# DIY Nano Moon Lighting



## roccov12345 (Sep 26, 2008)

Hi all, as the topic suggests, this thread is for all of those interested in adding the moon light effect to their tanks without dropping another $100 dollars or so on an additional (Actinic) light. This may be more versed for Saltwater enthusiasts but I could see this being pretty neat on any aquarium setup. Now keep in mind this light is for use on a nano tank (5.5), so if you decide to tackle the project, you'll have to keep in mind the amount of leds, power, and installation materials.

On to the specifics......, the project cost was roughly $27.

What you'll need: (All of the following parts were purchased from a local Radio Shack)

Project Box
10MM LEDS rated at 8,000cmd / 20mA / 3.2 Volts / 16 degree viewing angle (modified) / Blue 463nm
A wall wart (DC Transformer)
Coaxial power jack
Toggle Switch
Random Wire 
Soldering Tool
Some wire snippers
Wire
Resistors
Drill 
Hot Glue Gun
Screwdrivers and other misc. tools (dremmel tool, sandpaper, etc.)
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1st you'll want to design your light box using an LED calculator. In my specific project, I chose 8 LEDs, with a 12voltDC wall adapter. If you visit http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz , it will basically lay out your LED arrays and give you your resistor requirements and wiring schematics (pretty helpful) tool.

Here's a pic of my led layout and paper template to assist with drilling.
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After drilling the box......
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I test fitted each LED and then hot glued the back side in an attempt to hold each LED in place while creating a water tight environment inside the box.
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Now that we have the LEDS installed in the face plate of our project box, we can move on to wiring. I believe most LEDS come with a shorter and longer wire leads. The longer lead is positive where the shorter is negative. In this specific application, the leds were wired in series and parallel to get the most out of my 12voltdc transformer. 
Here is a pic of the specific wiring schematic:
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You'll see the 8 leds are setup 2 to an array with a 1/4 watt 330 ohm resistor to drop the electrical input from the transformer.

I wish I would of taken a few extra pictures of the wiring but needless to say it mimics the wiring diagram. My soldering and wire job could of been a bit neater but this was mainly for testing purposes. 
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I added an coaxial DC jack so I could keep the transformer "plug and play." Ultimately this is not necessary, just a personal preferance. The same goes for the toggle switch.
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The only down fall to using the 10MM Blue LEDS is the viewing optics are only rated at 16 degrees. What will happen here is the light will be very focused. Now if that's something you're looking for, it's a good LED. Unfortunately for this application, I did not want the spot light effect. You'll see in the picture below at approximately 4 feet away, 8 LEDS only projected about a 10 inch wide beam.
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To solve this issue, I basically cut off the tips of each LED with a dremmel to broaden the light output which worked out quite well.
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After everything was put together and tested, I mounted the unit under my Metal Halide light and setup the lighting on a timer.

Voila....Cheap Moonlights.......

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Corals enjoying their new actinics
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I'll try to get a full tank shot tonight with a better camera. My cam phone was having difficulties with the exposure. All in all, I love the way it turned out and the view at night with just the LEDS on his excellent.

If you decide to give it a shot and have any questions, please, ask away.

If you have a larger tank and need something a bit brighter, you can go forward with high powered LEDS w/ drivers. They're a little more costly but still cheaper than buying an entire fixture.

Thanks for viewing!


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## Ba20 (Jan 29, 2003)

Absolutely great write up, Here is one that someone did for there main lighting, I've wanted to try this, but not sure im smart enough.

DIY LED Light Fixture

Ive also read on RC that if you use 10K leds, like Current Power Brite's and run them 24/7 they give the metal halide shimmer effect along with great moonlighting


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## Us And Them (Dec 4, 2008)

Or, If your cheap Like Me , just run to the Craft store and Pick up thatsee through Blue Plastic Stuff and WHAMO ! You've got moon Light . hehehe.

Im not being a smartass , Serious. That works well too !


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## roccov12345 (Sep 26, 2008)

Ba20 said:


> Or, If your cheap Like Me , just run to the Craft store and Pick up thatsee through Blue Plastic Stuff and WHAMO ! You've got moon Light . hehehe.
> 
> Im not being a smartass , Serious. That works well too !


This is true....I saw someone do that with their tank on youtube.... I'm just really lazy and would hate to have to remove the blue film everytime I wanted standard lighting.....


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

Just a general question about leds:
For large fixtures, i know leds last a long time, but when they eventually die, can you replace individual bulbs? 
Cool project


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## Winkyee (Feb 17, 2003)

Nice write up.








I have been messing around with led lighting to.
I used a $4 LED flashlight as a source for leds.


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## Ba20 (Jan 29, 2003)

> can you replace individual bulbs


From what i've read, If you mount them correctly you can. IE: Dont super glue


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## Us And Them (Dec 4, 2008)

At one point , I found a LED Wall light at walmart for next to nothing and I just put it on top of my tank.
Looked really nice


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## roccov12345 (Sep 26, 2008)

sean-820 said:


> Just a general question about leds:
> For large fixtures, i know leds last a long time, but when they eventually die, can you replace individual bulbs?
> Cool project


Yes you can replace them. Basically desolder and resolder in new LED. Little more difficult than changing a standard light bulb but still very basic.

Few more pics with new LED actinics...........

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## His Majesty (Apr 5, 2005)

i just came across this thread now. thank you for this







this will save alot of money for me :laugh:

and your nano looks excellent with the moon light effect. i usd to have the lights for it myself but then i dropped it when switching tanks and setups and it smashed







never bought a new one. think im gonna give it a go and build my own.


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## roccov12345 (Sep 26, 2008)

His Majesty said:


> i just came across this thread now. thank you for this
> 
> 
> 
> ...


How big is the tank you're building it for?


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## His Majesty (Apr 5, 2005)

i wanna try it on my 75g. although i might have to build two of them ot cover the whole tank effectivly


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## notaverage (Sep 10, 2005)

Very nice man!
That would look good on any tank


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