Moon Lighting!

I have always been interested in moonlighting, but at my LFS even a 1watt moonlight was $30 - $40...

This weekend my mom's husband mentioned to me that Ikea sells a package of 4 connectable 12" LED strip lights in various colors, including blue! Each strip is equiavalent to 1watt. He strung them together and now runs 2 of them as his moonlighting and it looks awesome! He has all 4 strung together, but all 4 is too bright.

All for the low price of $40!! I think the only drawback is that they aren't specifically designed to work in high humidity areas, so they may corrode a bit faster than would be preferable. Tonight I'm going to mount them to the back of my PC fixture and I'll be laughin!

;D

 

you could build one yourself for under $10. Here some links for you (I have built them also using usb cords and it works great)

http://www.creativemods.com/content/view/82/39/1/0/

http://salvatore.f2o.org/sdo/archives/000025.html

http://www.radioshack.com/sm-blue-2600-mcd-intensity-t-1-3-4-size-led--pi-2102851.html (only as a you must do it tonight type of deal a bit overpriced as usual at ratshack)

http://www.lsdiodes.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=1

 

Check out http://thelebos.com/, they are a bit expensive (not that much...) but they are great. I just got mine. The moon tracker is awsome.

 

I use a cold cathode(from my computer) hooked upto a 1amp 9v PSU.

 

Urban s, I was thinking using cold cathode as moonlight, but can't find out the spectrum of it....did you?

Thanks!
GKW

 

I dont know what the spectrum of it is. But it looks greats.

 

This is what im using

http://cgi.ebay.com/Aquarium-Blue-J...ryZ46314QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

Bruce,

How many lights would you recommend for a 48" tank? According to the site each light disperses quite a bit.

Thanks!

 

Well, i went for 3 and its really great. I didnt take the chance with 2 and im glad i did, the 3rd in the middle lights up what my colt coral blocks. The moontracker is really cool also.

 

Each light covers 2 feet of space, but because it disperses it a lot, the light is not that intense. You will need to upgrade the power adapter to get more juice out of the LED's. I have to say they are pretty neat LED's, never seen them before.

2 will cover 4 feet. I used 2 for 30in in length, lit everything nicely and even.

For 48in, I would recommend the 3 LED kit.