Custom led fixture for unplanted 20L tank? For under $50? possible?

[RobotByDeath]

Hey everyone, I have a 20L and I was wondering how I can make my own LED fixture on the cheap?

I looked into the Marinleand Double Bright fixtures but dang $100+ for one and Im not growing live plants anyways.

Would a LED rope light (the kind used for under-cabinet lighting or cove lighting) attached to the underside of a normal hood be cheap enough and give out sufficient light?

Any better ideas you might have? Please let me know!! ​

 

[RobotByDeath]

bump?

 

[dbosman]

For an un-planted tank, maybe.
Sorry, that's the best answer I can give you.
If they were still available, I'd suggest the white flat surfaced LED Christmas lights. 50 to a string. You can mount them on lighting fixture egg crate material, or drill a .25" or so, acrylic slab and glue in the individual lights.


If you're a DIY kind of person, you can order electronics from http://www.satistronics.com
shipping costs from China are surprisingly low and the goods usually arrive in 2 - 3 weeks.

You'll need some aluminum for a heat sink.
A 48" aluminum ruler is 2" wide and .125" thick. $7.99 Home Depot or any other big box store.
From Satistronics, order
A driver for 9 - 12 3 watt LED emitters @ $16.99 SG1361-12x3X
3 watt white LED emitters are $1.39 each now in lots of 5. ST-3WW 15 would be $20.85

You would still need thermal heat sink compound and a drill and screws and nuts and possibly plastic washers or Thermal Epoxy to mount the LED stars. You'll also need a power cord.
I got my Artic Silver thermal adhesive epoxy from Amazon.

 

[bradleyp]

Most of the LED rope lights I have ever seen have very low watt LEDs and really only give off enough light for a little accent IMO. I'm not sure they would do justice for an aquarium. The higher wattage LEDs out there are still pretty expensive. If you aren't dead set on LEDs, I use sockets designed for incandescent bulbs and put 13w 6500k compact fluorescent lamps in them. You get a great lumen per watt output. You could rig up 3 or 4 of those together for very little cost. I paid less than $2 each for the sockets and less than $3 apiece for the lamps.

 

[RobotByDeath]

Sounds good, I just want to keep it simple you know? Can you post a picture of those flat christmas led lights?

 

[RobotByDeath]

Bradley, I want to keep the overhead costs low, and the LED electrcity cost is insanely cheap If the LEDs dont work out, I may go the route you described.

 

[RobotByDeath]

Would these work?

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/index.cgi?action=DispPage&category=BARS&Page2Disp=%2Fspecs%2Fluxbar_fixtures.htm#photos

 

[bradleyp]

In terms of total light output, the 48" unit shows 845-893 total lumen output. By comparison, a standard 60w incandescent lamp yields around 830 lumens. Just something to compare...

 

[RobotByDeath]

How many lumens should I be looking for at least?

 

[bradleyp]

How many lumens should I be looking for at least?

If your tank is not planted, the light level is really subjective. I just threw those numbers out there for reference. I have a basic 10g without plants and my lumen level is around 1600, probably a little on the high side for that particular tank but I am just using the lighting I had laying around and I do like to be able to see really good when I'm looking at my fish. If you want to get an idea of what level would look good for your particular tank, take a desk lamp or something like that and put a regular 60w bulb in it and position it over your tank. That will show you how it would look with around 800 lumens and help you decide what level you really want.