Dimming lighting with Aluminium Foil/Electrical tape?

**Goes to 11!** · 01-17-2013, 01:41 PM

Ok yeah fake plants, Your fish were tank raised their entire lives and have had bright & bare bottom tanks to deal with.. Etc. This is all for you.

Why not simply ask that guy what lights and bulbs he is using?

Seems easy enough & also the shortest route to getting that lighting since he has the same tank a you. Something you might consider though is that his video is possibly a bit darker than the actual tank... Much like your picture.

**serbusfish** · 01-17-2013, 01:53 PM

Originally Posted by 850R

Ok yeah fake plants, Your fish were tank raised their entire lives and have had bright & bare bottom tanks to deal with.. Etc. This is all for you.

Why not simply ask that guy what lights and bulbs he is using?

Seems easy enough & also the shortest route to getting that lighting since he has the same tank a you. Something you might consider though is that his video is possibly a bit darker than the actual tank... Much like your picture.

I already did, no reply as of yet.

**Goes to 11!** · 01-17-2013, 02:13 PM

They obviously have a black light or 50/50 on that tank & I hope you noticed that it is overstocked lol, It might not even be going anymore...

**Lady Hobbs** · 01-17-2013, 02:18 PM

Someone once mentioned window screening would work. But, if you are having no issues with algae, I can find no reason to dim the lights. My lights are plenty bright and I just cut my photo-period down to 6 hours a day rather than 8. Those two hours made a difference.

But you have some tall fast growers in your tank. I don't see a problem, really. I kinda work on the idea that if something is not broke, don't fix it. Your tank and plants are lovely.

**Lady Hobbs** · 01-17-2013, 02:44 PM

Well, now don't I feel about dumb! Are those plastic plants? Seems they grew awfully fast if they are real. LOL Omit my last post if they are. *sheesh* I try to prove at least one time each day how dumb I can be.

The lights do not matter if the plants are plastic, BTW.

**funkman262** · 01-17-2013, 02:58 PM

At least I feel better now about not being the only dunce in this thread lol

And btw, the purpose for dimming the lights has mostly to due with the aesthetics for the OP.

**serbusfish** · 01-17-2013, 03:24 PM

Yes the majority of my plants are fake :) Apart from the Java Fern I have at the front/left. I want to dim the lights partly for aesthetic reasons and party for my fish.

It seems aluminium foil should work fine as its melting point is 660'c, so I shouldnt have to worry about heat issues. I will have a mess around and see what happens. Either i'll like it or I wont

**Brhino** · 01-17-2013, 05:24 PM

Originally Posted by serbusfish

It seems aluminium foil should work fine as its melting point is 660'c, so I shouldnt have to worry about heat issues. I will have a mess around and see what happens. Either i'll like it or I wont

the foil isn't going to melt but the bulb itself may very well get hotter. It might not be a big deal, but depending on how warm it gets it will significantly shorten the life of the bulb or even pose a safety hazard. Personally I wouldn't, but I don't have any hard data for you.

**Cliff** · 01-17-2013, 05:55 PM

+1 to the above

Aluminum foil will hold the heat in around the bulb and could very well cause the fixture to get hotter than it is designed for. I would think that could be very risky.

This might have been mentioned before and I just missed it, but could you raise the fixture a little higher above the light to reduce the amount of light getting in the tank ?

**Indian Woods Angels** · 01-17-2013, 07:11 PM

If you restrict the air flow around the bulbs you will have heating issues and this may cause a fire. I would not do anything that restricts the dissipation of heat from the bulb or the fixture.

I would not place anything that is affected by heat or is flammable between the bulb and the tops glass.

You could take a piece of glass, tint or paint it to block the areas you wish, and place this glass upon your top between the top glass and the bulbs with the paints etc between the top glass and the glass you color. I would not put the paint in contact with the UV radiation or heat from the bulbs.