Winter and Summer Solstice

[mobley_d_1]

Hello all,
I'm planning an electrical upgrade of sorts, and will use a PLC to automate a few items on my 75g tank. I'm looking into adjusting the length the lights are on to match the winter and summer solstices. The question I have is does anyone know offhand the difference in daylight between winter and summer? Is it an hour or two? I haven't yet figured out how I'm going to dim the lamps, but figured I would start with varying the lighting period by a few seconds or so each day until it peaked at the summer solstices and the worked back down to the winter solstice. Any ideas or opinions?

Thanks, Daniel

 

[Dr. Chek]

hey there,
that is an interesting thought you have.... it would be cool to have the photoperiod adjust automically depending on what time of year it is.
I guess the only problem with that is that if the sun sets at 530pm like it does in right now (east coast), you can't enjoy the fish while around the house.
but anyway, it's up to you. check out this site. find your location on an atlas... in Alabama, you latitude would be something between 30-35 degrees north. click on 35 or 30N and it will display the length of daylight at many differents times of the year...
http://www.orchidculture.com/COD/daylength.html#40N

hope this helps

 

[mobley_d_1]

I actually plan on setting it the opposite of the seasons here. Have the winter solstice occur in the middle of summer. Help control the heat a little, not that I currently have a problem. During the winter here, the summer solstice on the tank would occur, seeing as how I'm inside more. I work 2nd shift (3p-11p), so my main tank watching occurs during the morning. I also plan on setting the moon up on a similar lunar cycle. During full moon the light would be on all night, during the full moon none at all, and partially during the lunar quarter. Now to only figure out how to make the plc dim them as well...

 

[mobley_d_1]

Oh, by the way, thanks a ton for the link...It really helps out.