overcome the ledge thing.

I have no clue how to post a picture.. I have on of it the step that is on my tank. It can not be removed as it is moulded on the tank.. and seems to keep the glass secure.
The canopy lid.. rests on the step.

Thanks guys.. Matty

The step is like a "L" and my tank is 36 inches long and 12 inches wide.

[Matty]

Ah ha.. I got a tad clever.. my avatar picture shows this ledge step thing on my tank so you guys can see it in a picture.

Looking forward to your insight!

[Renegade]

is the ledge plastic, if so cut into it to clear a spot for the skimmer. You can use a knife or dremul to make the spot for the skimmer, as for the light i don't totally follow but you could use the legs if its "corallife" fixture

[Matty]

The "ledge" part is extremely hard.. it is not by any means soft. I am thinking of going with another skimmer.

What I meant about the lights.. is I see that some have theirs on a stand.. above the tank.. or "legs" that raise the light above the water. Well that ledge interfer with mounting the lights on my tank in any way?

[BC564]

I have the same problem on one of my nano tanks.....and I used a dremel to cut the plastic for the skimmer tube to sit straight up and down.....Its a pretty easy thing to do.......As far as the light legs interferring with the L ledge, most lights that I have seen sit on the top of the aquarium and dont actually wrap around the edges.

[04scoobysti]

You shouldnt have a proplem with most lights. I know the coralife legs sit on top of the plastic trim and have plastic bolts that tighten to the glass just under the trim.

[Matty]

Thanks for your shed of hope guys! I feel a bit better knowing my fish can see the light! My fish will have to praise the Reef God!

I still think I am going to look around for other skimmers before I start to drill anything yet. The one I bought was not expensive.. I was told it would do the trick on my tank being a 30g.. it is a Rio Nano.. actually is a cut the plastic part on the skimmer intake tube that goes on the tank.. I would be fine.. I think I will attempt that before slicing my tank.. $40 skimmer $$$ plus tank.. ah I can live if the skimmer goes lol.

Have any of you been out to Ocean Aquatics.. they have some great looking T-5 I may be interested in in regards to lighting.