basically i have a home built 5 channel marine aquarium LED light (5 channel single chip). its basic stuff consisting of a large 8-16v 100 amp switch mode (with some really nice IGBT's in it 
) a boost to up the voltage of about 30 volts, and 5 cheap (Chinese) individual PWM's that are controlled by 5 individual 100K potentiometers.
i would like to know if theres a nice easy way how i could connect each potentiometer's 3 wires up to an arduino and make a full day/night/weather cycle light. (you can get a light with all this built in but man they cost a fortune! they even simulate a lighting storm!)
if it is possible, what would be the best way to code such a system? just use basic timers? i am quite new to all kinds of code so this is kinda new to me.
i am not so interested in replicating lightning storms but a nice "soft start" and "soft off" system would be nice rather than it just coming on to full 100 watts of light instantly and turning off to almost total darkness when i am not about.
is it possible to do?
i still need to put the boost in a little box to make it all neat, for now the power supply's fan helps keep it cool.
its also really nice having a almost unlimited supply of 12v power on my desk too most of my room is powered from it using LED strip lighting