Diy Led Hood Build

[dgwebster]

There are units out there to replace your T tube with LED tubes instead with no extra faffing about. But these are expensive. I recall finding one which let you set rgb values manually and cost about £178 iirc. If i dig up the link ill post it.

 

[ripil]

wow that is a bit expensive ain't it. i bought some blue leds of amazon. meant to be really good but only really light up to halfway down the tank. just think blue and white leds so you can switch between the both would look great but this strip i got is beyond a joke.

 

[Timmy_Bee]

Am i missing something> if you go to B&Q, a 1W LED bulb (GU10) will cost a fortune, and you're saying you can do all this for a fraction of the cost?
This is making me re-think a ND aqautics tank and a home made cabinet & hood

 

[Timmy_Bee]

Please re-cap the components of a build like this.
Am i right in thinking you need:

x LEDs
x lenses
a driver that's V needs to be compatible with x LEDs (or multiple drivers)
heat sinks - where do these have to go? one per LED?
a plug for each driver
a sheet of MDF - drilled and waterproofed. (would it be beneficial to paint this with a reflective paint? or will the lenses mean you don't have to?)

Are the LEDs / lenses water proof? ie can you just poke the lenses through your drilled holes and have them facing the water, or will you need a condensation tray / sheet of perspex fitted to your MDF

Am seriously tempted to try this. Maybe try on my 4 footer first

 

[pjandnoo]

Hi,

Just came across your posts as am starting to think my lid on my 5ft'r needs replacing. Found this item on eBay, ( 160619453353 ) would these work? Never really thought about using led lights before as the main lighting option but makes sense as opposed to the power hunger fluorescent ones!

Paul

 

[Timmy_Bee]

Hi,

Just came across your posts as am starting to think my lid on my 5ft'r needs replacing. Found this item on eBay, ( 160619453353 ) would these work? Never really thought about using led lights before as the main lighting option but makes sense as opposed to the power hunger fluorescent ones!

Paul

From what i can see, it doesn't state what wattage those bulbs are. I would try to find that out before buying. I'm no expert, but i dont see why that wouldn't work. But unless they are something decent like 5W it might not be worth it.

Only other thing is they may have quite wide lenses? just guessing

 

[pjandnoo]

Hi,

Just came across your posts as am starting to think my lid on my 5ft'r needs replacing. Found this item on eBay, ( 160619453353 ) would these work? Never really thought about using led lights before as the main lighting option but makes sense as opposed to the power hunger fluorescent ones!

Paul

From what i can see, it doesn't state what wattage those bulbs are. I would try to find that out before buying. I'm no expert, but i dont see why that wouldn't work. But unless they are something decent like 5W it might not be worth it.

Only other thing is they may have quite wide lenses? just guessing

I have messaged them to find out the wattages, only reason I thought of these were I recently had a kitchen replaced and we had some downlighters put in the ceilings and plinth LEDs were mentioned lol. Will pass on the info when I hear back.
Paul