Re: [GSAS-Member] Moonlights tip

[Shango Los <shango@shangolos.com>]

Matt,

Maybe I am missing something but why not just go to the fish store and pick up 
one of their little Coralife moon lights and attach it to the outside of your 
present light setup and put it on a timer?  That is what I do.



Shango

On Dec 20, 2009, at 7:34 PM, Matt Staroscik wrote:

> I like to have a dim light on in the tank after hours, as I am often up past
> fishie bedtime and I'd rather see a dim red blur in that corner than nothing
> at all.
> 
> I used to use a cold cathode
> lamp<http://www.crazypc.com/products/casemods/lighting.htm>,
> the same kind that you can put inside your computer case as a decoration.
> You just stick it inside the reflector, and there you go. They are pretty
> cheap, but have some problems.
> 
> 1. Heat from the fixture invariably kills the adhesive on the lamp's sticky
> feet.
> 2. Heat also makes the lamp itself brittle.
> 3. Little ability to control output, as the lamp requires a certain voltage
> to strike.
> 4. Need to keep the leads from the ballast to the lamp short. (Like any
> other fluorescent bulb, there is a ballast, a little plastic box in this
> case.)
> 
> LEDs are a lot better in some ways and I found a really cheap part that
> makes a great moonlight.
> 
> http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.13179
> 
> This is a rigid strip with tiny LEDs embedded in it. Just provide 12V (or
> less) and it produces a nice wash of light. Mount it to the included
> aluminum heat sink, lay it under a strip light pointing up into the
> reflector, drive it with 6-12V depending on the brightness you want, and you
> have a nice, dim moonlight.
> 
> Where does the juice come from? At Fry's you can get an inexpensive, 
> adjustable
> voltage wall 
> wart<http://www.mtphsoftware.com/accessories-adapters-c-1_23/coby-300ma-universal-ac-dc-power-adapter-p-7298>supplying
> 300 mA or greater... Just use the voltage switch on the front to
> choose the brightness you want. 300mA is easily enough for one strip, but if
> there is little price difference, get one that can supply more current.
> 
> Those with better DIY skills can surely find a more elegant mounting
> solution, but this works for me.
> 
> I find 1 unit to be OK on a 48" 90 gal tank, but you can connect them in
> series if you don't like the falloff at the ends of the tank.
> 
> Heat from the fixture may shorten this thing's lifespan, but it gets kind of
> warm at its intended 12V usage anyway... so hopefully undervolting it will
> make it less hot overall even though it is under a PC fixture.
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