400 gallon project

[untamed]

Here's some additional shots of the lighting system.

This first one shows how the lights can be lifted straight up by the actuator. A lift all the way to the ceiling takes just under 1 minute. That's the up/down controller that is laying on the bar in the front. I have some plans for that thing...



This is a side view showing how the lights can be rolled backward along the overhead tracks. The lights will go back another 2 feet, but the mess of power cords is currently pulling the lights back to this position each time I let go of them. I suppose that is a good indication of how smoothly they roll.



All in all...I can't believe that it actually works. I'm no engineer...I just made this stuff up and it actually works.

[niloc16]

that looks awesome. what type of lighting fixtures are those. looks sweet

[Delphinus]

Wow.

[mark]

so your day job is building rocket ships or nuclear submarines?

[untamed]

Originally Posted by mark

so your day job is building rocket ships or nuclear submarines?

This is the first thing I've ever built!

[KrazyKuch]

well you have done a great job\

[untamed]

A bit of progress on the lights. This photo shows the bottom of a wall shelf that holds the three dual MH ballasts and the three wall-mounted timers that control all the lights. One timer is going to do the T5's, the 2nd does 2 of the MH ballasts, and the third does the third MH ballast.

***update 04/10*** After 3 years, the timer responsible for 2 of the MH began to fail intermittantly such that it would NOT shut the lights off properly. That Intermatic (now GE) timer was not rated to handle the load of 4 x 250W MH and has since been replaced with a more industrial timer with mechanical switching.




There are two dedicated electrical circuits there. One circuit has 2 x 250W MH + 6 x 54W T5....the other circuit has 4 x 250W MH only. Cool, you can almost read my labels...

Notice that three timers are synchronized...Yes, I admit I have a problem.

[untamed]

Originally Posted by niloc16

that looks awesome. what type of lighting fixtures are those. looks sweet

Those are 48" AquaMedic Ocean Light(s). 2 x 250W MH w/ 2 x 54w T5 Actinics

http://www.aqua-medic.com/products/p...Combo%20Series