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OK so my friend and I did some messing around. We put blue LED lights up in my light fixtures for my 55 Gal. thus creating a moon light. It isn't super bright but just bright enough wear I can make out what fish are swimming around. It is kind of nice that I can see my cat fish and pleco which do most of there thing at night. I might be able to get some pics up soon if I can find a digital cammera. Just wondering..... has anyone else tryed this? We did all the wiring our self. Cost for everything was bout $15.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Sounds like you have a great setup now and for only $15, that's a bonus. Enjoy the night life.

Jim

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Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain

Yeah I am pretty pumped. I still need to seal some stuff up and I think I am going to crome paint the insides tomorrow. But for 15 bucks I couldn't go wrong.

Also how much will it effect the fish if the lights stay on all night? Keep in mind they arent super bright.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

I don't think it should have a negative impact on them if the lighting is pretty dim, however you may want to put a timer on it so that the lights are on for just a certain period each night.

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Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain

Thats what I am planing on doing today. I have my main lights on a timer and it seems to be one of the best things I have done with my tank.

So only have it come only have it come on for a couple of hours at night then go off for the night and maybe have it come on in the morning before the main lights come on? Take the edge off the main lights coming on???

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

That sounds like a good plan. It may help to not startle the fish as much prior to the main lights coming on.

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Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain

I now have the timer set up so the blue lights come on just before the big lights go out and just before they come back on. It seems to be working nice and I really like it. Every tank I ever have is going to have this set up!

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Think you could post some instructions? I would love to see about doing it for my 125...especially if it could mimic the expensive moonlights that i've seen...heidi michelle

"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle

Materials:
4 blue LED lights 15 degree (RL5-B5515) http://www.superbrightleds.com/leds.htm
Single strand copper wire (used bulk Ethernet wire)
Solder gun and solder
AC to DC power supply (used 10V)
Female adapter to the power supply
Resistor (used a 220-Ohm)
On/Off switch (don’t have to have if used with a time but I put one in)
Silicone (sealant for all bare connections(just incase))


First off I would like to have a little disclaimer. You might have to play around with different lights and resistors depending on how many lights you are using and how many volt power source you end up using.

Here is a simple wiring diagram of what I did. Mine is a bit more complex due to two different light fixtures: [link=http:// i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Moonlight001.jpg]http:// i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Moonlight001.jpg[/link]

If I were to do this again I would experiment with less direct lights and use them more directly. The ones I used are too direct of an out put so I have to shine them up into my florescent bulbs, which works but probably not the most efficient way of doing it. I will try and borrow one of my housemates’ digital cameras and take some shots of how I did it and what it looks like. If you have any questions you can email me at Wingsdlc@aol.com

My biggest suggestion would be to get a hand full of both resistors and different styles of LED’s and just mess around with them to get different effects. I hope this helps!

Something else to be careful of is that the LED lights only work one way so make sure you have them running right. So umm yeah if you have any questions email me or repost to the site. I am pretty good at checking it. Good Luck!!

Last edited by Wingsdlc at 09-May-2005 16:31

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/WaterLight.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Tank.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/ROut.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/RIn.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/LOut.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/LIn.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Lamp.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Both.jpg


55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

So yeah I put all this time into finding out what I used and tanking and posting pics and I get no responce. Some people I let you!

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric