[melev]

Too bad that article didn't have any pictures.

Originally posted by aztbs
elliotk - We brainstormed about rails on the ceiling that would allow us to slide the whole canopy over to the side away from the tank. Problem with that was a ceiling fan on one side and not enough room to slide the other way. The other thought was that if the lights stayed above the tank, just lifted up, it would give me light to work on the tank/place new corals. Now that I have been using it, I have to say that is the best thing I ever did.

Cuby2k - Wow, I am flattered! This was an evolving idea and I have a mechanically gifted hubby. We went back and forth with so many plans and much of it was derived from what we had to work with. Shortcomings - mostly the noise. It is chain driven and sounds like it with the grumbling rumble as it lifts. It is certainly no smooth hydraulic or actuated graceful thing like Scott (sidewinder) posted above. But, the noise really is no big deal because it is not running all the time. I don't mind it. It runs off of a DC motor. The batteries will need charging and eventual replacement. The screw lift will need to be oiled up occasionally and debris can be an issue. We intend to put some chain guards/tracks in, do a little more aligning/stabilization.
Besides some tweaking and cosmetic issues, I have been raising and lowering it every single day and it works fantastically. If I lower it too far, it reaches the bottom of the screw and it can stick to the lower stop. That means crawling in to the attic to give it a tug to free it. The motor has a torque sensing protection to keep it from burning out, so if the resistance is too much, it will not turn. That is a good thing in my opinion.

My only other advice is that this kind of thing may not be suitable for a Metal Halide system. It has some vibration (most of which we can eliminate with the tuning/tweaking I mentioned above). If you have very delicate lights I wouldn't do this.
Scotts system moves, but his lights are on pendants so the hanging helps absorb any vibration. Maybe with a pendant, this would work.

Final word is, I love it. Here is another picture of it taken with a much better camera:

Any updates on this tank?