My light dimming method

[Bizdaddy]

I've taped aluminum foil over sections of my flourescent light strips to cut down on light.

I like the screen idea, as you can use it to diffuse the whole light strip, instead of blocking out sections. Thanks for the tip.

Justin

 

[riggs]

good ideas, i went to auto palace and got some window tint and put it on a thin piece of plexiglass and put the plexi under the light. if i ever want to or need to i can just take it out from under the light and have the full brightness of my light

 

[danny boy]

i have used grease paper to dim lighting. one tank i saw on the net had covevered the bulb in black paint just leaving spots clear the effect was stunning. beams of light in the water looking as if the tank was under a canopy. very natural

 

[riggs]

i've thought of doing something similar with red spray paint but wasnt sure how well the paint would adhere to the bulb, i may have to try that now....

 

[monsterfishkeeper]

ill try it!

 

[Taz2478]

i did a window tint like riggs. 1 set with light brown and 1 with smoke. might try a blue next.

what type of lighting do you use though? i have 10k cf lighting.

 

[hardb0iled]

I use Metal Halide downlights on my tanks, the light from these is concentrated into a narrow beam so I can highlight areas of the tank without lighting the whole tank up. It gives the effect of having sunlight filtering through trees or something above the water. It also creates a cool ripple shadow effect on the substrate when the the surface of the water is broken

The added advantage of MH lighting is that it warms up when you turn it on, so its not an instant bright light but a slow build up like the sun rising

When you turn them off its instant though

 

[fishnutham]

I covered the plastic cover on my light strip with tin foil and cut squares out untill I reached the desisred effect the ends have the spots and and a couple of small ones in the middle

 

[Opiate]

yeah dude that's a sic idea...whilst i've got my toga in a 67.7 u.s gallon tank, using a dimmer light would surely be more settling for him...it's such a skittish lil **** atm!

 

[loach43]

In the same manner as using window tint, I've used light gels too (transparent media used for theatrical lighting). You can get them in all different colors at major music stores and other film/theater lighting retailers.