How to Dim Lights?

Spykce

Spykce

It's a Z thing
Nov 8, 2005
184
0
0
37
Holland, Michigan
Hey I wasn't sure where to put this question but here seemed best. I have 3 bichir and they are out all the time at night, and when algea takes over the bottom of my hood so the light is more dim. However I just cleaned it and they hide under the rocks now all the time waiting for the light to be turned off. Is it possable to put window tinit on the side of the hood your light rests on to dim the light? Or is there a low light bulb I can buy. I currently use 1 sun-glo bulb. I have a spot for another bulb but then it's WAY to bright.
 
Try putting some floating plants in your tank. I think banana float........although I haven't used them, or seen them. I think I came across a post here that said they float. Then there's duckweed, which could easily over take the entire surface water. All you'd have to do is scoop it out on a regular basis.
 
I don't know exactly what window tint is. I actually have this situation in my tank since I had to replace the hood recently when it blew up; the new one came with brighter lights; plants didn't like it, fish didn't like it. I sprinkled some loose carbon (because the jar happened to be there) on top of the "window" under the bulb until it blocked enough light to make it how I wanted. I'm sure you could use other things as long as they were OK with the heat inside the hood.

That said, your fish might get used to the new light anyway, given a bit of time, and the algae will come back eventually right?
 
Last edited:
couldn't you tape a peice of paper or plastic under the light?
 
If you have incandescent lighting and feel comfortable doing electric wiring you could install a hardware store dimmer mounted in a plastic switch box. To avoid cutting your hood light cord you can make an external dimmable circuit with a cheap extension cord instead and plug into that. Use this for incandescent lights only, not pumps and filters. This will not -repeat: NOT- work with flourescent lighting.
 
Thanks for all the tips. I think I may just let the algea regrow.
 
I've had to deal with this as well when I owned an elephant nose. You can buy dimmer that you plug into the wall, then plug into the light plug. It allows you to control how bright or dark you want your tank without having to worry about buying special bulbs.

HTH

--Neil
 
Good to know, I went with that cardboard idea though. I'll have to see how they are tomorrow.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom