siena 0 Posted October 12, 2020 Hi! I have a 37 gallon tank with goldfish. The tank is great, but the lights are way too bright. It seems to freak the fish out when all light is on. It is 2 "tubes" of LEDs and they are one unit so I cannot remove 1 tube, which would be ideal. I have tried covering 1 tube with black electrical tape, which works for about a week and then it peels off. I found some outdoor electrical tape which is SUPPOSED to hold up in extreme weather, but it didn't even last a week! I do not want to purchase another hood and all lights I have seen are LED now...Does anyone have any other ideas? Thank you 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Arctic Mama 3,647 Posted October 12, 2020 Can you show me a picture of the light setup, the underside? 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
siena 0 Posted October 12, 2020 Of course! As you can see, only part of the rubber tape came off and now I cannot get the rest of it off... Might just have to let the water do it's work on the rest or IDK... 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Arctic Mama 3,647 Posted October 12, 2020 Okay, best way to dim them is to glue in a few spacers of some sort (lego bricks?) to get about half an inch of clearance between the light and fabric, because wrapping the light in white fabric will cut and diffuse the intensity considerably, even if it is very thin cotton. These are LEDs and you could probably get away with just wrapping them straight with no spacer, but for safety JUST IN CASE they run hot, hot glueing some spacers along the front and back rim of the light hood, as well as along the right and left side, will help it sit slightly higher snd keep the fabric from touching the electronics. It’s like putting a thin white sock on the light with a little space for circulation of air. Does that make any sense? I can try to show you on my light if it’s unclear. 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
siena 0 Posted October 12, 2020 Please send me a photo, if you can. I think I understand but would like to see one. Thank you!! 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Arctic Mama 3,647 Posted October 12, 2020 Okay, so you’re going to glue legos or something similar around the edge. Then take thin white fabric, like a pillow case or thin muslin quilting cotton, and your going to lay it over that light surface and spacers and pull it tight, then staple or glue to the top of the hood so you have a smooth glove of fabric around the lights, but not touching them. The fabric dims the intensity of the lights by at least 25% and cuts glare. I’m a fan of hot glue for this, since you only have to hold each section of fabric tight for about thirty seconds. But even clothespins or safety pins would work to see how you like it. Generally speaking, the glare only bothers the fish if they’re celestials or other upwardly turned eye fish, OR in a bare bottom tank. Substrate helps a lot. But if you need more diffuse light the fabric trick is by far the easiest. 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
siena 0 Posted October 12, 2020 Thank you so very much! I will try this! 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
J.Allen 9 Posted October 12, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, siena said: Hi! I have a 37 gallon tank with goldfish. The tank is great, but the lights are way too bright. It seems to freak the fish out when all light is on. Hi Siena, Out of my own curiosity, what alerted you to the light freaking the fish out? when it was on were they hiding? When turned from off to on did they go hide? Do you feed them floating food , and they refuse to go to the surface while the light was on ? I’m regularly fascinated / entertained by fish behavior so any of your observations would be greatly appreciated. best regards, Jordan Edited October 12, 2020 by J.Allen Auto correct swapped “ any “ with “ Amy” 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
siena 0 Posted October 12, 2020 They do hide when the light comes on. And pretty much stay hidden while it is on. They do eat, but it is a very noticeable difference in their attitude when there is too much light 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
J.Allen 9 Posted October 12, 2020 Very interesting indeed. Do you have fish with large or exotic eye characteristics or the non protruding pea size eyes? 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
koko 14,377 Posted October 24, 2020 On 10/12/2020 at 9:58 AM, siena said: They do hide when the light comes on. And pretty much stay hidden while it is on. They do eat, but it is a very noticeable difference in their attitude when there is too much light Do you turn on other lights on before the tank light goes on? 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Goldfishbeginner 26 Posted October 25, 2020 I have leds light too that didnt come with an adjuster. I was able to add a PWM controller. Its just a small dial that plugs inline between the the led light and the power supply. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0794Y7VJ1/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_arALFbJZA8PWM?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 That link is for a two pack but if you only need one you should be able to find a similar thing that only has one. 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
