Fish only light question

[multi striped 12]

Setting up a 140 FO with stock oceanic twin fixtures and
coral life 50 /50 Tank has been running 3 weeks now.
My ? is about morning and evening.. I have the tank on an east
facing wall with no direct sun for natural lighting before
lights come on..Should I have a low watt actenic fixture come on
first in the morning then last in the evening?
I assume a dimable ballast is expensive, along with its control.
Thanks for any help you can give me.
Just new to salt trying to find my way
Damsels in the tank now Still reading about fish and trying
to decide types.

[ichthyman]

Personally, I do not like the looks of actinics as dawn/dusk simulators. Too much light and of the wrong color. If you have a canopy, a small incandescent (15-25W) bulb on a rheostat dimmer/controller could be installed. It looks very natural and you’ll even get ripple lines, just like with metal halides, across your substrate. With the right adjustment, everything will look like a moon lit night dive. Any hardware store should have all the pieces. Remember to consider humidity and water splash with your design.

FNFN

[multi striped 12]

Thank you Ichthyman .. Yes I have a canopy,
I see what you saying a nice covered garage bulb or work light
They may even have some low watt compact that are dimmable
put it on a timer .. It could be a Tim Taylor special

Thanks again

[multi striped 12]

Found Chain LFS has a regular $12.00 fixture for a 15 watt
max... looks interasting.. now I am reading about moon light
options on other posts.