led lighting?? any opinions
- Thread starter jerzsky
- Start date
Que
I wish I was a fish I wish.
In a dark room with no other light on it works over a 5 gallon tank but I've seen where 2 blue LEDs light up a whole 75. These aren't those kind of LEDs. Lemme get my pictures together and I'll show you what I did.
Q
Q
you dont want to much light though, it should be like natural moon light. right now i am running my pc with lunars, and one lunar from a company on ebay, who makes lights that also have a controller that is set with a natural lunar cycle, yes the moon, it increases and decreases the intensity automatically. fishbowl innovations is the company. they recommend one per 2 ft of aquarium, but i would say 2 per 2 ft. one day when i get some money ill get more, or i might go with some cold cathodes in a custom hood.
One cold cathode light kit will do it works perfect on my 75g not too bright not too dim use the aforementioned link its a great how to.
Que
I wish I was a fish I wish.
Here are the pictures of what I did and the result.
Here is the night light I bought
Here it is disassembled
Here is the guts. I unsoldered the plug parts after this and reassembled some of the parts.
The testable point of the mini project
Seems OK on the bench
Hardly enough light to see a thing in a 5 hex... mind you this picture is actually brighter than real life because of my camera
The light output of this comes no where near what I've seen out of LEDs in built-in hood and other retrofits.
Q
Here is the night light I bought
Here it is disassembled
Here is the guts. I unsoldered the plug parts after this and reassembled some of the parts.
The testable point of the mini project
Seems OK on the bench
Hardly enough light to see a thing in a 5 hex... mind you this picture is actually brighter than real life because of my camera
The light output of this comes no where near what I've seen out of LEDs in built-in hood and other retrofits.
Q
I built my own... if you have any soldering skills it is a pretty easy project (easy != fast necessarily). They make a great addition to a tank. If you are going the DIY you may want to plan for a little more than you think you will need. As it turns out, it is easier to take LEDs out of a 'circuit' than to add them (in my experience).
Que
I wish I was a fish I wish.
I't looks kinda OK over a 5gal hex but I've seen 2 retrofit LEDs light up a whole 55gal tank. I'd need many more of these night lights to get the same effect. Therefore I would have money better spent on the cold catode approach or an LED retrofit kit.
Q
I like the Marina lights someone else mentioned:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+10704+15551&pcatid=15551
They go under water, so you get a lot of light dispersement. If you put them above the water line you get more of a point beam.
I have one blue one on each end of my 55g. Each one lights up about 1/3 of the tank and it is dark in the middle. The barbs like the dark spot and the danios and rainbows, apparently, never slow down and like the lights.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+10704+15551&pcatid=15551
They go under water, so you get a lot of light dispersement. If you put them above the water line you get more of a point beam.
I have one blue one on each end of my 55g. Each one lights up about 1/3 of the tank and it is dark in the middle. The barbs like the dark spot and the danios and rainbows, apparently, never slow down and like the lights.
