LED Strip Light project - replacing fluorescent bulb

[IHaveADogToo]

My 30 gallon tank has a fluorescent bulb on it that puts off way too much heat. I try to keep my water between 79-80 degrees F (I'm American, remember), and I have a water heater with a thermostat that does a great job of that, but when I turn on the light the water heats up rapidly. Thankfully I noticed this before I started adding fish, and I currently turn on the light for no more than an hour at a time.

So, to fix this problem, I have decided to retrofit the fluorescent light fixture with an LED strip. I ordered a 3 foot LED strip on Amazon and I'm expecting delivery today. I will not only be removing the fluorescent bulb, but pretty much all of the electronics inside the fixture. I will then adhere the LED strip to the inside of the fixture, so it points down into the aquarium just like the old bulb did. I'll run the power cord out of the hole the existing power cord is using.

I'm really excited about this, because the LED strip I ordered has a remote control, and it's multi-color. It has settings for brightness, color, even transitions and scenes. It has 16 different colors, which I can run individually, or in combination. If this thing were any more high tech, Alexa could control it.

I do have a question, though. I have heard that some nocturnal and underwater creatures cannot see red light, and therefore red light is the ideal light for observing nocturnal animals, like my kuhli loaches. Is that true? Could I use a red light for "night mode"? Of course I would dim the brightness for this "night mode", and probably even turn it completely off when I go to bed, but I'm wondering if anyone here has tried this red light thing with their nocturnal fish, and how it worked out.

Please advise.

I will take pictures of my LED retrofit project and post them tomorrow.

 

[Colin_T]

Fish can see red, blue and UV light, as well as other coloured light. The thing about these wave lengths is they are not bright (we can't even see UV light). But red and blue light are not bright and glary so nocturnal fishes are more willing to swim out in the open if there is no white light. Having red and or blue light without white light, will allow nocturnal fishes to swim around thinking it is dusk or night time, and you will be able to see them.

As the sun rises in the morning there is yellow and red light. By mid day there is lots of blue and UV light. In the evening the blue and UV is gone and its back to yellow and red. A similar cycle can be done for the aquarium where you have red for the first few hours of each day. Then add blue and white during the middle of the day. Then remove the blue and white at night so there is primarily red again. At night before bed turn the lights off completely so the tank is dark, unless you want a nightlight

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If you have a hood on the aquarium, you can drill some holes in the top of it to let heat out. Or just open the lid during the day and close it at night.

 

[IHaveADogToo]

UPDATES:

As expected, my light strip did indeed arrive yesterday, and I got this little project done last night. Not only did I remove the fluorescent bulb, but I removed the entire ballast from the lamp enclosure. I adhered the light strip inside the lamp enclosure, in place of the ballast, and ran the wiring through the existing wiring holes. This particular light strip comes with a remote, and the sensor for the remote is line-of-sight, meaning the remote has to see the sensor or it won't work. I was able to mount the sensor to the top (outside) of the lamp enclosure, so I can effectively just point the remote at the tank to adjust the lighting.

Some observations:

The LED light strip does not put off nearly as much heat as the fluorescent bulb, so that goal is accomplished.

The LED strip is not as bright as the fluorescent bulb, and during the day time, if the light is set to white, it is difficult to tell if the light is even on. This is concerning, considering I have live plants in the tank, but I keep the tank in a room that has a skylight and four windows, and gets a ton of natural light. I'm not worried that the fish aren't getting enough light. They are. But I am worried maybe my plants aren't. If plants start dying, I might re-think this solution.

The red light spectrum for night time was awesome! Not only did my nocturnals come out and play in the red light at night, but I observed some very surprising behavior. My male betta, Dart, seems to think he's a kuhli loach. You know how kuhlis will climb on top of each other and look like a bundle of worms? Dart joins in. He finds the kuhli cuddle puddle and gets in, letting the kuhlis climb all over him and wrap their bodies around him. And when they patrol the substrate, he patrols with them. But this behavior only lasted an hour or so, then Dart went inside his cave presumably went to bed. After which, I just turned the light off completely and went to bed myself.

The available spectrum of colors allows me to simulate not just daytime and night time, but I can simulate dawn and dusk as well, giving my fish a more natural transition between day and night. These lights have 4 shades of orange between yellow and red. Last night I used all of them as I slowly transitioned from daytime to night, adding a little more red and removing a little more yellow with each step, until I ended on pure red. This morning, rather than fade back up to yellow, I faded along the purple spectrum and landed on blue, then I added white.

There are some really fun colors, like lime green, or neon pink, that may work well for when I have company over, but I don't see myself using those colors regularly.

Expect another post with pics. I used my phone to take pictures, and before I can post them on here I need to move them to my computer and resize them.

 

[IHaveADogToo]

Colin - To address your post, you mentioned something about drilling holes to let out the heat. I considered that, but I've read too many stories about kuhli loaches escaping from tanks, and bettas jumping out of tanks, and I think all those horror stories have traumatized me because I've been trying to seal the top of my tank, not make more holes. I'm paranoid that I'm going to come home from work and find dead fish on the floor surrounding the tank.

 

[Colin_T]

My male betta, Dart, seems to think he's a kuhli loach. You know how kuhlis will climb on top of each other and look like a bundle of worms? Dart joins in. He finds the kuhli cuddle puddle and gets in, letting the kuhlis climb all over him and wrap their bodies around him. And when they patrol the substrate, he patrols with them. But this behavior only lasted an hour or so, then Dart went inside his cave presumably went to bed. After which, I just turned the light off completely and went to bed myself.

LOL your fish is messed up
You know he might have been having an adult party with the loaches. Are we allowed to say that on here? Mods?
After the "party" he had a smoke and went to bed.

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Do you have coverglass on the tank? If you don't I would look at putting some cable ties or something else around the LED light just to make sure it doesn't drop into the tank if the glue melts or comes away. Heat can do funny things to glues and over time it might fail and the light could drop into the tank.

Coverglass would also reduce the chance of fish jumping out and reduce moisture from getting onto or into the light unit.

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LEDs do produce less light than other types of lighting, however they use less power. It's a compromise, but you might need more light for the plants. Just monitor them and see how they do over the next few weeks. You can increase the photoperiod to compensate for less light. Have the lights on for a few hours longer each day.

 

[IHaveADogToo]

Project Pictures:

 

[FroFro]

Project Pictures:

That tank looks nicely lit to me! Although I could be seeing things if the room is as well lit with natural light as you say. Are the LED's water proof? I have a clear cover that rests below my flourecent bulb and I need to clean it at least once a month to get rid of the whiteish buildup. If your LED's are water proof I may look into replacing my flourecent with a set or two of these babies. A new bulb for my tank set up (aqueon 36-gallon bowfront hood) is nearly 40$ at the local petco, about a four dollar difference online. How much did you pay for the LED's if you dont mind my asking?

 

[IHaveADogToo]

That tank looks nicely lit to me! Although I could be seeing things if the room is as well lit with natural light as you say. Are the LED's water proof? I have a clear cover that rests below my flourecent bulb and I need to clean it at least once a month to get rid of the whiteish buildup. If your LED's are water proof I may look into replacing my flourecent with a set or two of these babies. A new bulb for my tank set up (aqueon 36-gallon bowfront hood) is nearly 40$ at the local petco, about a four dollar difference online. How much did you pay for the LED's if you dont mind my asking?

My LEDs are NOT waterproof. There is a coverglass between the water and the light assembly.

That whiteish buildup is bacteria, right? I clean mine biweekly.

 

[Colin_T]

the white build up on coverglass is usually minerals like calcium. When water splashes onto the glass it evaporates leaving tiny amounts of minerals that were dissolved into the water. Over time this becomes thicker and ends up as a white gritty feeling substance you have to scrub off. If it wipes off easily it is most likely calcerous algae or something else.

 

[FroFro]

the white build up on coverglass is usually minerals like calcium. When water splashes onto the glass it evaporates leaving tiny amounts of minerals that were dissolved into the water. Over time this becomes thicker and ends up as a white gritty feeling substance you have to scrub off. If it wipes off easily it is most likely calcerous algae or something else.

The white stuff is rough and dry to the touch. I usually have to soak it in a hot water/vinager solution in order to get results. Regular scrubbing with a sponge results in little coming off. I also think its evaporated water, most likely water splashing up when I refill with my bucket for bi-weekly water changes and when my angels get a little too happy during feeding time!

 

[Colin_T]

if it's white and rough and you have to scrub it off, then it is mineral deposits left from evaporating water.

 

[fluttermoth]

Just a quick reminder that this is a family forum, so keep it clean, please, guys.

Thanks