Dimmers

[jlreese]

Hi - I have been very interested in the subject of adding a light dimmer to my VHO setup. The only choice I am seeing on the market is one offered by Nichie and for sale at Champion Lighting. In principle it sounds great but does it work well in practice? I am running 4 VHO bulbs on a Icecap 660 ballast that has been modified for dimming and I am now trying to decide on which dimming unit to buy. Any experiences with dimmer out there?


------------------
Jody L. Reese

[Powrplay]

My personal experience with a dimmer (IceCast) was...breathtaking!!! All the animals (Corals and Fish) seem to react more naturally. If I hadn't upgraded to Metal Halides I would still have the dimmer running the VHO lamps. Plus, I've seen many sunsets. It's more enjoyable watching sunsets, underwater Good Luck and HTH

[This message has been edited by Powrplay (edited 02-12-2001).]

[volk23]

Originally posted by Powrplay:
My personal experience with a dimmer (IceCast) was...breathtaking!!! All the animals (Corals and Fish) seem to react more naturally. If I hadn't upgraded to Metal Halides I would still have the dimmer running the VHO lamps. Plus, I've seen many sunsets. It's more enjoyable watching sunsets, underwater Good Luck and HTH

[This message has been edited by Powrplay (edited 02-12-2001).]

Does that mean that you cant use a dimmer on MH ?



------------------

[Doug1]

I believe the method used to fire MH bulbs pretty much precludes using a dimmer, although you get an abreviated effect as the MH bulb comes up to operating temp

------------------
I dont advocate holding marine creatures for ransom but......since you asked
Doug, plank owner
http://hellreef.homestead.com/index.html
www.thereeftank.com/ubb/Forum2/HTML/000001.html

[jlreese]

Hi All -

I have had one supplier tell me that everyone is getting away from VHO dimmers and that MH dimmers do a great deal of damage to the bulbs. So they were telling me to stay aways from dimmers. Another tells me that they are the best thing since apple pie. Who do I believe?

------------------
Jody L. Reese

[jegel]

I'm not sure about the effects it would have but I just can't trust someone who makes analogies to apple pie. Sounds like hes giving a sales pitch to me.

What about dimmers and PC lights, whats the scenario there?

[bill-e]

As far as I know, the IceCap dimmer works only with the IceCap ballast. While there are dimable ballasts offered for sale by the lighting industry, I dont know of any sold as aquarium ballasts other than IceCap.

I'd stay away for dimmers unless you are sure they work with your ballast/bulb combo.


------------------
Bill Esposito
bespo@cereal.mv.com
JAqua for the AquaController 2
http://cereal.mv.com/jaqua.html
My Reef Page
http://cereal.mv.com/reef
The box said "Use Win 95 or better", I chose better so I run OS/2!

[jlreese]

Hi Bill - thanks for the reply!

The ballast that I have is the IceCap 660 and the dimmer that I am looking at is the Solar 1000 offered by Champion Lighting. Are you familiar with that dimmer? I am interested in the dimmers ability to do daily and seasonal lighting changes, cloudy or partially cloudy days. It also has the ability to use a "moon" light that cycles on the lunar cycle. Oh, the company also states that their dimmer has been approved by IceCap for use with their ballast. I contacted IceCap and they also say that it has approved its use. For $300 I want to make sure of what I am buying before I get it home. Any other ideas or thoughts?

------------------
Jody L. Reese

[Doug1]

Jody, I think there may be one other dimmer that Icecap approves for their ballast but I cant recalll the name off hand and its about the same price as I recall. I have also seen a few people refering to the "dimmer modified Icecaps" You may want to email tech support and give them your serial number and see if any modifications are needed

------------------
I dont advocate holding marine creatures for ransom but......since you asked
Doug, plank owner
http://hellreef.homestead.com/index.html
www.thereeftank.com/ubb/Forum2/HTML/000001.html

[bill-e]

Thoughts? I got loads of 'em

First off, for 300 bucks you could buy a Neptune AquaController 2 and although it doesnt dim, it does do seasonal lenght of day variations and moon cycle (dimable moon cycle), and you get temp, pH and ORP to boot. Much better investment if you ask my opinion.

I dont know if it's coincidence or not but my clowns laid eggs 2 months after installing a moon light on my tank controlled by the Aquacontroller. ($5 in hardware)

------------------
Bill Esposito
bespo@cereal.mv.com
JAqua for the AquaController 2
http://cereal.mv.com/jaqua.html
My Reef Page
http://cereal.mv.com/reef
The box said "Use Win 95 or better", I chose better so I run OS/2!

[jlreese]

Hi Bill -

I was excited to read your reply! The product that you mentioned I have not heard of so I was very interested in what you had to say. Can you give me a couple of suppliers that I can go to when I check out the Aquacontroller? It sounds very interesting. I thought it was pretty cool that your clowns laid eggs. I really do think that it is important that we try to replicate the daily photo-period as best we can. At least it makes sense to me. Thanks again!

[bill-e]

Jody,

http://www.neptunesys.com/

[jlreese]

Bill -
Hey thanks for the info on the web site for the AquaController. I was very impressed at what I saw. At least now I have more info. before I make a purchase. This board is GREAT!