DIY Moon Light Questions

[tygger]

In the past, I've purchased a basic DIY "kit" that included the LEDs, resistors and power supply (wall wart) so I know how to put it all together. It was used for a tank that had a canopy so mounting them underneath the canopy was no problem. I used a piece of pvc and drilled holes to mount the LEDs and the wires conveniently fit inside. Since they were mounted on the pvc, I could also adjust the angle by rolling the pvc housing. I was thought about using a yard stick, but couldn't put the wires anywhere...

 

I don't have a canopy on my current tank, just a light fixture that sits on top. Can anyone give me ideas to house the LEDs?

 

Preferably, I'd like to build something like this but dont know where to get the parts. Something that could be put together to make a square enclosure...

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/36-LED-Moonlight-Aquar...tem?refid=store

 

 

Also, I was thinking of using both blue and white LEDs, but only have one set of colors come on at a time. So depending on my mood, I could flip a switch and have my tank light up blue for one week and white the next. What type of switch would I need???

 

Thx!

[Guest Rileyporter]

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[Guest Rileyporter]

Hi there dude,

 

Well I am still very new to this scene but I do know electronics and how to build stuff Personally I would build it from wood since that is what I am used to using for projects.

 

Off the top of my head I would do this. 1/2 by say 1 inch piece of wood right.

 

 

 

pre drill the light led holes using a bit that is SLIGHTLY smaller than the led's diameter. if you want 2 different colors I would alternate the LED colors. As far as wiring goes I would wire both lights onto 2 switches (just makes it more easy than messing with 3 way switches.) So basically with this setup you could power both lights at the same time. (note I would have the lights in the same line like ===W===B===W===B just used 2 different lines to show you for clarity.

 

switch 1

............/===0===0===0===0===0

12V+===========

......... \===0===0===0===0===0

switch 2

 

The wood would look like a U basically with the bottom of the U being where the lights come out. You would have to put some sort of sides on the piece of wood to hide the wires from corrosion.

 

You kind of got me thinking about this. I am going to be building something like this in the next few weeks and I had an idea. Here is some food for thought. You know Christmas lights that can do different types of flickering. I am going to find me one of those to hook up to my moon lights to do the soft pulsing. The goal of this is to try to simulate the waves moving on the top of the ocean. But that is a bit more than what you wanted.

[unninair]

You may end up keeping your fish and other organisms from sleeping (resting) with flickering lights. If your see them swimming around after dark, please turn off the flicker or you may stress them out.

 

Unni

[Guest Rileyporter]

You may end up keeping your fish and other organisms from sleeping (resting) with flickering lights. If your see them swimming around after dark, please turn off the flicker or you may stress them out.

 

Unni

 

The moon light setup that I am talking about is 2 or 3 blue leds that would do the almost burning effect not something like you see rocking like a christmass party.

 

Riley

[tygger]

I guess if I had the switch in front of me, I would understand better. Is it ok to connect two switches to one power supply? Also, will any ol' 12v AC power supply work?

 

The wood is a good idea if I had a canopy, but dont think it would work well with my light fixture. I need something lite weight and durable like plastic. Then trying to mount it on the underside of the fixture is going to be another problem. I'll have to take a pic of the underside of the fixture so you can see what I'm talking about.

 

About the "christmas" light effect, I don't think that would be necessary. The surface agitation should be enough to create shimmers. On my FW setup with minimal surface agitation (compared to my SW tank), it shimmers nicely.

 

I wouldn't keep the moonlights on all through the night. For the SW tank, I'd probably keep them on for 2-3 hrs after the actinics go off.

[Guest Rileyporter]

Its not AC its DC. Yes you can hook up multiple switches to a power supply. If you want me to give you call I can just PM me I can walk you through the wiring. FYI a trick I am using it using an extra computer power supply to power some fans and LED's. You have to jump 2 wires on the ATX connector to get it to power on all the time.

 

anyhow.. should be working..

 

 

Riley

[Pat_13]

Just make it out of PVC, drill holes for the lights, run the wires inside, connect lights, and push inside of PVC. If you need to mount it to something first you could just slide it inside of the PVC and drill larger holes or cut a slit to let the light out. I have also seen at the hardware store the fluorescent light covers (clear tube) that you could also put them in.