For those of you that were mentioning the old-fashioned, pre-heat type of
lights, those can be easily defeated by putting what I think they call a
"starter" inside the hood. You can usually get these at the local hardware
stores. It's a little round cylinder about 1.5 inches tall. You buy a holder
for it for a couple of bucks and the starter runs .30- .50 cents each. The
starters are specific for the bulb wattage so buy the correct ones. If you
have an aquarium hood that is already a rapid start take it apart and you can
see how to wire a starter in place. You just clip the correct wires, strip
back a little insulation and then tie the wires into the starter holder, with a
screwdriver. I've done 8 or 9 of these over the years and they are very easy
to do. Remembering to turn the lights on and off is just too much of a hassle
to not use a timer & the plants appreciate the routine too. It really pays off
when you go on vacation. Without timers you either come back to a tank loaded
with algae from 24 hour lights on or dead plants and spooky fish.
Gary Lange
gwlange at STLNET.com
Rainbowfish Study Group of North America
http://home.stlnet.com/~gwlange/rainbowfish.index.html
Convention info at: http://www.sfaquarium.org
----------
> From: Burton M. Strauss III <BStrauss at ibm.net>
> To: rainbowfish at pcug.org.au
> Subject: Re: [RML] Light timer
> Date: Saturday, June 28, 1997 11:19 AM
>
> I've used the mechanical ones for years and always had problems with
> them stoping. I'm guessing it's cat hair & dust.
>
> So, I switched to electronic ones. The brand I've found in most
> hardware stores is Intermatic. My wife just picked another one up for
> the Quarantine tank. It specificaly says "Controls all types of loads,
> such as lamps (including flourescent), tv's..."
>
> It's model DT7C. Intermatic is in Spring Grove, Ill 60081
>
> (For you non USers, I'm guessing this is useless)
>
> -----Burton