Need Suggestions on Retractable Lighting rack

[Feet4Fish]

So with great anticipation I will be picking up this fixture next weekend at RAP! I am reach out because I know many of you are more mechanically inclined than myself and I am sure will have awesome ideas. I want to mount the fixture so that it is retractable. It doesn’t need to be automated per se. What I want is stable and retractable. I need to be able to lift is as I have a very deep tank that sometimes I need to literally lay over the top of it!

 

[Mandelstam]

Is sliding it out of the way an option? I'm thinking sliding door rollers and a track mounted on the ceiling.

 

[Dom]

Is sliding it out of the way an option? I'm thinking sliding door rollers and a track mounted on the ceiling.

This is a great idea!

As you move the light closer and further from the top of the tank, light intensity changes. You would have to mark the height of the light to get the light back into the same position.

Varying heights will vary light intensity. And we want stability in every aspect of our tank, not just in water chemistry.

Building a sliding rig will allow you to dial in the height of your lighting and not lose it.

Dom

 

[Feet4Fish]

I do like that idea. I would have to slide it to the the side I think.

 

[Mandelstam]

Don't want to take credit. Marc at Melev's reef uses it for his light rack. He shows it in the beginning of this video. I like the idea too. You can slide it out of the way of the tank not just to gain access to the tank but also to be able to work on the lights without them hanging over open water.

 

[Dom]

I do like that idea. I would have to slide it to the the side I think.

I gather you want to do this so you can perform maintenance on the tank. The light doesn't have to clear the tank if you have room to slide it front to back. If you can clear about 1/2 the width of the tank to work, that should be enough.

 

[Dom]

Don't want to take credit. Marc at Melev's reef uses it for his light rack. He shows it in the beginning of this video. I like the idea too. You can slide it out of the way of the tank not just to gain access to the tank but also to be able to work on the lights without them hanging over open water.

Who cares who's idea it is... its a good one and it's posted for everyone to see!

 

[Mandelstam]

Who cares who's idea it is... its a good one and it's posted for everyone to see!

Yes, it's an idea worth spreading!

The best ideas are when you find something that you can use for a specific purpose that it wasn't designed for and it works like it was designed especially for this very thing in mind.