Automatic Light Lift BUT attached to Tank NOT Ceiling.

[ajremington68]

I'm looking for some inspiration. If you have a thread or know of one in which someone used the standing desk legs, attached them to the wall or the back of their tank, and then created a light fixture that they could raise up and down, please drop it down below!

I currently am running 3 viperspectre in the hood of my 180g. But I don't love the viperspectre rn with all blue or all white, and really wanted to do and still want to do a triple kessel and 2 6ft light bar combo and then make a fixture to mount them to and then be able to raise for maintenance. Also, I'm going to put the hood somewhere in my basement because I am not a fan rn. To heavy for maintenance and need an extra person to get it off. Also not enough space to mount lights and have them raised like 12in off the water. My viperspectre are only 4in off the water... This means I have a terrible spread...

 

[Fish Styx]

 

[jaghorireefs&mma]

Good evening,

Totally get where you're coming from those Viparspectras can be tough to work with, especially being that close to the water. I’ve seen a few setups where people used motorized standing desk legs or even wall-mounted pulley systems to raise and lower their light rigs, and they worked really well for accessibility and spread. A triple Kessil with light bars sounds like a killer combo, and way easier to maintain long-term. You might want to check out some DIY threads on reef forums or Reddit under "floating light rack" or "adjustable light mounts" there are some clever builds out there that could be perfect for your space.

Regards,
Slade

 

[Useful_Idiot]

I bought linear guide rods from eBay and bolted them to the wall behind the tank. Then made a frame bolted to the 2 carriers that holds the light bracket and is pushed up by a linear actuator.

 

[VintageReefer]

I'm looking for some inspiration. If you have a thread or know of one in which someone used the standing desk legs, attached them to the wall or the back of their tank, and then created a light fixture that they could raise up and down, please drop it down below!

I currently am running 3 viperspectre in the hood of my 180g. But I don't love the viperspectre rn with all blue or all white, and really wanted to do and still want to do a triple kessel and 2 6ft light bar combo and then make a fixture to mount them to and then be able to raise for maintenance. Also, I'm going to put the hood somewhere in my basement because I am not a fan rn. To heavy for maintenance and need an extra person to get it off. Also not enough space to mount lights and have them raised like 12in off the water. My viperspectre are only 4in off the water... This means I have a terrible spread...

The natural progression in upgrades from vipar is to a photon v2 or ideally a Meridian. You’ll get better color control and spread without sacrificing par. I had a photon v1 which essentially is a vipar. I went to a photon v2 as felt it was a great fixture and a great upgrade. I really didn’t have any complaints about it. I switched to a Meridian a few weeks ago…and I’m seriously impressed. Meridians have changed how I feel about day spectrum. I don’t understand how I can go from this:

A end to end panel style fixture - photon 48v2 plus a 48” led bar plus a 24” led bar

To two of these 11” panels and nothing else

And end up with better coverage, better color/spectrum, and equal par

The reduced amount of white leds changes the game. There’s only 2 per panel. So I can crank them with out overpowering the other channels and the result is beautiful

 

[ajremington68]

The natural progression in upgrades from vipar is to a photon v2 or ideally a Meridian. You’ll get better color control and spread without sacrificing par. I had a photon v1 which essentially is a vipar. I went to a photon v2 as felt it was a great fixture and a great upgrade. I really didn’t have any complaints about it. I switched to a Meridian a few weeks ago…and I’m seriously impressed. Meridians have changed how I feel about day spectrum. I don’t understand how I can go from this:

A end to end panel style fixture - photon 48v2 plus a 48” led bar plus a 24” led bar

To two of these 11” panels and nothing else

And end up with better coverage, better color/spectrum, and equal par

The reduced amount of white leds changes the game. There’s only 2 per panel. So I can crank them with out overpowering the other channels and the result is beautiful

Wow going to do some research with this information.

 

[MMI]

I did it for my IM-200. I was inspired by @bayarea_reef
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/bayarea_reef-innovative-marine-200-ext-build.823315/post-9257309

 

[VintageReefer]

Wow going to do some research with this information.

FYI if you buy from rb website direct then you don’t pay sales tax