First DIY attempt

[GobyMan]

So after reading some posts on this board and others, I got a bug to create a moonlight effect....after a trip to a local electronics store, roughly $18, and 10 minutes of my time, this is what I created...

 

Is this the correct effect I should be looking for??

 

Thanks!!

 

Oh, and I am still playing around w/ the camera, so bear with me...

 

[NanoReefer53]

OoOOo, i like it. Looks lika bright in 1 place though. Try this, move the LED to one side and angle it across the water. You'll have a bigger spread over the tank with less intensity in each spot. It's also cool how it makes the ripple lines

[moultonrock]

:woot: wooooooooo doggy. that looks sweetB)

 

i keep hearing about this moonlight affect too but never really stopped to even wonder, but after seeing this i'm definately interested.

 

Goby, what exactly did you buy to make that. is it an LED?

[GobyMan]

Yup LED, I'll get the exact specs, I know off hand it is 4.5 volt max w/ 30 degree spread....attached it to a 4.5 volt AC adapter..

[tinyreef]

i have to admit, that DOES look sooo friggin' cool!

[GobyMan]

Yeah, I have to play with the mounting....it is pretty bright in one spot, but the "glitter lines" are all over the tank....(and the room for that matter) I don't want to hang it directly below the canopy, I'm afraid of heat concerns...Right now I have it hung on a wall behind the tank....maybe I can raise it up higher...

 

Here is another shot after I modified the placement...don't know if the pic will look ok...

[ross76053]

Goby,

 

Yes, please get us the specs and let us know where you bought the LED. I gotta have it.

 

Ross

[J Crew]

blue LED:

http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?cata...%5Fid=276%2D316

 

4.5v adaptor:

http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?cata...5Fid=273%2D1757

 

hth, peace

[Mnesarchus]

That looks so cool man! I love the idea of having a moonlit tank at night. Great job.

[Dave ESPI]

fer the same money, you could do this too:

 

Power cord,

Socket,

Photoreceptor adapter,

25 watt Incandesent Blue bulb,

TOTAL COST: 12.00

 

I like it on my tanks, it doesnt need a timer and comes on Automaticaly !

 

damn I cant fing the pics.. Ill add it later

[Goofnut]

I was considering doing this with a 7.5W incandescent red light (perhaps with a dimmer switch?) for night viewing. I haven't seen any red bulbs that small. Is there a tinting material you can paint onto the bulbs to change the color to red or blue?

[gobies]

There's transparent glass paint at the hobby&craft store, if that's what you're looking for... though it's kind of expensive and you have to bake the finished piece for the stuff to be permanent and waterproof.

http://www.michaels.com/art/online/Display...?prrfnbr=863179

[Goofnut]

I wonder if the paint will "bake" when the incandescent lights are turned on? I'll have to drop by and check it out tomorrow..

[Dave ESPI]

pick up some glass staining supies... it is a liquid that drys and is really resistant to heat. ALSO U could always make a colored box or celophane wrapper for the light.

[ross76053]

Dave,

 

Where'd you get your Photoreceptor adapter? An Internet search returned all kinds of medical jargon, and a radioshack.com search returned nothing....

 

Ross

[Dave ESPI]

Home Chepo .. electrical dept Of course ! like 4.00 its great. ! no need fer another timer or socket taken up.. U can even wire it into the existing sustem to run oposite ( IF U know how) Shhhhh.. Trade secret !

[Goofnut]

Are we talking about a "photoelectric eye"? (or something similar) I assume so, as that would cause the light to go on when the tank lights go out.... Perhaps I'm just WAAAY off here

[ross76053]

Goofnut,

 

Yeah - exactly. I'm goin' to Home Depot today to pick up the parts and give it a try. I'll let you know...

 

I'm gonna try to hook everything up to it like Dave does his. Should be an interesting smoke test.

 

Ro$$

[Goofnut]

Hehe.. I was going up there to do the same thing Actually, I need to get some custom-cut glass from them to complete my hood in addition to the lighting. I've got a couple of pics of it that I'm going to post in just a minute. The frontal view pics didn't come out all that great, but they're not horrible.

[johnrags1234]

not trying to derail this post but i just did the same thing and am pleased with the results. I used a flashlight bulb free, and i used blue stainglass paint free 2. you can even use arcrylic if you water it down and i cut the connecter off of a 12 v power converter free as well and wired it directly to the bulb. At first i was slightly worried about overpowering the bulb since most flashlights dont use 12 V but its been on every night for 3 days and so far so good. ill post pics tonight when the lights go out LOL TOTAL COST FREE !!!!!!!!

[ross76053]

I'm gonna try to combine Dave's & Goby's idea (why be original when I can just plagiarize?)...

 

Gonna buy a relay switch from Radio Shack, tie it into the timer I use for my PCs, so that when the PCs turn off, the LEDs come on. I'll post pics when finished.

[Goofnut]

Hey johnrags,

 

Where did you get the Stained Glass paint? Home Depot didn't carry anything like it. So far, I've spent less than $8 and I think it'll look great once I can tint the bulbs Ross, be sure to post pics for us!

[J Crew]

Originally posted by Dave ESPI

fer the same money, you could do this too:

 

Power cord,

Socket,

Photoreceptor adapter,

25 watt Incandesent Blue bulb,

TOTAL COST: 12.00

 

I like it on my tanks, it doesnt need a timer and comes on Automaticaly !

 

damn I cant fing the pics.. Ill add it later

 

i have this same exact setup on my 55g... even down to the photoreceptor eye. the 25w bulb and blue LED cannot be compared! the LED looks much cooler and is the only moonlight effect i would suggest on smaller tanks such as nanos. i just installed my LED on my 10g hex that will soon be a seahorse tank... and man does it look sweet. it looks so good, i'm thinking about taking out the 25w bulb on the 55g and putting about 3 LEDs in instead. anyways, both methods work... but without a doubt the blue LED looks 100 times better. here is my exact post that i just posted at reefcentral:

 

 

 

here is the moonlight that i installed a few nights ago. my digital cam sucks and i took the pictures with all the lights off, so i didn't turn out too good. i'm posting them so you can get the idea, but the moonlight is much brighter and makes the water look super cool. these first two pictures look nothing like it does in person. here is one pic with the moonlight installed and on:

http://www.students.uwf.edu/jmb9/reef/imag...s/moonlight.jpg

 

another pic of the moonlight installed in the canopy and on:

http://www.students.uwf.edu/jmb9/reef/imag.../moonlight2.jpg

 

a pic of how the moonlight is mounted in the canopy:

http://www.students.uwf.edu/jmb9/reef/imag...t_installed.jpg

 

a pic of the moonlight box:

http://www.students.uwf.edu/jmb9/reef/imag...onlight_box.jpg

 

and finally a pic of the moonlight uninstalled... just finished wiring and laying on my floor:

http://www.students.uwf.edu/jmb9/reef/imag...uninstalled.jpg

 

i bought my setup from walmart. after looking at radioshack i decided to buy the moonlight LED from walmart in the pet department. it was like $8 bucks and already came wired inside a waterproof case that could be mounted anywhere you wanted. also the case has a swivel like thing... so after it's mounted it can be further tweeked and adjusted. for $8 bucks i figured this was better than i could do with radioshack parts. i then purchased a 6v transformer from walmart in the electronics department, and it was about $9-$10 bucks. i just cut off the ends on the LED and transformer... crimped on some connectors and hooked them together. on the walmart LED... when you cut off the end there will be 3 wires. red, white, and black are the different colors. connect the red and white wires together and leave the black by itself. when i mounted the LED in the canopy, i first moved it around until i found a spot that worked best. in my case it was toward the front of the canopy. i took the rubber suction cup that came with the LED and screwed it into the wood... then popped the LED in the suction cup. once in the suction cup, you can then move the LED around forward and backwards as well as side to side. anyways, my wife and i are pretty damn happy with the results. the color inside the 10g hex is a very deep blue that's not too bright or dim. it looks 100 times better than the blue party bulb we have in our 55g. i may install something similar in the 55g sometime soon, and if i do i figure i'd probably need 3 of the LEDs. hope this helps others, and if anyone else has any ideas to improve apon or has some pictures they'd like to post... please let us know. thanks again

[ross76053]

....goes Ross on his way to Walmart.

 

Nice, J Crew...I was on my way to spending around $40 at Radio Shack....

[LEEWINK]

hi guys, hey, these moonlights look cool from here, a couple posts up from this one is a list of piccies, one is of a boxed looks like ' ready to run ' system, whos this made by, just thinking i may be able to get here in england if its a large global type company, otherwise its off to the drawing board or electrical store.

 

cheers,

 

lee :)