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DIY moonlights and daytime shimmer

albatross666

By albatross666,
in Do It Yourself

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albatross666 Reefer

albatross666

Hi

 

I tried to make my own LED shimmer effects, and did a messy job, but it works! Its about 50 leds on a 55 g tank.

 

Attached is a picture with only the LEDS on.

 

Lets see if it has any positive effect on the coral.

 

:)

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ctreptow Master Reefer

ctreptow

Hi

 

I tried to make my own LED shimmer effects, and did a messy job, but it works! Its about 50 leds on a 55 g tank.

 

Attached is a picture with only the LEDS on.

 

Lets see if it has any positive effect on the coral.

 

:)

 

Looks Good...

 

What kind of LEDs did you use and how did you hook them up?

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albatross666 Reefer

albatross666

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Intensity - 10,000 mcd+ (this is ultra bright!!)

25 degrees cone

wavelength - 465<->470 - supposed to simulate moonlight @ 30 meters under water

 

I think i set them up as parallel

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albatross666

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It was from an electronics store for nitro cars, dont remember exactly which one, but probably hobbytron (i dont see them listed now). I got a bunch a year ago and used them for all types of things, including a "night sky" effect in my kitchen (pic attached). In person, the effect is MUCH better than in the picture. The tank on the left was my old 125 which i had to give up :(

 

 

gallery_2631356_351_8740.jpg

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albatross666

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I do. two leds were extra, so i just soldered them to point up into the canopy instead of down in to the tank. If you want them, I can unsolder them this weekend - i am hoping to have some time this weekend to clean up my messy work. PM me your address and I can put them in the mail.

 

A fun thing, while I was doing it, i burned up a string of leds because I was working on the kitchen counter and the sink is steel ... as soon as i pluged in, poof, burned most of them!

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albatross666

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Hi

 

Just put them in the mail. I was tinkering my my hood yesterday, so took them off. Having a had time figuring out how to do halides with acrylic!

 

PS the resister ohmage is such that you need to run 5 v dc through the leds.

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MisterTang Grandmaster Reefer

MisterTang

My line of thinking with this thread led me to an interesting discovery.

 

I have no problem making a circuit to do this, but I wouldn't trust ANY of the electronic projects I've ever made to go anywhere near saltwater. So I've been hunting around online for "rope LEDs", something I remember just hitting the market back when I was in high school and looking at as a ridiculous addition to my car. They were really bright, and designed to go under your car, so are definitely designed to handle weather/water.

 

Anyway, I found something even newer/better: an LED array that fits a T8 socket! http://www.ledliquidatorsinc.com/led_fluorescent_lights.php . I wonder how these would work in some of the deeper tanks, and whether they'd be bright enough or not?

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jnguyen4007 Uber Reefer

jnguyen4007

Hi

 

Just put them in the mail. I was tinkering my my hood yesterday, so took them off. Having a had time figuring out how to do halides with acrylic!

 

PS the resister ohmage is such that you need to run 5 v dc through the leds.

 

 

Thanks so much for this. I'll once again recruit YBeNormal to get it hook up.

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paenian Tang

paenian

My line of thinking with this thread led me to an interesting discovery.

 

I have no problem making a circuit to do this, but I wouldn't trust ANY of the electronic projects I've ever made to go anywhere near saltwater. So I've been hunting around online for "rope LEDs", something I remember just hitting the market back when I was in high school and looking at as a ridiculous addition to my car. They were really bright, and designed to go under your car, so are definitely designed to handle weather/water.

 

Anyway, I found something even newer/better: an LED array that fits a T8 socket! http://www.ledliquidatorsinc.com/led_fluorescent_lights.php . I wonder how these would work in some of the deeper tanks, and whether they'd be bright enough or not?

 

 

MCD = millicandela, which is a measure of single-point intensity. If you look at the specs there, you have 15 & 160 degree viewing angles, at 25000MCD and 500 MCD - the first is brighter because it's more focused. Lumens is a measure of total output, or intensity per steridian. The other wrinkle is that the LED there is not of uniform brightness, and usually the manufacturer measures the brightest point. But, assuming uniform brightness (i.e. best case scenario) you get some numbers:

 

25000MCD @ 15 degrees = 1.34 lumens

500MCD @ 160 degrees = 2.6 lumens (this is almost certainly over-rated)

 

So you get 300 LEDs putting out 400-600 lumens, for between 23 & 33 lumens/watt.

Normal output T5's output about 600 lumens per foot, so this LED solution is AT BEST half as bright, for almost the same wattage. I always look at lumens per watt; fluorescents and metal halides are generally 60-80, the expensive LEDs are only just climbing above this.

 

Paul

 

 

So you get 300 LEDs putting out 400-600 lumens, for between 23 & 33 lumens/watt.

Normal output T5's output about 600 lumens per foot, so this LED solution is AT BEST half as bright, for almost the same wattage. I always look at lumens per watt; fluorescents and metal halides are generally 60-80, the expensive LEDs are only just climbing above this.

 

And I just found this site listing the output - it's actually 150 lumens for two feet - not even close to something I'd recommend! I'm a little surprised it's so low, really.

 

Paul

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albatross666 Reefer

albatross666

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can you takesome more detailed shots up under your canopy

 

 

I took them off, since I am going to buy white leds for daytime shimmer. I am trying to sell them to recoup some cash so that I can try the white ones. I have tried 3 different metal halide lights, and love the effect, but its just too much heat for an acrylic top, so going to try this method.

 

I have them removed and here is a picture removed:

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/mld/for/847192620.html

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