Lightrails - next big thing in reef lighting?

[fkshiu]

Anybody out there using a lightrail system yet? I noticed that Hidden Reef has them now.

[Justusfish]

I went on their site and can't see them. Can you post a link? thanks

[fkshiu]

http://www.hiddenreef.ca/storefront/storefront.php?function=viewproduct&productid=475&categoryid=35

http://www.lightrail3.com/

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=13974&N=2004+113356

http://www.homeharvest.com/lightmovers.htm

It more accurately simulates the sun passing over your tank as the day goes by and you can get away with fewer MHs (only 1 is needed over a 4' tank, for example).

[Chin_Lee]

i'm using a light revolving unit now which rotates the lights in a circular pattern over my cube tank. The corners are not getting enough light so I'm in the process of changing it over to a light rail unit that will move the lights back and forth. There is a unit with a 30 second delay at each end of the rail to increase the light times at both ends of the rail.

[i have crabs]

i seen a set up once that had 400w halides on tracks made from garage door parts, they where growing something other than corals though

[hawk]

On a 8 ft tank I wonder how it would work if a single 400w was on the light mover during the day, then have the tank fully lit in the evening for a few hours when the tank is being viewed?

[fkshiu]

On a 8 ft tank I wonder how it would work if a single 400w was on the light mover during the day, then have the tank fully lit in the evening for a few hours when the tank is being viewed?

Others have supplemented the lightrail MH with T5s along the entire length of the tank so as to minimize the shadowing effect.

[littlesilvermax]

I have that same system from Sunlight Supply, got it about 3 years ago I think.

I have a 7'2" tank with three 250 watts MHs and I supplement with 4 T5s and 2 VHO actinics.

Right click and "save as" to watch the first vid (http://www.members.shaw.ca/bkotrla2/Apr%2018/MVI_6584.AVI)


Right click and "save as" to watch the second vid (http://www.members.shaw.ca/bkotrla2/Apr%2018/MVI_6585.AVI)

I have had to adjust a few things eover the years to keep it working, but I am very happy with the system.:mrgreen:

[fkshiu]

Cool vids.

How much clearance do you need above the tank?

[littlesilvermax]

Cool vids.

How much clearance do you need above the tank?

I have 2 feet total above my tank and it works OK, I would prefer more. The extra aluminum bar that holds the three halides takes about a few inches too, so it depends if you mont one halide to the mover or mount a few like I did.

[mark]

Not that I would do it but wondering something...

I have a tank that is ~6' long with 2-250W pendents with T5 on both sides. Would I be able to replace with one 250W on a light rail going end to end? I see the gain in dropping one pendant and ballast (save on energy and less heat) but there's obviously a drop in the overall light the tank would receive. See increasing photoperiod, going to 400W etc, but wondering how this would be correctly adjusted from the fairly typical setup (bulb for every 2-3' and 8-9 hour photoperiod)?

[littlesilvermax]

My tank is over 7 feet and I use 3 250 watt halides with the lgiht rail.

I don't think a 6 footer would work with 1 halide. It is not like the sun, where it changes angle but is always shining on the reef through-out the day.

[mark]

I don't think a 6 footer would work with 1 halide. It is not like the sun, where it changes angle but is always shining on the reef through-out the day.

Why not though, there must some measurement like lux or PAR/meter²/hour from a reef to match.

[digital-audiophile]

Wouldn't you have major shaded areas with just one halide on a rail over 6ft?

[littlesilvermax]

Let's take a reef at 9am and then again at 3 pm in Fiji for instance.

At 9 am the sun is at a 45 degree angle and then it is right overhead at noon and then again at a 45 degree angle at 3 pm. The sun would be directly hitting the reef for the whole 6 hour period (sure a cloud might block the sun for a while, but there would still be a high par value even then) just at diferent angles.

With a 6 foot tank (halide between 6 to 10 inches from water) and one 250 halide there would be a couple of options:

1) most popular because all of the light rails I have seen move back and forth with only up to a min delay in between moves. the corals (as individuals, not as a group) would see light then very minimal light then light.......

2) get a light rail that moves the light across once in a day. the corals will only get a couple hours of intense light per day.

Make sense now?

[mark]

If running a single small pendant would be thinking something that continually goes back and forth.

We are already playing games with algae lighting (24/7) and corals having spot lighting, instant off and on with timers, overall durations different than the reef, some people running 250W bulb and others 400w or T5s or different spectrum on the same species. Just wondering lightwise, how much we can fool the coral so they believe there under the surf in Fiji.

Also at what point would this be annoying to the viewer.

[Skimmerking]

Jayson from SWC has a 300 gallon a 8 footer and has 2 mh on a rail a 175 and a 250....

[littlesilvermax]

Jayson from SWC has a 300 gallon a 8 footer and has 2 mh on a rail a 175 and a 250....

Keep in mind that Jayson (who has the same light rail as I do) has about 12 T5s over that 300.

It is almost hard to notice where the halides are.

[Skimmerking]

Oh i guess he added some more lighting to his tank I didn't know that

[fkshiu]

I agree that one MH on a rail over a 6' tank probably isn't enough. I had originally planned on 2 pendants along with supplemental T5 lighting for my setup. In end the low ceiling in my basement did in the light rail plan, but I'm still a fan of the theory behind keeping corals out of direct intense light 100% of the time.

[littlesilvermax]

Oh i guess he added some more lighting to his tank I didn't know that

He might only have 8 or 10. He used ot have a whole bunch of VHOs (like 5 years ago) but has since upgraded to T5s.

He has always AFAIK had lots of flourescent lighting.

[littlesilvermax]

I agree that one MH on a rail over a 6' tank probably isn't enough. I had originally planned on 2 pendants along with supplemental T5 lighting for my setup. In end the low ceiling in my basement did in the light rail plan, but I'm still a fan of the theory behind keeping corals out of direct intense light 100% of the time.

Yes, you need a min of 2 feet above a tank IMO to do a light rail and still have room to work. 3 feet is best.

[Whatigot]

[QUOTE=With a 6 foot tank (halide between 6 to 10 inches from water) and one 250 halide there would be a couple of options:

1) most popular because all of the light rails I have seen move back and forth with only up to a min delay in between moves. the corals (as individuals, not as a group) would see light then very minimal light then light.......

2) get a light rail that moves the light across once in a day. the corals will only get a couple hours of intense light per day.

Make sense now?[/QUOTE]

Why not a little bit of column a and a little bit of column b?
one travelling end to end in up to a minute running simultaneously with one that travels across once in a day?

just curious, not very lighting savvy...