Moonlighting

[Squid]

Ive been seeing more and more pictures of tanks with the moonlighting, and I am interested in which is the most popular route people have taken to achieve this.

i.e.

Home made cathode kit as seen in some of the threads..

Home made xmas tree lights

moisture proof tubes/lights attached in the hood

underwater LEDS, either in the water or pointing down into the water (ive seen this in someones signature)

This chap on ebay sells a number of kits which look interesting and relatively cheap... anyone used any of these?

ebay link

Jimboo.. you have the same tank as me, and i have seen pics of your plants bubbling in the moonlight.. which kit did you use? (couldnt find anything on yours by searching, so sorry if its already been covered)

Cheers
Squid

 

[The-Wolf]

I use cold cathodes on most of my tanks
I have one led in my 20g but that will become CC when budget allows.

 

[littleimp]

Ive been seeing more and more pictures of tanks with the moonlighting, and I am interested in which is the most popular route people have taken to achieve this.

i.e.

Home made cathode kit as seen in some of the threads..

Home made xmas tree lights

moisture proof tubes/lights attached in the hood

underwater LEDS, either in the water or pointing down into the water (ive seen this in someones signature)

This chap on ebay sells a number of kits which look interesting and relatively cheap... anyone used any of these?

ebay link

Jimboo.. you have the same tank as me, and i have seen pics of your plants bubbling in the moonlight.. which kit did you use? (couldnt find anything on yours by searching, so sorry if its already been covered)

Cheers
Squid

I have one of these cold cathode kits from this chap and for the money I was well happy, not really a kit as such, just plug & play. It comes with some clips so you can mount onto a hard surface but didn't have room for this so I drilled & couple of holes in my reflectors & cable-tied them in place. The controller is glued to the underside of the reflectors as this is waterproofed. The transformer it comes with is multi-voltage so to turn them down you just switch the voltage down. the 12v setting was too bright & I now have mine on the 6v setting.

Here's a pic.

 

[jimbooo]

Jimboo.. you have the same tank as me, and i have seen pics of your plants bubbling in the moonlight.. which kit did you use? (couldnt find anything on yours by searching, so sorry if its already been covered)

i'll let you off i've just spent 30 mins looking for the thread and i've since deleted the pics so it wouldn't have helped you anyway.

i bought a cold cathode moonlight kit from Smith_RC on here. (littleimp beat me too it, same tubes as his) i'm not sure if he's still selling them (after all he's now building a fish house).

look on the diy forum and click on his pinned cold cathode thread.

he made a kit up for me with a dimmer wired in and everything. it has 2 12 inch tubes which fit nicely under a Juwel reflector with out touching the main tube. i just punched holes in the reflector and tied on with cable ties. Send him a PM, i'm sure he'll either make you one or point you in the right direction.

i'd recomend this method to everyone. after a year or so of use it has had no detrimental effects at all, no algae growth directly under them so no need to worry about that part (blue light after all) and the lighting effect floods the tank without spot light type effects. it's very natural and looks great. the fish do sleep when it's turned down as well.

 

[Luke_e]

As these kits available in fish stores?
I have a juwel rio 125, would i be able to put one of these kits on, as the hood is wierd. Its 3 pieces, the middle is where the 2 lights go (only room for the lights) and at either side is another piece for the back and front. How would i go about adding a kit to mine?

 

[Squid]

Jimboo.. you have the same tank as me, and i have seen pics of your plants bubbling in the moonlight.. which kit did you use? (couldnt find anything on yours by searching, so sorry if its already been covered)

i'll let you off i've just spent 30 mins looking for the thread and i've since deleted the pics so it wouldn't have helped you anyway.

i bought a cold cathode moonlight kit from Smith_RC on here. (littleimp beat me too it, same tubes as his) i'm not sure if he's still selling them (after all he's now building a fish house).

look on the diy forum and click on his pinned cold cathode thread.

he made a kit up for me with a dimmer wired in and everything. it has 2 12 inch tubes which fit nicely under a Juwel reflector with out touching the main tube. i just punched holes in the reflector and tied on with cable ties. Send him a PM, i'm sure he'll either make you one or point you in the right direction.

i'd recomend this method to everyone. after a year or so of use it has had no detrimental effects at all, no algae growth directly under them so no need to worry about that part (blue light after all) and the lighting effect floods the tank without spot light type effects. it's very natural and looks great. the fish do sleep when it's turned down as well.

Thanks people..

Jimboo are the kits ok with any condensation.. i.e are they moisture proof?

 

[jimbooo]

Jimboo.. you have the same tank as me, and i have seen pics of your plants bubbling in the moonlight.. which kit did you use? (couldnt find anything on yours by searching, so sorry if its already been covered)

i'll let you off i've just spent 30 mins looking for the thread and i've since deleted the pics so it wouldn't have helped you anyway.

i bought a cold cathode moonlight kit from Smith_RC on here. (littleimp beat me too it, same tubes as his) i'm not sure if he's still selling them (after all he's now building a fish house).

look on the diy forum and click on his pinned cold cathode thread.

he made a kit up for me with a dimmer wired in and everything. it has 2 12 inch tubes which fit nicely under a Juwel reflector with out touching the main tube. i just punched holes in the reflector and tied on with cable ties. Send him a PM, i'm sure he'll either make you one or point you in the right direction.

i'd recomend this method to everyone. after a year or so of use it has had no detrimental effects at all, no algae growth directly under them so no need to worry about that part (blue light after all) and the lighting effect floods the tank without spot light type effects. it's very natural and looks great. the fish do sleep when it's turned down as well.

Thanks people..

Jimboo are the kits ok with any condensation.. i.e are they moisture proof?

yep the tubes are enclosed in a clear plastic tube with end caps.

i dropped one in the tank while on a few days ago and the fish (and me) were fine.

is that a good enough test for you? LOL

Luke_e: same as me. punch 2 holes in your reflectors (for each moonlight tube) and strap on the underside of the reflector with cable ties. the moonlight tube is really thin and fits under the reflector with the T8 tube still attached

 

[Luke_e]

Nice one Jimboo, thanks.