Sunrise/Sunset Lighting Inquiry!

[Keepsta]

Hi all!

We're about to get a beardie and I was hoping to lean on your experience for some lighting advice as I'm putting together my first 4x2x2 bioactive setup (first beardie too):

In trying to deliver the best husbandry I can, thus am planning to automate the lighting with smart plugs and PID dimmers, but what im having trouble with is replicating a natural sunrise and sunset (rather than the lights coming on/off abruptly).

To accomplish this without overly complicating the UVB and heat lamp controls, I was planning on using the LED to simulate sunrise and sunset (i.e. for sunrise the LED would ramp up over say 30 min and then once at full power the UVB and heat lamp(s) would turn on using their own timer/dimmer etc.).

Where I've been having issues is finding an LED light like the arcadia jungle dawn that i can slowly ramp on and off automatically.

The most promising option i found so far is a LED bar and sunrise/sunset timer designed for birds (see below links):

- Light bar = https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B072YHH3HB?tag=exoticpetnetw-20
- Timer = https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B09NQDDM7P?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

I also found an array of aquarium options such as this one: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0CS7VH7VP?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

Then it "dawn"ed on me (pun anyone?!), why recreate the wheel when other much more experienced beardie owners have likely already done this!

Id be very grateful for any insight youre willing to give, such as:

- is there really any difference in the LED lighting for beardies and bioactive setups other than ensuring its full spectrum?
- any thoughts on this approach?
- care to share how youve automated your setup and potentially simulated sunrise and sunset?

Thank you all!

 

[Sadie]

Hi all!

We're about to get a beardie and I was hoping to lean on your experience for some lighting advice as I'm putting together my first 4x2x2 bioactive setup (first beardie too):

In trying to deliver the best husbandry I can, thus am planning to automate the lighting with smart plugs and PID dimmers, but what im having trouble with is replicating a natural sunrise and sunset (rather than the lights coming on/off abruptly).

To accomplish this without overly complicating the UVB and heat lamp controls, I was planning on using the LED to simulate sunrise and sunset (i.e. for sunrise the LED would ramp up over say 30 min and then once at full power the UVB and heat lamp(s) would turn on using their own timer/dimmer etc.).

Where I've been having issues is finding an LED light like the arcadia jungle dawn that i can slowly ramp on and off automatically.

The most promising option i found so far is a LED bar and sunrise/sunset timer designed for birds (see below links):

- Light bar = https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B072YHH3HB?tag=exoticpetnetw-20
- Timer = https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B09NQDDM7P?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

I also found an array of aquarium options such as this one: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0CS7VH7VP?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

Then it "dawn"ed on me (pun anyone?!), why recreate the wheel when other much more experienced beardie owners have likely already done this!

Id be very grateful for any insight youre willing to give, such as:

- is there really any difference in the LED lighting for beardies and bioactive setups other than ensuring its full spectrum?
- any thoughts on this approach?
- care to share how youve automated your setup and potentially simulated sunrise and sunset?

Thank you all!

I have reached out to someone who can possibly help w/ this

 

[Keepsta]

Update - so I just realized that Arcadia does indeed sell lights with a programming function. Resolved!

 

[Sadie]

Update - so I just realized that Arcadia does indeed sell lights with a programming function. Resolved!

Here is the response I got
They mentioned the Arcadia LED bar which is designed to do this and might be the best bet. It can still have trouble controlling the UVB lighting this way due to the nature of fluorescent tubes. There was a recent thread mentioning that the UVB light would flick on at full, then drop and then ramp up as programmed. I don't think there is a perfect option for this yet and probably won't be until there is a LED or similar option that can produce proper UVB.
The way I have this set up - not perfect, but works - is the basking light (usually incandescent, sometimes halogen - depends what I can get) is connected to a herpstat which has built in ramping settings. I've found that making this too long can cause flickering, but 15-30 min of ramping up and down works really well. I do this with the basking light and let the enclosure warm up for an hour or two, then just have the UVB on a mechanical timer so it flips on mid morning to simulate intense UVB and flips off late afternoon. Then the basking light ramps back down for the evening a couple hours later. This could be made more elaborate, but it achieves the goal and the simplicity is reliable.