# L.e.d.?



## disco lad (May 11, 2010)

Has anyone made led lighting for their tank?


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## Buddiechrist (Apr 21, 2010)

They, l.e.d.s are out there but $_$ Some people do go a cheap route, of L.E.D. Xmas lights, and use several strings of them on a board with a bit of metal for extra glare.


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## fkshiu (Apr 22, 2010)

Ron99 is developing an LED fixture "on the side" and actually has a running prototype over his reef tank. He's on here occasionally, but spends most of his time on Canreef.


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## disco lad (May 11, 2010)

All available led lights seem to be 12v or less and no where close to $1G.


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## tony1928 (Apr 22, 2010)

Not hard to do if you are a bit handy or up for a little diy. There are ready to assemble kits out there. If you need some ultra intense marine setup, it could get pricey and complex, but for freshwater, it should not be that bad. I will be attempting one this summer as I don't currently have any lights for my 8 footer.


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## disco lad (May 11, 2010)

well I have a 10 G tank with no lid to try it out on. I just check out canreef and checked out the prices and it was $1000 for a T5 copy led version. I'm sorry it's not that much unless they are high intensity led bulbs or a lot of them. But then again running 30w that's a lot of power for led.


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## fkshiu (Apr 22, 2010)

That's true. If you just want to see your fish or have a night light then an LED fixture is relatively simple. But if you want to mimic the equatorial sun at midday like you need for a reef tank then LEDs get really expensive really fast.


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## thharris (Jun 29, 2010)

For my 20 gallon tank I have just been using a cheap led strips from dealextreme that I had lying around. Seems to be working well the plants are all growing great, but I guess its already in a pretty bright area


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## joker1535 (May 23, 2010)

I got bleu led lights on a timer. Stuck them to bottom of custom lid. They are waterproof and look great at night. Paid $25 on eBay for lights. A strip of lights depending on length of aquarium. Expect some extra algea growth because of continuous light!


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## disco lad (May 11, 2010)

joker1535 said:


> I got bleu led lights on a timer. Stuck them to bottom of custom lid. They are waterproof and look great at night. Paid $25 on eBay for lights. A strip of lights depending on length of aquarium. Expect some extra algea growth because of continuous light!


was the timer separate or built in? battery or wall plug?


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## disco lad (May 11, 2010)

fkshiu said:


> That's true. If you just want to see your fish or have a night light then an LED fixture is relatively simple. But if you want to mimic the equatorial sun at midday like you need for a reef tank then LEDs get really expensive really fast.


that is understandable if it is. I really didn't find much info about it but because it was on a reef site I could understand.


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## disco lad (May 11, 2010)

I was thinking of truck style backup lights. I could get a 4" round or 6" oval for $40. The only down side is that they run off a 12V or 24V system. I like them because they are water resistant and completely sealed unit, all I need is grommets and pigtails. But I wouldn't know how to make it work unless I use an inverter or battery any suggestions?


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## thharris (Jun 29, 2010)

dont know the watts that you would need but you could just use a wallwart like,
DealExtreme: $4.31 AC to DC 12V 1A Power Adaptor with 5.4mm DC Plug - US Type (110~240V)

I use somthing like that but I got it localy for my led strip and it cost more :-(


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## disco lad (May 11, 2010)

there are ones that you can adjust the amperage but yes that is something like it


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## supercoley1 (Jul 14, 2010)

I just reposted after the original got lost when the forum crashed months ago. Her is the link. It is on this forum 

http://www.bcaquaria.com/forum/diy-area-18/diy-led-luminaire-mkii-4014/#post36250

AC


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## Ron99 (Apr 22, 2010)

It all depends on what you are wanting to achieve. If you just want to light the tank so you can see then cheap 5mm LEDs can do the job. You can buy bags of them in the hundreds for a few dollars on eBay etc.

But if you want intense lighting (replacing MH or T5HO lights) to support growth of corals in a reef tank or in a heavily planted tank then you need to go with quality high power 3W LEDS which gets more expensive. Mind you, the price is coming down all the time as the LED industry is highly competitive at the moment. I have a build thread of my array over at canreef:

48" LED Array - Up and Running...Mostly - Canreef Aquatics Bulletin Board

There are also tons of LED builds on reefcentral.com and nano-reef.com. I imagine some of the planted tank boards etc. probably have a bunch too but I am strictly saltwater so I haven't checked them out.

BTW, nice build there supercoley1!


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## brunosmith (Mar 14, 2011)

I don't have much experience using LED lighting; but here is a tutorial setups using the LEDs called flexible LED strip. I have posted it before , it looks pretty awesome

ww.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=17924892


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## Lan (Apr 5, 2011)

I'm in the middle of a project right now of lighting my 27g with 350 5mm el cheapo LED's. Can't type now.....still wiring 
...so much wiring
lol


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