Make your own moon lights for less than $1

[StarDustGoddess]

Awesome idea!!!! Love it!

[reefer3]

I went to my radio shack and they were going out of buisness so I got a good deal on them. I picked up 4 LEDs like you have but they are 3volt for .25 each, then I picked up 4 screw in LED's which are 12 violt for 1.00 each. I installed 3 of the screw in ones in my canopy and and hooked them up to a old power wheels charger and they work great. I have some pics and I'll get take some more at night to see them in action. The only bad thing is they didnt have blue just red and green so I got the red ones. BTW thanks again for the info on this. Heres a pic of the screw in one I got.[IMG][/IMG]
And here is a pic of them installed.
[IMG][/IMG]

[corrado007]

Well done reefer3, it looks like you've got a set of moon lights for just a couple bucks. Red should give an interesting effect at night, you'll have to post some pics of your moon lights in action.

[reefer3]

Well they didnt give off enough light to get a pic I could see it but its not bright enough for me so if I can today I'm going to add two more. I think the reason its not giving enough light is because the lights are in a plastic case and I think its blocking most of the light.

[Whiskey]

If you don't mind me jumping in here,.. I use blue 4W Childrens nightlight bulbs for moonlights,.. one per 2 foot of tank and it works great,.. plus there easy to put out of the way. I pay about $3 for the socket,.. and about $4 for 4 bulbs,.. just wire a cord to the socket and your off to the races, or simply mount a children's nightlight in your canopy, just don't drop it in the drink

You can see them in the back of the canopy in this pic:


Whiskey

[Woodstock]

Great thread!

*stickied*

[extexan]

That's awesome! I am going to expound upon your creativity. We have a lot of solar lights around the pool, and this weekend I am going to try to rig one so that the solar pickups are remote from the on/off sensor and the ni-cads. I think this will work provided I can find some decent ni-cads. I'll keep you updated. Great idea!

[jubbers]

do you have coral in that tank? are those power compacts intense enough?if so i might get some.

[ReefSparky]

Thanks anyway, but I think I'll just stick with a store bought LED moonlight system commercially manufactured for about $99.

NOT!!

Great thread. Thanks for sharing your creativity with the rest of us!

[corrado007]

Originally Posted by jubbers

do you have coral in that tank? are those power compacts intense enough?if so i might get some.

I guess this is an old question, sorry I missed it. Yes, I have 4x65w PCs but I really don't recommend them if you're keeping corals. I would at least do T-5s or if you're planning on keeping clams, an anemone, or a lot of SPS I'd personally go with metal halides. I'm actually planning on picking up two 250w halides for my tank. BTW, when this thread was done the lights were on a 60gal but now I have a 90 and even with the 60 I still should have got halides. I see so little growth with my PCs and can't really keep SPS or other animals that require higher PAR.
Hope that helps,
Justin

Thanks anyway, but I think I'll just stick with a store bought LED moonlight system commercially manufactured for about $99.

NOT!!

Great thread. Thanks for sharing your creativity with the rest of us!

ReefSparky, I'm glad you like the idea, thanks. You had me going for a second there.

[dustin0479]

Originally Posted by BigAl07

Sounds like a VERY simple project!! I wonder how you could adapt this to some type of water proof tube so to make a submersible light for a FUGE or something!!

Allen

Easy!
Before connecting the power cord to the LED's run it through some 1/4" tubing, connect the LED's, drop them in a 6" test tube, slide the 1/4" tubing about 1/2" into the test tube and fill the end 1/2" full of Marine Epoxy.

Bam, waterproof LED lightbulb!

[dacooley]

Originally Posted by BigAl07

Sounds like a VERY simple project!! I wonder how you could adapt this to some type of water proof tube so to make a submersible light for a FUGE or something!!

Allen

I actually did something similar for my Harley, looks almost like the undercar neon...
Just wire them up, put bunches of 2 like the original article, and connect the bunches in parallel... slide them into a piece of clear acrylic or vinyl tubing, and use aquarium silicone to seal the ends and make it water proof.

[D3monic]

O.o that would would be cool...could have a glowing cave or if your one of the people that use pvc under your sand for your tunnelers put the led in one end the pipe halfway so you got a cool blue glow coming out of the cave. (assuming it's inhabitant doesnt mind) I got alot of big tunnels trough my rockwork it would be kinda neet to have a glow coming out of all the holes in my rock.

[l3fty999]

Originally Posted by reefer3

I went to my radio shack and they were going out of buisness so I got a good deal on them. I picked up 4 LEDs like you have but they are 3volt for .25 each, then I picked up 4 screw in LED's which are 12 violt for 1.00 each. I installed 3 of the screw in ones in my canopy and and hooked them up to a old power wheels charger and they work great. I have some pics and I'll get take some more at night to see them in action. The only bad thing is they didnt have blue just red and green so I got the red ones. BTW thanks again for the info on this. Heres a pic of the screw in one I got.[IMG][/IMG]
And here is a pic of them installed.
[IMG][/IMG]

they also have "wall warts" in whatever voltage you need, too, just incase you don't have an old cell phone charger.

[allen]

hey maybe for submersible you could use those outdoor lights that are LED in the flexible clear or colored rope lights