# moonlight inquiry. please help



## rickztahone (Nov 5, 2008)

hello everyone. i currently have a 55 gallon tank with discus and was considering adding the led moonlights. i saw them on ebay and they spiked my interest. i work late so i would like to see my fish when i get out without throwing off their sleep pattern. please advise on this idea and specifically to those that have discus. they tend to stress quite easily. any help or input is much appretiated


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## trigger (Sep 6, 2002)

I don't have discus, but I've had ccfl moonlight tubes. Which burnt out too fast in my experience, now I have the lumix high power leds which should last a lifetime.


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## rickztahone (Nov 5, 2008)

where can i buy the lumix leds?


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## trigger (Sep 6, 2002)

Sorry, misspelled it. It's Luxeon... I have the "LED Luxeon Star hexagon blue LXHL-MB1D" It is the same LED used in the bluemoon kit. I bought it through an online electronics website, but that's european only.


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## rickztahone (Nov 5, 2008)

thank you very much for your help. since i can't get those then i might go with the kit i saw on ebay. it says it is not a kit but rather it's already setup so all i have to do is install them and plug it in to a power source


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## jschwab45212 (Apr 25, 2006)

How much do they want for that kit?


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## JWerner2 (Jul 7, 2008)

Hey rick. I did the CCFL moonlight that is posted here in the DIY's somewhere.

If you have a wooden canopy its cheap and very easy.

I really am not that sure if I would use it on Discus but I think you could get a straight up reply from someone that keeps them.

All I did was attach the ccfls to my canopy and spliced in a universal power adapter to set the voltage so they will dim to just the right amount of light output. I had LED's on y Reef Tank and the CCFL's look way better.

Heres a good cheap place for CCFL's....http://www.xoxide.com/?gclid=COewjYjDh5cCFQwNGgodIzpICQ


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## rickztahone (Nov 5, 2008)

i'm not sure if your allowed to link stuff directly to this site. if not then i'm sorry. this is the one that i was looking at on ebay 
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0333866785
Jwerner i do not have a wood canopy, it's all plastic. i really would rather have a ready to go setup rather than making it myself, i tend to mess things up a lot. i am still waiting on a reply from discus owners though. i want to make sure they do not get stressed out with the added light. if i would to that setup i think i would do 4 led's rather than the 6 they have. i want to keep it as low/dim as possible, only to barely see them. i will have it on a timer to turn them off during the night so that they do get some time in complete darkness. thanks for the replies


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## JWerner2 (Jul 7, 2008)

Ok, well how about a spare light fixture?

All you need to do is glue the ends to something.

I just suggest the CCFL's cause I had LED's in the past and the were just spotty. The CCFL's are nice and full.

Just in case you didn't get to see it, here is a link to the do-it-yourself moon lights....http://cichlid-forum.com/articles/diy_moonlight.php


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## sjlchgo (Mar 2, 2008)

Take a look at my post...I bought and made moonlighting and the DIY project IMO, is better than the LED's I bought. 
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/view ... highlight=


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## trigger (Sep 6, 2002)

Just be aware the ccfl's burn out way faster than led's. It took me three ccfl's to switch to a led.


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## bulldogg7 (Mar 3, 2003)

How long do the cathodes normally last? I've had mine nearly a year going 24/7. I'll look into these leds when i get my new tank set up.


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## JWerner2 (Jul 7, 2008)

They last-trust me. I have had mine on for a long time. I use them almost 24/7 in other things more of what they are made for like PC modding and stuff and they have lasted me longer than my LEDS in the same situations.

My only thing is that I really wasnt that impressed and wanted to get rid of mine till I put them in my canopy rather than a spare light fixture. I kind of just grew out of the novelty pretty fast.


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## trigger (Sep 6, 2002)

My ccfl's lasted just about a year. I always preferred them over led's but with rate of two a year it got a bit expensive.


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## sjlchgo (Mar 2, 2008)

The only draw back to led's is they aren't readily/easily replaced. JMO I paid about $40+ bucks for an led night light set up. If they last 5 years before they go out that's about $8 a year. If hte 2 cfls go out each other that's about $8 a year....only difference is I can easily replace a cfl. The led's are tossed unless you have a soldering iron and want to do the work.


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## trigger (Sep 6, 2002)

Hehe, well that's the difference between the two sides of the ocean then... A ccfl set cost me something around $15, so that's $30 /year. A luxeon led cost about $8 then 50 cents for a resistance. And the first led has yet to burn out. I have a slight prefference for the effect of a ccfl, it's proved just be to too costly for me.


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## sjlchgo (Mar 2, 2008)

I don't know JACK about resistors ........lol. $15?!?! Ouch! I guess I always catch them on sale and stock up! Well....this issue has certainly gotten it's share of pros and cons....now we have to see what he decides. Either way...post pics so we can see em when you're done. I got my leds from a company called Digikits.com.


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## Mike Mirto (Feb 14, 2008)

I'm currently adding LED moonlighting to my 75gal. The DIY approach is pretty easy and ALOT cheaper than the ones especially for aquariums. I bought mine from https://www.superbrightleds.com/. They even have waterproof power supplies for them. I purchased the LBM2 series 2-LED Light Module. These are waterproof.


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## ebo (May 5, 2007)

I ordered a set of 6 from the e-bay dealer as posted here and installed this past saturday. I love them, should have done a long time ago.
The kit was all set and installed perfectly. I paid $18.00 plus $8. to ship.
I have a 72 bowfront with a 4 foot light. I took the reflector apart and drilled 6 spaced holes in the reflector, duct taped the LED in place and reinstalled the refector in the hood and it looks like it came that way. Took about 30 minutes total.
I do have a question....do you think it's ok to leave them on till daylite or do the fish need total darkness for some time at night?
Thanks


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## sjlchgo (Mar 2, 2008)

I sometimes leave mine on all night..I figure it's like a full moon. Unless you have live plants I don't think total darkness is important.


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## rickztahone (Nov 5, 2008)

ok i bought a kit off ebay. he actually helped me out quite a lot. instead of the full 6 led setup he recommended a 3 on each side setup. this means they are comletely seperate. also, he sent me some transformers that he says are a little dimmer. i did not want bright at all. all i wanted was a tiny bit of light so that i can semi-see my discus. i plan to put the moonlights on a timer so that they do get a little bit of total darkness. i have not received the kit yet but should be here this week, i paid 25 bucks shipped. great seller too. i'll post pics as soon as i install


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## ebo (May 5, 2007)

Rick, mine are pretty dim and you just see the fish, fish have taken to it really well and act totaly different in the moon lite........must be the romantic mood.... :lol:


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## rickztahone (Nov 5, 2008)

ok, got my lights and installed them quite easily. i provided the step by step pictures in case someone with a 55g tank wants to do it. i have 2 lids though, it's not one long one. anyone interested please let me know and i'll provide the link. btw, this setup was purchased with dimmer transformers on purpose. the ones he regularly carries are brighter. i have discus and i did not want it to be bright at all. this setup was perfect for me but like i said, there might be some out there that like their tanks really bright.


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## JWerner2 (Jul 7, 2008)

How much did that cost?

I was looking at the same exact stuff today while Christmas shopping at the mall in Radio Shack.

Those do look good. I would still recommend the CCFL's but those ones from what I see in the pics aren't spotty like most LED kits.

I even found ones that are threaded and come with two thin bolts to mount them.


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## rickztahone (Nov 5, 2008)

i got them off ebay for 25 bucks shipped. like i said, there are brighter kits that he sells for the same price. he usually does the 6 led's for a long canopy but i asked him if he could do a 3 and 3 setup and he agreed to. install was a snap and i think it was worth the 25 bucks easily. here's the link. he usually has open auctions but he does have buy it nows
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... %26otn%3D4


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## JWerner2 (Jul 7, 2008)

I like the way they look on that reef tank pictured in the link.

I see they are using wider angles for bulbs now. Great reason for why they aren't spotty like others I have seen.

Do you know the watts they come with and the watts he knocked it down to for you?


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## rickztahone (Nov 5, 2008)

i'm really not sure about the wattage to be honest with you but the setups he has on his page looks a whole lot brighter than mine. i just think that would've been to unsettling for the discus. of course a reef tank benefits from the moonlights i would think. i'm about to get another one for my cousin who has a 60g saltwater tank. the guy told me i can have a free kit due to the fact that i took step by step pics and he's going to use them on his page. really nice dude to deal with honestly. it only took a few days to get to my house.


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## Steve St.Laurent (Oct 2, 2008)

I just bought the same lights off ebay. I too didn't want it too bright in my tank but wanted to be able to see what was going on in there at night. I'd previously bought 3 leds from http://www.aquariumplants.com/product_p/jbjdx.htm for my JBJ fixture but they weren't bright enough for one and they were tightly focused so that there were 3 visible beams into the tank. I installed the lights today inside my fixture with them alternately pointing towards the front and back of the reflector so that all of the light going into the tank was bouncing off the reflector. It worked perfectly! Gave a light ambiance to the entire tank and I can now see everything going on inside of it but it isn't so bright as to disrupt their day/night cycle. I plan on leaving mine on all night. I did reuse one of the original narrow beam lights and put it on the right side of the tank shining down into the open space so that it looks like the moon shining down into the tank. Looks great IMO and is exactly what I wanted all along. Here's a pic of the tank in the dark taken with my cheap point and shoot digital. It's a decent representation of what it looks like except that in person you can see it a little better than this photo shows:










Here's a picture of the LED's mounted in the fixutre:










and one of the bottom of the fixture with the lights and cover installed and the LED's lit up (the one in the lower right is the original narrow beam one:










These are the lights I went with: http://cgi.ebay.com/Moonlight-Aquarium- ... m153.l1262


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## rickztahone (Nov 5, 2008)

Steve St.Laurent said:


> These are the lights I went with: http://cgi.ebay.com/Moonlight-Aquarium- ... m153.l1262


yeah that seller is great. he was very helpful


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