My new LED light kit

[speedykeys]

I got this Cyron LED kit for $50 and am going to use it as a lunar light in the blue color, but I thought it would be cool to show what the tank looked like in the other colors too. It also came with 2 extra LED bars that I didn't want to put in the hood so I stuck them behind the stand to accent and it ended up looking really cool. The first few shots are with a 20k 150w metal halide, not the LEDs. I do have a question though, I can kind of control the wattage that I'm putting out for the lunar lights and I was wondering if there was some kind of general rule as to how might light the corals should receive at night? I want to make sure I'm not blasting them with too much light. When I woke up this morning and the lunars were still on, none of the corals seemed to be fully open like during the day so I'm thinking it's ok. The last picture is what the tank will look like at night and is how much light they will be getting. Thanks!

[Cory Keeper]

can you post a pic of the actual unit?

[speedykeys]

Heres a pic of the light bars that I fit into the hood, and then the controller. When I said I could kind of control the wattage, it's because I can run anywhere from 1-4 light bars at a time. Right now I'm using all 4 in the hood (the top one got cut off in the pic) although the back 2 light bars don't really make it to the tank, they more light up the wall behind it and the sump area.

[stephstar]

That is so beautiful!

[jayghmi]

. I do have a question though, I can kind of control the wattage that I'm putting out for the lunar lights and I was wondering if there was some kind of general rule as to how might light the corals should receive at night?

Corals don't need any light at night. Moonlights are generally for your viewing pleasure - I only turn mine on when the lights go off and I have company over. My moonlight states the following "The Lunar Blue-Moon-Glow LED (470nm) creates rhythmic glitter and shimmering effects. Its special luminance promotes lunar spawning cycles in corals and reef life" - I don't necessarily believe this. My moonlight runs at 1 watt.

[powerkit]

great tank! do you have a link to some day time pics too?

[The Red Severum]

wow! pretty wicked looking!

[speedykeys]

Thanks for the compliments. Heres a daytime pic, as well as the first three pics in the first post.

[Cory Keeper]

yeah, what I thought, 5mm LEDs. Good for moonlight but not so hot for regular daytime.

Nice reef, I hope to join you in the next few months, heh. Thats the 29g Biocube isn't it? I plan to put together a 15g cube myself. Though I have lots to learn before starting a reef, heh.

[mickitaz]

Nice tank! Did your Led's come with the different colors? I love the color of the moonlight effect on my black sand. But using the other colors would be interesting.

[speedykeys]

I've decided to only run 2 of the 4 light bars tonight and I'm getting about the same effect, just a little less light which I'm sure is better for the corals. I think I'm gonna keep it that way from now on. Unfortunately my camera doesn't capture the colors I can see right now with the setting I just found which is with the blue lights running and the red ones super dim, it looks the same as with the blue lunar lights except the red and oranges on the shrimp and fish REALLY stand out cuz of the red lights and it looks so cool but you can't tell the red lights are on unless you look up into the hood. I actually like looking at my tank more at night than I do during the day now, haha. Anyway I believe there's 3 different colors in those light bars- red, green, and blue, and between the 3 colors they can make a lot of other colors like purple, rusty orange, white etc. There's also a setting that will slowly fade between all the colors really slow or fast, or even go along with music if you wanna get crazy but I like to just keep it on the blue (and now with a tiny bit of red, a little green added in is cool too).If I can get a good pic of the current setting with the fish and shrimp out I'll post it. This is definitely the best $50 I think I've spent on this tank, and I think these lights would work great even for a tank like 5'-7' wide. I would recommend them to anyone who wants some cool lunar effects for their tank.

[GregAW]

Where did you buy the lights? They look really cool! Thanks for sharing.

[speedykeys]

I got them from my LFS, but he doesn't normally carry them. He got them from a friend who bought them at costco, and I've also seen them online at different lighting stores and on ebay. If you search for a Cyron 6 pack LED light kit I'm sure you can find them easily online. Heres one on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Cyron-180-LED-Lighting-System-Remote-Controlled-6-bars_W0QQitemZ290277025648QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_De faultDomain_0?hash=item290277025648&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A570%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C2 40%3A1318

[GregAW]

Thanks and I'll keep this in mind when I need some new lighting.