Fishroom led lighting

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nterry

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Dec 10, 2005
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Hi everyone,

I'm looking at setting up small fishroom. The idea is 2-3 racks. Perhaps 3 rows of 2x40 breeders or 2x29 gallon tanks. So maybe 3 racks, each ~6 feet long or so. I'm thinking about lighting. What would be the best way to light these tanks? I've started looking around at some waterproof led lighting strips (there are setups that come with 15 feet of length. I wouldn't be growing corals or plants (except maybe java moss), so I don't need lots of power. Buying 6 commercial led systems, one for each tank, would be expensive. I could also go with florescent tubes, but I am hoping to save a bit in the way of energy by going leds. BTW, these will not be breeding systems, but enough room to keep some of the cool fish I like!

So has anyone ever used a something like this?

http://www.environmentallights.com/12621-dlrf390-sheath-waterproof-reel.html

Thanks,

nterry
 

ZorroNet

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I use waterproof LED strips all the time. You will need quite a few to light that much tank space. I do think it is the most cost effective and lowest profile way to light a rack like the one you are talking about. I am on my phone right now, but I will be happy to link you to the light strips I use later from the computer. I've had better luck with these that I currently have than any other LED light strips I've used before for aquariums. I have a few tips for you too since I've figured out how not to use them already haha!
 

ZorroNet

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Amazon Link: LED Strips

These are the strips I use myself. They are bright, well made, and I haven't had a single one burn out on me like I have had trouble with others in the past. The environment mine are in is MOIST, but I have learned to protect them from direct water contact. It's simple to do... just put a pane of glass on top of the tank and mount the strips on something white or silver that can sit on top of the glass and shine through it. It's an LED sandwich haha!

Here's a link to photos of my LED tank lighting. This is my best growing tank now. Color rendering of the cool white is nice and good color temperature for plant growth at 6500K. Pardon the cellphone photography.
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?276038-LED-Light-Boost-Mod/page2

LED strips tend to max out at 16 ft, so you should plan your power accordingly. You will need multiple 12V DC power bricks to drive them. The link I sent you does not come with a power adapter, and that's a good thing! You need to calculate power requirements based on the length of the strips. I'd probably put the power all on one end or in the middle and branch out from there. If you put it on the underside of the shelves, you can just do long runs and forget about mounting it and resting it on top of the glass. The glass will help with evaporation either way, so it's a cheap solution to that problem however you decide to do it.

Questions?
 

nterry

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Thanks. Your tank is really cool BTW! Questions:
Roughly speaking, how long a strip is powered by a single transformer?
If you cut the strip, can you easily plug in a transformer to the cut part?
Are the led strips generally simple to plug into the transformer, or is splicing or other technique required (for the first section used)?
 

ZorroNet

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Sep 21, 2013
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Thanks. Your tank is really cool BTW! Questions:
Roughly speaking, how long a strip is powered by a single transformer?
If you cut the strip, can you easily plug in a transformer to the cut part?
Are the led strips generally simple to plug into the transformer, or is splicing or other technique required (for the first section used)?
Thank you :) It gets a comment from nearly every person that walks through our doors.

16.4 ft (5 M) is the max length of just about any LED strip. Less is fine, more will not work out so well. You have a few choices for connectors. Some are clamp on and others require soldering. On single color LEDs there is a positive and a negative solder point every 3 LEDs. They look like little copper dots. It's easy provided you are comfortable with soldering. The ones I linked you to have one connector pre-soldered.

For a max length run, I use a 12V 6 amp AC/DC power converter. That's a little over the top for these particular strips, but I can handle the brighter SMD5050 Tri-chip strips too if you decide you need more light. The cost difference is so small that it's worth buying the slightly over-powered adapter. It can handle more, but output is only what the strip draws, so there is typically less heat produced as a bi-product.


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