# DIY LED Lighting



## CichlidsEverywhere (Aug 31, 2011)

LED Lighting on the cheap

I started by scouring auction sites for cheap LED strips. I found WHITE 60cm (30 led each) strips for $.99 each and bought 10 of them. Then i found 8 BLUE 15cm strips for about the same price. I used a small piece of 1/4" plywood, painted it white and stuck the strips to it. I left room to add more blue later or red should i decide to try my hand at plants.

this is 1 of 2 that i will be using.

(turned off)









The strips are not always wired properly so i had to test them one at a time to check for polarity, and got them all wired.

I tested them with a 9v power supply used for an effects pedal so they should burn a little brighter when they are running on a 12v power supply.

(on with room lighting on)









(on with room lighting off)









(not pictured)
I used silicone at each end of the strips to make sure they r sealed and just in case the double sided tape should fail. I also used small dabs of silicone to hold the wires in place on the back.


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## pdandy88 (Dec 27, 2010)

Wow. Where did you find the strips? I'd like to try this.


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## CichlidsEverywhere (Aug 31, 2011)

ebay


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## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

they should be attached to a heat sink, not wood. LEDs are designed to run cool. 
Any chance you can swap out the wood for some aluminum or something?


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## CichlidsEverywhere (Aug 31, 2011)

these are impregnated into some type of silicone, flat on the back with double sided tape. They do not need a heat sink.

they would probably be better suited for the humid environment in the canopy of a fish tank if attached to plastic or stainless but if properly sealed there should be no issue with wood.


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

At that price they're unlikely to get very hot. Check and see how hot they are after ~30 minutes.


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## CichlidsEverywhere (Aug 31, 2011)

They dont get hot at all, not even really warm.

Have a closer look.. they could be used just about anywhere.


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

Have you tried them over the tank yet? I'll be pleasantly surprised if they provide sufficient lighting.


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## CichlidsEverywhere (Aug 31, 2011)

i havent put it on a tank yet. It is pretty bright, but i wont know the outcome until i actually try it.

Im anxious to see 2 panels working at 12v, at that point ill make a decision if i need more or not for this project.


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## pdandy88 (Dec 27, 2010)

Keep us posted. Would love to see them on a tank.


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## Vadimshevchuk (May 23, 2009)

I scored 4x12" stunners for 110 mounted them and called it a day  But those look good so far! How much wattage are the leds rated at?


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## lelandgray (Jan 19, 2011)

I've been thinking about a same project.

This is what I was planning on using:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/5M-Water ... 1c1e7bbb12

I know it's not exactly a fish tank, but this is what the lights look like:



















All of the light in these pics are from the LED strips, hooked up to a 12V car battery.


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## CichlidsEverywhere (Aug 31, 2011)

Yeah the ones u have have more leds. I have a total of 150 whites and 60 blues in that whole little panel, which will be 300 white, 120 blue total.

They are bright but leds are very directional so im not sure now well it will work. I beleive it will work fine even if i have to use more than i would like to. I have a lot of leds around so thats not an issue.


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## The King Crabb (Jun 28, 2011)

I'm excited for the pictures! opcorn:


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## scary11 (Oct 19, 2010)

Directional or not, if you use enough of them it shouldn't be a problem. Definitely post pics. I've been wanting to do an LED upgrade for a while, and this looks a bit easier than the 3W LED, heat sync, and power inverter route.


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## The King Crabb (Jun 28, 2011)

Are all LED strips, like the ones Lelandgray posted, going to stay cool? I'm currently looking for some cheap and efficient aquarium lighting.


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## JEGarrison (Sep 11, 2011)

what is the watts per led, just wondering. Do you still have the sell information? I have a 140 gal that I really would like to use led's. Did you see and red or green strips?


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## The King Crabb (Jun 28, 2011)

I'd also like to know that, I'm looking into LEDs for my 40G and I'm thinking 5 strips 3' strips of 60 LEDs each. They're SMD3828, operate at 12V, have a current of 400mA, and they're 4.8 watts, and the color is cool white - I don't know if that's important; do these sound good?


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## boondockbear (Aug 29, 2011)

Hello, new to the site (just got back into the aquarium hobby after 10 years).

I was looking at doing the same thing. Found some on e-bay (similar to leland's post), but can't post the url (first post)

The smd5050 are a bit bigger than the 3528's. Lumens/meter is a couple hundred higher (not sure if that makes a difference). Watts are coming out at 14.4/meter compared to 9.8.

Pretty new to all this, but thought I'd post it to see what others thought.

They seem like they'd work pretty well. I'm going to order some. I'll see about posting some pics once they come in.


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