Possibly a stupid question

[Tackett]

here is a question that I have been pondering over, and I doubt that im the first think about it..so here it is.

has anyone thought of a way to dim your lights instead of just "BANG!" dawn, "BANG" daytime, "BANG" dusk, "BANG" lights-out? I know its impossible with PC's but I dont see why it would be impossible for halides...after all halogens can be dimmed. AFAIK halides are the same concept. If the bulbs themselves cannot be dimmed, has anyone thought of a clever way of "rigging" something to look as if the light is dimming and not just suddenly switching off?

It would be cool would it not, to have a megawattage lamp that is only at its peak watt for about 2 hours out of the day? It would have to be designed in a way that allows for a normal extended photoperiod where the lights would be above a certain wattage for x amount of hours, with the bulb and ballast max output to simulate noonish? Things could go even further by simulating overcast or cloudcover and coordinating your wavemakers with them. i.e rediculosly high current after a certain amount of time of overcast.

I know this is rediculous, and like I said, I know I am not the only person to think of something like this...so any ideas with this that anyone else may have?

 

[danmhippo]

I don't know that much about electricity, but I thought halide wouldn't even fire without sufficient temp.

You know, you could put a clip-on sylvania light bulb over your tank with dimmer.

 

[Len]

Actually, I think it's been done with fluorsecents, but it wasn't reliable IIRC. I think Icecaps had this feature before (and maybe still does), but someone would have to confirm.

Halides can't be dimmed unless the bulb is specially built for that purpose, and to date I think only Coralife has done that (and not well received). Halides need a constant voltage across the arc to keep the arc intact, or else it fizzles out.

 

[Anonymous]

let me just say that there was this one guy on this one board i was reading and he talked about having his metal halide reflectors on some sort of automated swivel that he made... that is the best i can do for citing this particular thing.

as for me, i just have VHO actinics that stay on for a couple hours or so before total lights out.

 

[Tackett]

Hmmm....maybe the next step in lighting. I think the lighting spectrums are about as good as they are going to get.

 

[Tackett]

BTW how the the living crap can you dim a flourescent bulb? that just seems wacky to me.

 

[Len]

Tackett:
http://www.bluelineaquatics.com/product ... index.html

 

[Tackett]

Well... smack me in the mouth! I searched forever for this. reading......

 

[Tackett]

OK.....how much it is?

 

[Tackett]

would be a way cool thing to put on a NO flourescent before turning on your halides.

 

[Len]

Last time I checked, they were pricey. I think in the neighborhood of $150-250, if I recall correctly. Ugh, I know.

 

[Tackett]

not worth it.

 

[Anonymous]

I used to use a standard incandescant bulb to help keep the fish from freaking out at lights out. - I set it up on X10 controls to come on just before lights out and then slowly dim down to off. - It really helped my fish get settled in for the night and kept them from jumping across (out of) the tank like they used to without it.

I don't use it now because I don't have room for it in my setup right now. - Otherwise I'd still be using it today.

 

[Tackett]

Thats a good idea, I like that.