ok, the clarification is the concept of all the unions fastend at the wall was my wish, the way it was fastened is Peppie's solution......saved me a fortune in duct tape lol!
the holes were cut out with hole saws that were pretty much the exact size as the union itself. then a cut was made through the middle of each line of holes. the material that was remove due the cut decreased the size of the holes just enough for the gusset to functions as a clamp.
the hole was framed with 3/4 plywood strips to allow enough room between the wall and the gusset to utilize a clamp. each section was installed in succesion from top down securing each row of unions. once clamped each section was screwed to the wall.
currently it is being filled, sanded and painted to at least somewhat look like a single piece.
Note that the female fitting of the union is on the wall side. this allow you to hold the pipe from the outside while tightening. if it were installed the other way around you would have to rely on the gusset to hold the unions absolutely secure otherewise they would spin.
oh, and a BIG P.S. as many of you know all unions are not alike. some have diffent threads that couple them togther and so they are not universal. I bought 4 unions at the time from the same bin...they all look exactly alike on the outide and have the same marking and same manufactuer. One of those unions was a finer thread than the other 3 and I ended up having to cut them out and re-attach with a coupler beacuase the pipes they were glued to were cut to specific lenghts with unions already glued on both ends. The problem here was that cost me yet another day to allow them to cure before I start twisting them around and such.
Now I know what u meant by saying you are ALWAYS BUISY!!!! great build!!!!! And I like what you said in one of your posts, it's time to splurge on your self, it's not just about other people, you need to take care of yourself first sometimes!!!!
I shouldnt have to bug you every two weeks to update this build thread.
People want to see what the H%$# is going on over there.
Come on man, have a bit of compassion for your fellow DIY reefers who are in need of a fix.
my appologies. Been very busy... so here is a bit of an update.
220 Cree's on 9 drivers to be controlled by my apex. I bought the unti from a local guy who only used them for 3 months. the fixture was 7 foot so I had to chop it and turn the outside heatsinks 90dg. I will have some awesome full coverage now.
only took and afternoon to sand out scratches with "crystal pad" sand paper that came in a pentair kit, then buffed with novus brand products....and no I didn't turn the tank on its side, I just got in it. lol.
so here is how I plan to hang the led fixture above the tank. it will balance on the ledger on the right wall ( yet to be painted) and I will have the abilty to iether tip it up for full tank access or simply slide it toward the back wall which all I will need to to for most maintance needs.