Light movers

mg · 02-08-2007, 08:38 PM

Anyone know of a rail system that can move a light over hours, not minutes? I am looking to light a tank with a 36"x36" footprint with a single MH.What I would like to do is put the light on a rail and have it move front to back over about 12-18 inches over a 10 hour period. This would basically be crawling along. The only ones I can find are for grow lights and move across a 6-10' rail in a matter of minutes and then just go back and forth from end to end. Not quite what I am looking for visually.

Fly Guy · 02-08-2007, 08:45 PM

I cant help you.......but i like the concept a lot.

reefermike1 · 02-08-2007, 08:47 PM

that would be cool

mg · 02-08-2007, 08:51 PM

There has got to be something like this out there that doesn't cost a fortune!

Doug1 · 02-08-2007, 10:58 PM

I dont know of any commercial ones for this application that arent really expensive

Someone thats handy with building stuff could prolly fab something using some thing for a track, a small DC motor driving a set of large diameter wheels for gear reduction, and some kind of timer to turn the motor off and on. The trickiest part would be getting it to reverse during the light off cycle

Wiskey · 02-08-2007, 11:11 PM

I had a buddy that used to work in a hydroponics shop and they carried something like that, the problem is that it would cover something like 14 feet in a day.

Whiskey

Geoff · 02-09-2007, 08:35 AM

i think using the rail system would be perfect for keeping SPS. i am beginning to think that we are overlighting our tanks as it is. having a light on the rail gives less time for uber light yet changes the direction of the light so that you will get a more consistant growth patter.

i would just use one MH and have it go across the entire tank. i do not see the problem with having it take minutes instead of hours. they go really slow, i do not think it would look funny. i have seen one on a prop tank. it was more annoying on this, because you had to pay attention to the moving light while you were trying to pick out corals. all of a sudden your head would start to get hot.

G~

mg · 02-09-2007, 08:49 AM

I wasn't sure if it would look funny or not. My other thought was to look for a programable timer that could do a very short on off time and try to set it so the motor would come on to move the light a few inches every couple hours. I can have the same schedule at night so it would move back to the starting position. With this it may be difficult to find the right on time to move the right length and if the motor could handle being turned on and off a dozen times a day.