Moonlight

[proton]

Hi Guys, Just want to know if anyone has used one of these submersible tube or this LED moonlight or these LED moonlights.

I have the LED ones but they are at the end of their life and are not as water proof as told. They have some water in them and are under the tank and are now flashing on and off... I don't think I want to use the cathode method in the DIY section as I don't have a glass or something to stop water from splashing on them... I have a Rio 240

 

[smithrc]

Hi Guys, Just want to know if anyone has used one of these submersible tube or this LED moonlight or these LED moonlights.

I have the LED ones but they are at the end of their life and are not as water proof as told. They have some water in them and are under the tank and are now flashing on and off... I don't think I want to use the cathode method in the DIY section as I don't have a glass or something to stop water from splashing on them... I have a Rio 240

Hello mate - I wrote the DIY pinned topic - I've got the cold cathodes on our rio240 too

They are in acrylic tubes to a little water is not a problem.

I have the tubes velco'd to the normal lighting tubes

I'm actually going to re-write the article for another site so may well update with piccys of the different methods to attach the tubes

[edit] found a piccy I took on my phone

 

[shrimply]

Hi smithrc, your articles great. I am looking into doing this but got onto ebay and got confused

I got bit confused with things like "sound activated" mainly because I know my fish don't make any noise.lol

So would be very grateful if you could point me in the direction of what I actually need and one which will work on a mains adapter. If you would rather not do it on the main forum a PM would be great.

Sorry for being so daft but after I saw all the technical jibberish I just switched of. Hope I ain't being too stupid.

Thanks.

 

[Neo8223]

So would be very grateful if you could point me in the direction of what I actually need and one which will work on a mains adapter. If you would rather not do it on the main forum a PM would be great.

I just ordered one of these last night...

http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/BLUE-DUAL-COLD-CATHO...1QQcmdZViewItem

Basically, you will need to buy a mains adapter of about 7 volts or so and connect it to the yellow and blak pins (i think) Any more and it will keep the fish awake at night. Smithrc's topic is pretty damn good tho, so read that too. You need a DC adapter. This can be marked by either:

1) DC

2)
___
----

Dont worry about the wattage, anything bigger than about 10 watts will do i should imagine. Thats about it Enjoy

 

[smithrc]

Yep - That link from Neo is ideal

Then a DC adapter - I use one that you can change the voltage on so that you can dim the lights
Anything over 400ma should be fine.

They run at 12V - but they are very bright at that. 6V is good for evening viewing - I have them on our zebra tank from 22:00 to 02:00 running at 6V to let me watch them

All you then need to do it connect the wires up - Yellow to the positive and Black to the negative on the output from the mains adapter.

 

[shrimply]

OK thanks, Sorry should of looked at the whole of your pinned topic not just the first page. It was mainly the wiring I was confused about but I understand know.

 

[Bazza696]

Hi there, I bought cold cathodes off the net, and rather than buying an adaptor to run them, I tried different phone chargers that I have lying around, and found that around the the 7 volt was good for me, that maybe dependent on the size of your tank.

I have a juwel vision 260 and siliconed them next to the original bulbs, I was worried tying then to the bulbs would damage them as mine are 38w bulbs and get hot.

 

[Biulu]

Hi there, I bought cold cathodes off the net, and rather than buying an adaptor to run them, I tried different phone chargers that I have lying around, and found that around the the 7 volt was good for me, that maybe dependent on the size of your tank.

I have a juwel vision 260 and siliconed them next to the original bulbs, I was worried tying then to the bulbs would damage them as mine are 38w bulbs and get hot.

Could you put up a piccie of this set-up? Would like to see how you have included it in your hood

 

[Bozza]

I have a few phone chargers that have been left behind at the motel I work at. Ive exposed the wires that are underneath. Is it normal to have 3 coloured wires? Wat goes wear? Sorry dont know much about electrics to much. Ive got a few different phone chargers, different powers (6V, 7.5V 9V). Any advice would be appreciated.


Torrens

 

[Bazza696]

I am currently at work now, so I will do the potos for you this evening.

I did not actually expose the wires as I may want to use the charger, so I am supprised that there are three wires, what colour are they. If there are black and red then they wouls be the ones you use.

I had a few chargers, and I wired up the different chargers till the light intensisty was correct for the tank. I found around 7v was ideal for my size of tank.

I will give step by step guide once I have the photos for you all, I think you will be happy of the effect, for such little expense.

 

[Neo8223]

Hi. The brown wire is live, the blue wire is neutral and green wire is earth. Do not use the green wire as it is not necessary. I have never known phone chargers to have 3 wires tho lol, this is because they are all double insulated so it is not necessary. As far as i know, earth is only used where there is a chance that the outer casing, which you can touch, may become "live" so it will cut the power if it does.

If you bought the same one as me, the brown wire connects to the yellow wire on the cathode kit. The blue connects to the black.

If the wires are not coloured on the mains adapter, then if they are black, sometimes they have a white line running through one side. This is the positive wire so it goes to the yellow wire on the cathode kit. The other one goes to the black wire.

Finally if none of those help, then get the motels electrician to use his meter and tell you what one is live and neutral and then do as i have explained above.

As far as voltage is concerned, i am using 9v on my 14 gall tank because i was stupid and broke one of the two tubes. Smithrc uses 6 or 7v i think on his 14 gall. So its a matter of doing an educated guess and hopefully getting it right.

Oh and here is a pic of my tank. I only put it up yesterday with a pre-cycled filter and added fish. Thankfully the nitrites and ammonia are holding up

That was a 35 second exposure!

 

[Bozza]

Lol. I am the motels electrician. Well not really but i do everything there is to do with a motel. Which tube would everyone think would be best to use:

http/www.gamedude.com.au/prod_show.php?art_no=neonVAred
http/www.gamedude.com.au/prod_show.php?a...neonCOrgb_ultra

Anyway, the information has helped will work on it next week since im not actually at home. Will let you know how things go. Thank you everyones help

 

[Bazza696]

Hi. The brown wire is live, the blue wire is neutral and green wire is earth. Do not use the green wire as it is not necessary. I have never known phone chargers to have 3 wires tho lol, this is because they are all double insulated so it is not necessary. As far as i know, earth is only used where there is a chance that the outer casing, which you can touch, may become "live" so it will cut the power if it does.

If you bought the same one as me, the brown wire connects to the yellow wire on the cathode kit. The blue connects to the black.

If the wires are not coloured on the mains adapter, then if they are black, sometimes they have a white line running through one side. This is the positive wire so it goes to the yellow wire on the cathode kit. The other one goes to the black wire.

Finally if none of those help, then get the motels electrician to use his meter and tell you what one is live and neutral and then do as i have explained above.

As far as voltage is concerned, i am using 9v on my 14 gall tank because i was stupid and broke one of the two tubes. Smithrc uses 6 or 7v i think on his 14 gall. So its a matter of doing an educated guess and hopefully getting it right.

Oh and here is a pic of my tank. I only put it up yesterday with a pre-cycled filter and added fish. Thankfully the nitrites and ammonia are holding up

That was a 35 second exposure!

Cheers for that neo, as I said i only use 7 volt, and mine is a lot more delicate than yours, but your tank looks great brighter, i might try stepping it upto 9 volt and see what it looks like.

 

[Neo8223]

its actually darker than that. It only looks that bright because of the long exposure time. Remember if it is too bright then the fish wont sleep at night. Its bright enough to be able to go up to and see all whats going on at night.

 

[SuperColey1]

This is how mine are setup, the are just siliconed to the central ballast recess inside the cheapo plastic Fluval DUO hood.

When I first put them in I just siliconed a splodge and pushed the end blocks into it. 3 weeks later woke up to find one submerged but still working.

Now they are siliconed all the way round the end blocks and no probs whatsoever.

Andy