Light Rail, who is using one

[EBOLII]

Ya'll killin me....I was wondering what the tape was for......until velcro is in place right?

Seriously,
Either of you...when the bar reaches the end to start back the opposite direction how much sway is there? I see your pendants are in direction of the tank length. Is it not better to go tank width?

[aninjaatemyshoe]

In my case, the pendant did sway more when it was oriented perpendicular to the front. Not a terrible amount, but enough to be noticeable. Now that it is parallel with the front I don't get any sway. The sway was not the reason I changed it though. I changed it because I'm preparing to install actinic supplements and I wouldn't have room with it the way it was.

[EBOLII]

Duh dummy...I cannot believe I forgot that detail...sorry

[fkshiu]

Has anybody tried a light rail on a 72" tank? I am wondering whether you would need 2 MHs or would one work (assuming the rail is long enough)?

[aninjaatemyshoe]

Well, if you can use horticulture as a model, 6' is about how long they tend to run these lights on the light rails. You'll probably want supplemental lighting.

[want2reef]

Hahn

Do you think I could fit a mover in a 12" canopy with a SLS ROIII pendant?

Thanks again

[EBOLII]

Some brands come with 6' rails with 3' extension seperate of course. I would think 2 pendendant would be suitable for a 72" tank however One may suit as well depending on the speeed 6-9 seconds on the options of some motors

[hahnmeister]

TY Grim.

[trueperc]

hahmeister very cool pics. I like the suppliment lighting. It just seems to complete the look.

[Stoneyscoral]

I just finished mounting my light move that I purchased at Aquatic Eco Systems. I love this thing the only thing that I am having trouble w/ is cord management. I don't want the excess hanging so I may have to find some springs of some sort.

I will put up pics tomorrow.

[hahnmeister]

I lucked out that a piece of chain to pick up the slack worked out well enough on mine. If it wasnt for that, I was going to have the cord come in from the top back edge of the canopy and move back and forth with the motor on a swingarm. This way it could move left and right, but not fall down into the water.

[tentacles]

Hahn what combo of lights are you running over that tank?

[hahnmeister]

the halide is a Ushio 14,000K

The T5s are 2x G-man true actinic 03, and 2x ATI blue+. I will be changing to the Sfiligoi or UVL actinics however for more 'pop' as soon as they arrive this week.

[Stoneyscoral]

Here is my mover.

Its a Sunlight supply lumenmax w/ a phoenix 14k bulb in it. I am installing 2 t5's tomorrow to eliminate any shady spots.

Its a plywood box lined w/ white aluminum(I own a bender) that I am hanging from the ceiling w/ some griplock cables. I had an extra Reefkeeper that I mounted inside it to pimp it alittle more.

The crown moulding and some trim will go on tomorrow as well.

[IMG][/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]

[EBOLII]

Stoneyscoral - any updated images on the canopy?

[Stoneyscoral]

Its up and running, I will take some pics tonight.

[hahnmeister]

i can update you on mine too later, maybe take some before/after pics, although it is a new tank, so the new tank in itself could be a contribution to the great looking corals.

But a couple things to note:

-I dont know what they are called, but those little white bumps on corals where they are about to sprout new branches... those 'nubs'... yeah... those things. Well, I have never seen corals with as many 'nubs' on them as with the light mover. There are nubs on the bases of the corals, there are nubs on the tips, there are nubs all along the branches. I have nubs on top of nubs... lots of nubs on nubs. There are some birdsnest pieces that have so many nubs clustered together, that the result is a mace-line ball with about 30 little spikes all over it. The entire ball is white because its all such rapid new growth. I have never seen this in anyone's tank before that I know with the same corals, with great conditions as well. Most of the time, when I see new growth on corals, its very local, or oriented in one direction only. All the 'nubs' are just facing up towards the light, and new nubs on the base of a coral are rather rare after the coral is well encrusted and has branches already. Not so with this light mover it seems. I have 'nubs' on all my corals all over their surfaces. Its insane looking. There is a pink birdsnest that has so many nubs on its surface, one might think its bleaching out or something... but its all little thorny tips sprouting, in concentrations I have never seen before.

Other corals are coloring in better all over their tissue than ever before, with vobrant color not only at their tips, but under the branches (now the light doesnt leave many shadows), and on the base as well. Several corals have colored in richer, darker, and deeper, despite the drop in wattage/gallon from previous tanks.

[GSMguy]

nubs=growth tips=big pimpin

pics will be great.

[gtrestoration]

E. Borneman suggested laying something under part of the area traveled by the mover to see what if anything is falling into the tank (rubber or metal).

SteveU

[hahnmeister]

I have something under the part of the area traveled by the mover... the reflector itself. I put an aluminum tray under the motor to catch any grease, aluminum, etc... but at least with the light rail Im using, I dont think it will be a problem.

[Kinetic]

I want to add a light mover to a 48" foot tank with my 250watt HQI / T5 Maristar. Problem is this is over a show tank, in a living room. The bare metal does not look like something I want to put up.

Are there any better looking ways to do this?

[hahnmeister]

Put it in a canopy.

[Kinetic]

It's a completely rimless open top art form. It'd be a waste to top it with a canopy.

Are there any motor / rail combos that look good?

[hahnmeister]

Well, the Gualala doesnt exactly look bad, and it is very low profile. I think that if you mounted it on the ceiling, and used aircraft cables to suspend the fixture, that would look cool. As for covering the rail and motor, you could simply create a box, or screen, that blocks the view of the rail and motor. Heck, simply hanging a sheet of wood or cloth from about 2-3" in front of the rail that hung down about 8-12" would block the view... much like marionette type stage if you know what I mean... For a modern look, a piece of 4' long white particle board shelving could be fixed to the ceiling to cover all but the wires.

[DarG]

Wondering if anyone is using a mover on a tank with a black center brace? Seems like there would be a big shadow everytime the halide passed over the brace.

Anyway, is anyone using one with solid center brace? Or did you have to replace the brace with a clear one?

Thanks