moonlight for "cool" night light ??

waterdawg

waterdawg

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Jan 7, 2005
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I've been interested in finding an inexpensive "cool" lighting option for my aquariums as I enjoy watching my pictus catfish but he's not too active with the flourescennt tube on. I noticed several people have experimented with LED with good results but my knowledge of electronics is limited. Then I ran across a link to www.elwirecheap.com. They have various cold cathode light tube kits that seem much simpler to work with than LED. Cold cathode tubes are the type of light many people use on custom cars to light underneath, trunks, under hoods, etc. The dual 12" tube kit with 12V power inverter was $12. All you need is a 12V AC adaptor (radio shack has them). There are several other kits (all cheap). I ordered some stuff and will be experimenting on my first hood in several days.

Has anybody used this type of lighting?? Any tips or suggestions would be appreciated. :D
 
you could always just get the pre-made moonlights - theyll run you $25 ish for a 3/4 watt, or $30 for a 1 watt......just plug into the wall, and your ready...

j
 
I used the Same thing on my 55 gal

They are pretty bright. I went to Fry's electronics and picked it up for $10. (light for computer case) and no shipping. Same thing. I just used the D/C power supply from an old Recharble drill and it works fine.
JAKE
 
flowing flower said:
I just used the D/C power supply from an old Recharble drill and it works fine.
JAKE
Click to expand...
What is the output of your power supply? I have read that different folks have used DC transformers as low as 6 volts output to dim the lights. One guy used a variable output DC supply (3.5, 6, 9, 12 volt) from radio shack. I didn't recieve my light yet but it should be here mon. or tues. I'll post how it turns out.
 
ELWire might be a neat idea... I took apart my light fixture and mounted 6 white LED's in it. I disassembled a plug in transformer that had a 5v DC output and mounted the whole thing inside my flouresent fixture with a seperate switch.

It looks fantastic at night, and my Butterfly Pleco who hides inside my driftwood actually comes out so I can see him.

Good luck with it and post pics!
 
moonlight

well my brother has 3 ghost knife fish 2 dicis(miss spelled) 1 large pleco and a crown betta in 1 tank and he wanted them too be more active seeing that they were all fish that thrived in the darker places he got 2 actinic 100% actiniv 03 blue fluorescent lights 26 $ a pop but the black light effect makes his dicis's look amazeing and the knife fish totally thrive in it all always active not nearly as shy as they normally are. from what ive seen theres not many fish more senctive to light then BKG's so if you want the night time effect or mooonlight and still keep the fishes color in fact i think it inhances it with some fish id say go with that.
 
When you do get them

I would like to see a picture of your tank lit up..I might get a few my self..
 
I use a blue rope-lighting in my fish room for that moonlight effect. 18ft of rope-light costs about $10 at Home depot.
 
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