Diy Led Moon Lights

[showjyr]

Had some LED strips laying around and a 12 volt transformer so I decided to make some moon lights. The project took me a total of about 30 minutes and came out very well. The pics don't do them justice and they make the corals flourece a lot. The first pic is 12v setting and the second is 10v.

 

[5teady_2012]

First piclooks great

 

[andyourblueblood]

please explain where you got the l.e.d.'s and exactly how you did it?! i have always wondered if you could some how diy this! great idea, and great pics!

 

[andywg]

Please remember that the fish on reefs tend to be able to see very well in the blue end of the spectrum, so those lights will appear quite bright for them. I would not recommend having them on all night.

If you truly want to observe nocturnal behaviour you are better off using red LEDs. As the red light is absorbed so high up in the water column, most reef fish are somewhat poor at seeing it.

 

[showjyr]

The lights are only on for about an hour after lights out.

As for where I got the stuff. I don't exactly remember where I got the LED strips, had them from one of my freshy setups. They are just a run of the mill strip of 5 LEDs on a circuit board. I simply soldered the wires to the correct spots on the board and then wired the board to a adjustable voltage ac/dc transformer I got from Walmart. I used heat shrink wrap on all the connections and used little brackets (made for holding automotive wire looms) to mount the whole thing to the back of my fixture.

 

[steelhealr]

More info:

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?act=ST...=22&t=80672

I made mine out of a 3 yard wooden ruler, blue LEDs, small capacitors and a 12 volt adapter from almost any old cell phone. It was easy....just takes a minute or two to get soldering down. I put the ruler underneath my strip lights..fits easily...placed on a timer. The tank illuminates the family room at night. It's a fun DIY.

SH