Moonlighting?

[CezzaXV]

Hello all!

Long story short, I'm looking to install a moonlight into my tank. The lid that came with my tank will only hold one bulb, so I'm looking for something standalone. I've seen cheap ones on eBay and Amazon in the region of £10-15, but are they any good? I have bad experience of cheap electronics from chinese sellers, and want to be sure before I put any near or in water!

Here's an example of the type of thing I'm looking at.

 

[KittyKat]

You are only looking for a light to have on in the evenings, not for the whole night, right? That looks a too bright… also make sure you're aware of potential algae problems if it produces a decent amount of light…

 

[Blue Ramirezi]

It's far better to get a good quality moonlight from a company you know and trust, I've had a few cheap lights and they all broke within 2 months !

 

[freded]

http/coventryaquatics.com/freshwater-lighting-led-lighting-bluemoonlightledstrip-p-1289.html?utm_campaign=google-simple&utm_medium=product_search&utm_source=google-simple

I recently installed two of these on my tank and they are really great (in fact, I almost prefer viewing the tank with these on than my normal lights). Very easy to install and from a well known company so should hopefully be reliable. You can get two for £40 shipped from ebay.

 

[micko]

I've had the same set of LED's I bought from a Chinese based company for three years with no problems.
I cannot remember what the company was called now though. I'll have a look and see if I can get the name for you

 

[CezzaXV]

Just want it as an alternative to have on in the evenings. I've only got a small room so when the tank light is on it lights up the whole room and it gets a bit much on the eyes after a while, even when you're not looking at the tank.

Will save that Interpet one - I'm happy to pay a bit extra for quality, although don't wanna pay more than it's worth as it's not something I NEED right now. That one looks a possibility though.

 

[BigbruiserAl]

£15 no messing with wires

 

[Geoff-]

Personal preference, but I didn't like blue moonlighting it makes the tank very dim and impossible to see colours. I used a single white CCFL tube and have my timers set so that in the evening the CCFL comes on just before the main lights turn off, and then the CCFL turns off an hour later. This staggers the light so I still get nice tank lighting in the evening but it is subdued.

 

[grip]

£15 no messing with wires

I can see the effect, but how have you achieved this? do you have a picture of the light it self.

Cheers.

 

[ZoddyZod]

I have a strip of 12 LEDs connected to an adjustable voltage plug - that way you can adjust the brightness according to your own taste.

Here's what they look like on my 320L

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/374026-mooooooon-riiiiiver/

 

[CezzaXV]

Looks like I may need to get one of these adjustable voltage plugs.

Probably asking alot now, but is there such a thing as an adjustable voltage plug with a timer? So that you can have it automatically fade out? Or is that just crazy talk? If not, is it okay to plus an adjustable voltage plug into a timer?

There are some really stunning displays here

 

[ZoddyZod]

mine runs on a timer, has done for 2yrs.

There might be one that dims gradually, but not spotted one myself.

 

[CrazyAirborne]

i use those cheap LED strips as my main light on my 20g tank (but in white). Havent had any issues with them for months.

this tank uses 2 strips. like 12 LED's each strip i think. work great, use them on a timer. no prob. and the lights are adjustable because of the voltage changer. came like that when i bought them.

something like this

ive also used blue ones as a moonlight

 

[CezzaXV]

I'm thinking of ordering the Interpet one in a day or two, if nothing else better comes my way. Gonna install it and see how it looks, and buy a dimmer plug if necessary.

It's 30cm long and my tank is 60cm, but it should only leave 15cm each end and hopefully will still look good.

 

[CezzaXV]

I happened to be in my local garden centre today for something completely unrelated, and they had the Interpet moonlight there. It wasn't any more expensive than I'd seen online so I bought it there and then. I love it, it looks fantastic. I've taken a picture for my avatar, though it's a bit dimmer than that - it's incredibly difficult to photograph but beautiful nonetheless. So easy to install and much smaller than it looked in the pictures, but it's beautiful and I'd recommend it to anyone with a small tank