Which LED to use?

[jacko]

For a moonlight, can I just use any blue LED from Radio Shack? Or should I look for some specific kind / spec ?

[Scuba_Dave]

When I was looking into them I noticed that they were labelled (maybe not at Radio Shack) by the "spread" or degree/angle of light out put.
IE a 30 angle would be a "spotlite" effect, narrow beam.
Then there was a 60 angle that spread the light out more.
They are also sold by the light output/rating.
I'm not sure of the exact rating that closely resembles moonlight

[Ray]

sent you a pm and I also have some LEDs I bought that I am not going to use

[Armando]

jackie i use the ones from http://superlumination.com/fixtures.htm they are very easy to plug to a 12V transformer

[Matt L.]

Thanks for the wicked cool link Armando. I seem to remember it now from back in the days of RC, but I had forgotten about it, and certainly wasn't going to pay $60 for a moon light. What a rip off! Anyhow, that site is great, and I'm thinking of getting three, 3-LED fixtures so I can vary the intensity of the moonlight output by switching on 0, 1, 2, or 3 of the fixtures. By varying the intensity, I hope to simulate a lunar cycle. What fixtures do you use?

Matt:cool:

[Armando]

Matt I use the triple dome. they now have the Jumbo with 24 Leds but it might be too bright.

[Matt L.]

Yeah, I saw the Jumbo, and also worried it would be too bright. So I'm thinking of using three, triple-dome fixtures. Based on what you know about the triple dome, would three triple domes over a 90gal be too bright? Or would just one triple dome suffice?

Matt:cool:

[jacko]

who is 'jackie' ???

[willray]

jacko radioshack's got 2 blue leds i forget angle. but (I wish still had the package)there are two.one much brighter than the other something like 5 fold.have three on 55 gal. Nice! brite but to much.It is supposed to be moon lite. 5$ nice one cheaper one were like 2$ color is 460 mn

[Scuba_Dave]

Great link Armando, thanx

[Casino]

Armando, any pics of your tank with those Triple LED Dome & Utility Lights on?

[Armando]

Casino moonlight pix are hard to come out as they should, but i don't have it anyway

[clamm]

triple dome are great, i have some normal blue leds you can have if you want them, im using 6 of them along with two of the swivel moonlights you can get at championlights.com

[Matt L.]

I just ordered the triple LED dome light from this guy (blue). It may be a while before I have pics of it up, but I'll post them as soon as I can,

Matt:cool:

[Armando]

for my new tank, i'm thinking about using the 24-LED Jumbo :)

[Scuba_Dave]

We need lighting in ourt new bathroom, I wonder if LED would work

[willray]

That's a great idea!Like a nite lite that never needs replacing.

[Scuba_Dave]

Our bathroom night light is LED, costs less to run 24x7 then the old 7w with light sensor
I'm thinking of buying a bunch of LED's & wiring them up for light in the house
I have SO many powerpacs from old phones & stuff that have been thrown out

[Armando]

Armando, any pics of your tank with those Triple LED Dome & Utility Lights on?
no pics of the triple led dome yet.

but i got a picture of the JUMBO i received today. not your traditional moonlight, I think I can light up fenway park with this :D

[Armando]

and now... turned on! :D

[nunofs]

Wow, and I thought my triple-LED domes were bright :cool:

Nuno

[heavydc2]

Armando, that looks a bit bright for moonlight, I could be mistaken.

I made a moonlight for my tank a year ago or so, in one of the old version of currents I had an article explaining in laymans term s what exactly to do with links to suppliers and everything. Here is the link to the doc that I wrote:
http://www.chandev.com/reef/Led-Moonlighting-Project.pdf

Hope that helps.
Dave

[Armando]

Dave that's a great project you got there.

I tested the moonlights, they look great! I don't think they are too bright, and I am planning to use it in stages with a controller. I can also turn the power adapter down from 12V to 9V or even 6V if needed, but it should be fine at 12V.

[heavydc2]

Thanks Armando, it was a pretty fun project and pretty cheap. I still have 5 of the leds that I have not used yet. I htink one of the important things is not to have much of a spread from teh leds, it should not ligth up the whole tank. The fish will see the blue light, so if it bright then they will not have the right circadian rhythm (night and day) and that inturn will make the fish uncomfortable. My Led's are on 3 volts of power. You should not be able to see the fish (unless they are in the spread of light). If you want to see the fish at nigth get yourself some red leds, apparently fish can not see red. If you look at the strip I made there is about 30 leds, those are red, and that is a cool way to see the fish!
Here is all the lights on:
http://www.chandev.com/reef/images/led-project/pendant-done-reds+blues.jpg