400 gallon project

[niloc16]

thats true. the is the idea i was thinking of. ok well back to your first drawing why not lift at the corners rather then the middled of the beams. i think that would give the most stability and even lifting

[untamed]

I think that lifting on the corners offers the most stability because it maximizes the distance between the pull points. Unfortunately, getting the cables to the corners would add even more complexity to the design than I've already got (more pulleys!).

Princess Auto was a great suggestion. I've now got the pulleys that I need.

[untamed]

It would say that the tank is "Done"..but I know that is a foolish statement. So I'm going to declare the tank "Ready".

The final big step was just completed. I gave up on being able to design the light lifter so well that I could have some aluminum fabricator build it perfectly....so I built it from 2x2.

Here's the overhead tracks. These allow the lights to slide straight backward into the fish room.



Here's the completed frames. This is a picture of both the upper and lower frames with the actuator fully lifted such that the lower frame is squeezed up against the upper frame. The actuator slides 30" horizontally, while the cables and pulleys tranfer the horizontal movement into vertical movement.



Here's the end result. Let's just say that the forest behind our house is no longer dark in the evening!

[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 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

[wiszmaster]

Originally Posted by untamed

...
The final big step was just completed. I gave up on being able to design the light lifter so well that I could have some aluminum fabricator build it perfectly....so I built it from 2x2.


Here's the completed frames. This is a picture of both the upper and lower frames with the actuator fully lifted such that the lower frame is squeezed up against the upper frame. The actuator slides 30" horizontally, while the cables and pulleys tranfer the horizontal movement into vertical movement.

That is great ... i've been thinking about doing something similar ... are you still liking the design as is, or would you do something different next time around?

Great looking tank!


Thanks,

marco

[untamed]

Originally Posted by wiszmaster

That is great ... i've been thinking about doing something similar ... are you still liking the design as is, or would you do something different next time around?

Great looking tank!


Thanks,

marco

That light lifter has worked perfectly and I think it might be the greatest technical achievement of the tank design. The only thing I would do differently is to make it out of aluminum. The wooden 2x2's are a bit flexible and one of the lights hangs slightly lower than the others.