Fluval Flex On Wifi Dimmer?

Hello all,

I am new to the forums. Hope you are all having a wonderful day! I've had my Fluval Flex 9gal for a little over a year now and am just looking into getting a wifI controlled timer like the tplink hs105 or leviton DW3HL-1BW wifI outlet dimmer. Its a shame that Fluval did not incorporate some sort of automated timer/dimmer feature with it's remote to simulate sun up/sun down/moonlight cycles, which I try to imitate everyday manually with the remote and the cycles end up being all over the place at all different times depending on when I get home etc...

My question is, has anyone tried any of these wifI outlet switches with the dimmer option to control their Fluval Flex lights to simulate sun up/sun down cycles? I know the moonlight mode would need a phisical push of the remote button OR a separate moonlight led strip added to the hood on a separate timer for that to work.

Any experiences, tips, other equipment or ideas how to get this set up easily would be greatly appreciated =)

Thanks

 

Yup I have all my Tank Lights On- on off cycles... which is what I think you are asking...all you need to do is leave your light in the on position all the time (never switch it) then you plug the lighting fixture into the timer and you program the timer for when you want it to come on and off... quite simple... I actually use fully programmable power surge bars and that way with a click of a button I can shut off my filter or air stones or powerheads while feeding and then just click them back on when they are done... these bars also come with a timer option so the one your lights are plugged into can be set to a timer separately... I find this more effective then using the dimmer because IMO tanks should have like 10-12 hours of light and then 14-12 hours of dark... to help with sleeping patterns... is there a reason you don’t want the light to go completely off?

 

HI Francine, thanks for your reply. I understand about setting the light to on and then hooking upto a timer but I wanted to try a dimmer so that I could possibly gradually ramp up the light to full brightness and then in the evening, gradually ramp it down to off. I was worried about stressing the fish from the instant light on and off however, I've always done this in the past with other aquariums to no ill effects. I've read somewhere about the Leviton wifI outlet where you can set it to ramp up to 25% brightness and then after an hour, ramp up again to full brightness and so forth but I am unsure it will work on the Fluval light.

I like your idea about having the filter pump/air stones on a switch to shut off while feeding. I do the same from time to time, however I have to reach down behind my tank to pull the cord and then replug when done. lol. Have you tried putting your air stone in the back of the 1st chamber so that it is hidden? or do you have it in the tank for visual?

It would also be great to incorporate the blue moonlight led's for a couple hours before total lights out on a schedule somehow.

 

If your dimmer is an actual switch that you have to click it will not work with a timer... none that we have around here anyway (Canada) all of our automation stuff (my whole house is automated from tv’s to lightbulbs to my fish tanks lol) but the way those things work is they must be left in an on position all the time and then what happens is when you set the timer it literally shuts the power off to that plug... then in the morning when the lights come back on it turns the power back on to that plug... (hope that makes sense)

Now I’ve been doing this quite some time (fish keeping) and I have always been taught and heard that fish (pretty well all of them) need a consistent Lights on and Lights off time (darkness not dimmed) it makes for a better life cycle for them as they know when they should be sleeping and when to be awake... so IMO I would just set it so that the lights are on a certain amount of time and completely off for the rest...
As for my airstone it’s a decoration one with a huge airstone underneath so it produces the large bubbles that actually break the surface for o2 purposes... so it’s not hidden it’s in plain sight and it’s a circle so my fish LOVE swimming through them (I have them in all my tanks except for the ones with sand substrate)
For those ones I use powerheads or wave makers in the same way... I point them towards the top of the water to break the surface for again, o2 purposes...
So none are hidden I just open my app at feeding time click the button and the airstones and whatever I want turn off.... here is a picture of the one in my living room tank... so as you can see right now all that is on is the airstone and filter (it’s night time here) so my lights are out that’s why it’s not colored like the rest... I also have nothing plugged into the number 2 plug so I leave it off all the time because all plugs draw power even if nothing is plugged in and even though it’s a tiny bit I’m cheap lol so if they are not in use I leave them off... hope the picture gives you a better idea of how they work
Very handy and so easy and you can label them to whatever you want

 

Cool, I'm in Canada too! I also have a couple lights on automation so i'm well aware of how they work but instead of just clicking on and off, I was interested in adding dimmer capabilities for the gradual on/off like the sun rising and setting. I think I will order and try out the Leviton dimmer and give it a go. If it doesn't work then yes, either regular timer or wifI outlet. Thanks!

 

If it’s not a click style button (like all the way on for on, the middle for dimmed and all the way to the other side for off) then it should work... but if it is that style it won’t.. I know a set of mine are like that but it has a “moonlight” mode as well as on and off and it won’t work on a dimmer the same as a normal lightbulb would.... but if it works let me know...