timed lighting dimmer?

[thefirethief]

Although it doesnt seem to stress the fish much, I assume that jumping from light to complete darkness isnt much fun for them.

Just wondering if anyone knows if some sort of timed volt dimmer exists? I figured if the lights faded down over a period of time it would be much better. It might sound silly, but Im guessing its not that complicated, just a normal timer but instead of on/off the voltage to the appliance would gradually decrease or increase. Ive been having a look round the internet although I dont really know exactly how to word what im looking for so Ive not had much luck. Might ask in some electronics stores sometime.

The only other option I can think of is to switch the lights off while the room lights are still on, but since my lights are on a timer this isnt always possible.

any ideas?

 

[Lauren]

some people will multiple lights stagger when they come on and off, that is the closes I can think of to what you want.

 

[joephys]

Everything I have read says that you shouldn't use a dimmer on flourecent lights.

 

[Walker_]

Well that’s not 100% true… Florescent lights (even compact fluorescents) have ballasts. Basically what the ballast does is take the wall plug power and muck around with it so it has a high enough voltage to get the tubes to fire up. ALL “normal” ballasts will do funny and possibly hazardous things if you put a dimmer on them…. HOWEVER there are specialized dimmable ballasts that can be purchased at your LLW (Local lighting wholesaler.) Furthermore some of the fancier control systems for these ballasts CAN be dimmed on a timer. However be advised these are usually high end systems installed on large buildings etc… So at 7:30 pm the skyscrapers mezzanine interior lights dim down to 40%. Then at 6:00am they power back up to full…. Or something to that effect…. Point being is unless your good with electronics I would be set to shell out a bit of cash…. Then again there may be other options avail!

However as Lauren pointed out, staggering lights is probably the easiest way…

 

[Blinky]

You could also consider installing moonlights or a small light behind the tank to come on just before the main lights power up and turn off after lights-out, to give the fish a transition period. One of my SW tanks wakes up with natural light from the window, then has timers that turn on one bulb at 9:00am, the rest on at 10:00am and off at 9:00pm and the first one off again at 10:00pm. The moonlights kick on around 9:45, so when the last bulb goes off the tank is left with just a little light so the fish can find their beds. The moonlights go off at 2:00am.
The moonlights on my tank are just tiny fluorescent nightlights, but you can also get little LEDs that fit inside your hood, or buy a fixture with moonlights already installed.

 

[patoloco]

Multiple lights connected to several times will do better. You could set a small incandescent buls (25 watts max) on a separate circuit.

Turn on the incandescent for a brief period (15 minutes maybe), then comes the main lights. In the night, do the opposite.

Some people will set up their lights in a circling position around the tank, so it imitates the sun movements, specially in larget tanks or when breeding some species. I know this is specially helpful when you have mouth brooders, which need to collet their fry just before the sun goes down.

 

[racingjason]

Blinky nailed it. I have my "moonlights" come on a little while before my main lights go out. The discus, rasboras etc all liked it, the neon tetras I had didn't care. They would still go zooming all over the tank like crazy when the lights went out just like they did when I had no moonlights. :huh: The wild caught discus ate them all anyway... stupid neons. :

I also used the moonlights to "warm up" the tank in the morning, kind of like a sunrise. I noticed that when the main lights came on the disus were basically stoned. You could reach in and touch them with no response! (guess how I catch fish from that tank)

 

[thefirethief]

Thanks for the help people! I actually just installed moonlights yesterday and for some reason it hadn't even crossed my mind to do staggered lighting with them.

The moonlights are brilliant. I sat for hours last night watching my shrimp, which I hadn't seen for weeks.

 

[patoloco]

The wild caught discus ate them all anyway... stupid neons. :

Stupid neons... lol

 

[RTR]

Specialized ballasts such as Ice Caps can be dimmed, and that company offers dimming timers to be used with their equipment. You will of course pay a non-trivial price for such.

I use staggered timers to separate ballast/tybe combos over a given tank to avoid the issue.