Recommendation for Light Mover

[soni]

I am turning my 300 to reef. I am going to use 3 400watt reefstars and wanted to put them on a light mover.

Recommendations for a mover would be much appreciated

 

[jasonh]

What kind of mover? To move the lights out of the way for working on the tank, or to gradually move them side to side over the tank?

If side to side, I'd think something would be fairly easy to rig up using some kind of track, a long threaded rod, and a stepper motor.

 

[soni]

I would like the lights to move side to side over the tank

 

[Kentanner11]

Yea I would do pretty much the same as above. A track with (I dont know what a stepper motor is but I think it is what I am talking about) some sort of long threaded rod with huge threads on it with a motor with like a gear on it...

or-

what I just thought of right now would be some sort of system where the light track is like 1 1/2 inches higher than the other side and having a motor with like a chain (bycicle chain) that pulls the rack up and then slowly releases tention on the chain causing it to ride down the track.

Believe me it looks so reasonable in my head lol!

 

[soni]

I was looking at this one

 

[AMD30]

there is a company that sells a kit for this exact thing. it can be found at most hydroponic stores and i believe there is a store thats in tempe thats online that sells em. can recall the name though. hope someone else does.

 

[bajabum]

Check on FS, they have a light rail. Can't find my card from the manufacturer. Single MH is all you need with a light rail. I am going to use one on my 280.

 

[Kentanner11]

http://www.lightrail3.com/lightrail.php

 

[soni]

kent thats the one I am looking at. Do you have any reviews of it?

 

[Kentanner11]

I have never used it, but the website looks a little sketchy with all the refurbished being everywhere
If I were doing it I would DIY it or use
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produ...&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Np=1&pc=1&N=0&Nty=1
I mean if they use it in their facility it isnt bad. I would check out Redox from the Coral Prop forum area as light movers are used alot there. I would look at some more green house sites as I have seen them used alot there.

 

[soni]

fosters has it the cheapest I have seen on the web

 

[soni]

I found a local retailer for it too. I am going to check this one out.

 

[jasonh]

Those ones look nice.

Kentanner11, a stepper motor is a motor that allows you to control how much it turns in "steps." If a motor has 360 steps, you can turn it in 1 degree increments. Using this with a threaded rod would allow you to control the speed however you want using a computer. They use these in making DIY CNC mills all the time.

Probably overkill and way more complex than needed...unless you're into a lot of DIY and want to do crazy things like compensate for the seasons, etc

That one from F&S looks promising.

 

[Kentanner11]

lol heres an idea for overkill and way more complex, what would be cool is like using the brain of a solaris for the clouds, moon phases etc. It wouldnt work out perfectly because you arent controlling many little LEDS but 4? mh

Doesnt one of the AC do something with lighting as far as clouds etc?

 

[Kentanner11]

This is my idea..... The main advantage is that it doesnt need to be mounted to the ceiling and it is "low profile"

 

[Tbohinc]

I seen them at MACNA last weekend and loved them going to order next week the owner seemed nice and answered all my questions

 

[Elliott]

I've seen several people use tracks for garage doors, barn type, sold at Lowes or HD

 

[soni]

I found it locally at a hydroponics shop in tempe. Will pick one up this weekend