Moon light?

Freshwater guys dont seem to care about lighting very much so I thought I would bring it up her on the saltwater section.

Do you use moon lighting at all, if so what type? Are you using alighting control system, if so what type?

I am trying to set up some special lighting features on my 210g CA/SA cichlid tank.

I'm a freshie .... Wait that sounds bad I mean I'm a sweet water guy .. no wait ... Ahhh forget it.

I have used moonlight LED's in my tanks before. On a 29 I used 3 spaced across and it was a big help to the parents to allow them to keep an eye on the fry at night. Just don't over do it.

I had 4 timers going with 3 light bars and the moonlights.

One bar came on at 8 am and the moons went off
second came on at 8:30
Third came on at 9:00

First went off at 10
Second went off at 10:30 and moons came on
Third went off at 11

It was really cool because you could watch the behavior of the fish change as the lights did.

I plan on the same setup for my 75 once I get there.

Thanks sounguru,

That is basically what I am looking to set up. I have two of the older Current USA 2LED white lunar lights that I want to use for a dawn effect before the mains come on and I also want the blue Moon light effect before they go to sleep. I like the lighting control systems but they are not cheap, so I have been using regular old plug in digital timers.

I find the digital timers work just fine unless you are going for a gradual fade in or out which then takes more control. I just left the moons on all night and never had a problem.

I do know of one guy that had his tank set to match the light schedule of the area in which the biotope was from, dedicated a computer to the controlling of the different light setups. It was kind of cool in that you could see the moon schedule of say Asia by just watching his tanks... Last I heard from him he was working on matching the weather too and trying to figure out how to make a monsoon/drought cycle happen by doing automated water changes based on that schedule....

What Im looking for is more of a controller like this: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Then I could set up something like this for lighting: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

That looks sweet may have to look into it for my 75 project .... but I'm kind of old skool in my setups and a lot of DIY. I have actually been talking to a buddy of mine of building an 10 outlet strip that has 5 timed and 5 full power.

Would be interested in seeing the DIY approach. Just seems like some parts can end up getting expensive and it would just be cheaper to buy a ready to go solution.

DMD123 wrote:Would be interested in seeing the DIY approach. Just seems like some parts can end up getting expensive and it would just be cheaper to buy a ready to go solution.

That is what he is looking into... He is a electronics geek and is also helping me design the LED's for the lights in the hood. Once we figure out price point and build time I will surely get the info out there if it is worth it.

These guys have a ton of cool things: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I have an email in to them to try and get some suggestions in their product line.

We have ordered from them before decent service and pricing...

I have been eyeballing the waterproof light strips for awhile ... but since my 7 days aren't up I can't post a link...

I did a small order from them of some power cables so that I can finish off a project with my Current USA LED's that I have. I was impressed that they had an option for USPS which is cheap for what I needed; $3.07 in shipping. If I only had UPS or Fed Ex as an option I know my simple order would have been at least 8-9 dollars in shipping.

They were also good about contacting me back in regard my email question and sent a link of a reef tank that someone had done and what product was used. I love it when companies respond to personal email because it shows they care and are not too "big" to care about you.

I found these guys because of the ad here on fishbox. Seems to be a pretty good company to deal with.

Can I get that link from ya...

The companies web site:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Here is a link they sent:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

And the product used:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I did a slow on slow off dimming system for the tank I am working on. I got the LEDs on ebay. I used basic GU10 sockets and bulbs

TerenceH wrote:I did a slow on slow off dimming system for the tank I am working on. I got the LEDs on ebay. I used basic GU10 sockets and bulbs

Would love to see pics when your done. Are you using timers at all?

Time to start planning...

I think I'm gonna pick up 3 of the WFLB series Waterproof Flexible Light Bar in the 9.5" for my 2 10 and one 15 rack I'm building and see how they work with plants in the cool white... If it isn't enough I will add a second strip in the warm white...

Yes... the timers turn the slow on/off control on/off

Link to what I have posted thus far. Working on 3D wall now. When that is done I will be stocking. Maybe a few people will want to do a group order from reserve stock.

lighting is one of those overlooked categories esp. with freshwater. The saltwater guys are usually all over it, thats why I ended up posting here. Then funny thing is all us freshwater guys all have the same idea...

So after a little more research on a 10 gallon setup to do live plants i think I can get way with 3 of these ...

3 watt cree with lens

Would love to link but alas 7 days are not up yet. I will then use one blue for moon. Looking at a using a 4 way DIY timer...

Follow up: I got my order in and was happy with the quality of parts for the price that I got from these guys at superbrightleds.com.

Was not happy with the new light from Current USA. This new moonlight has 3 LED's but is super dim. The old lights were powerful, the 2 LED's would illuminate all the way to the bottom of my 29" deep tank. Too bad I cant find just one more of the old type lights to finish my project.

You mean sattelite lights bridges has one left last i looked for half off and it was a 36inch i bought mine there its a 36in and got it for half off.

czeiszler wrote:You mean sattelite lights bridges has one left last i looked for half off and it was a 36inch i bought mine there its a 36in and got it for half off.

Who? What? Where?

Not sure your meaning...

DMD123 wrote:Follow up: I got my order in and was happy with the quality of parts for the price that I got from these guys at superbrightleds.com.

Was not happy with the new light from Current USA. This new moonlight has 3 LED's but is super dim. The old lights were powerful, the 2 LED's would illuminate all the way to the bottom of my 29" deep tank. Too bad I cant find just one more of the old type lights to finish my project.

I was asking if you were talking about current usa's old brand name satellite. You said you liked the old lights. Anyways I was chiming in that I recently purchased a satellite light with the leds and got it for 1/2 off at bridges, and that they had one left for sale. but you were probably talking about the light bulbs. Sorry.

Sorry, Ive never been to bridges...

This is the product I need [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

They no longer make it and I cant even find any online.

Thats not what I found. Mine it the full light setup not just the led. I will keep my eyes open though.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

not sure if you found this already.

Thats the product! I had searched on sears already and got dead links. Wow price went up, I spent much less when it was still in production!

Thanks for finding it!

NP hope it works out for you.

$36.13 for the light + $12.95 shipping for a total of $49.08. OUCH! I think I paid like $12 for this when they were in production. I might just turn mine into a light fixture for my 2.5g and do a DIY set up for the big tank.

Ouch thats quite a ripoff holy cow!

I Usally use led tube light 6w-21w,and yours plans is great too[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]