L.e.d.?

[disco lad]

Has anyone made led lighting for their tank?

[Buddiechrist]

They, l.e.d.s are out there but $_$ Some people do go a cheap route, of L.E.D. Xmas lights, and use several strings of them on a board with a bit of metal for extra glare.

[fkshiu]

Ron99 is developing an LED fixture "on the side" and actually has a running prototype over his reef tank. He's on here occasionally, but spends most of his time on Canreef.

[disco lad]

All available led lights seem to be 12v or less and no where close to $1G.

[tony1928]

Not hard to do if you are a bit handy or up for a little diy. There are ready to assemble kits out there. If you need some ultra intense marine setup, it could get pricey and complex, but for freshwater, it should not be that bad. I will be attempting one this summer as I don't currently have any lights for my 8 footer.

[disco lad]

well I have a 10 G tank with no lid to try it out on. I just check out canreef and checked out the prices and it was $1000 for a T5 copy led version. I'm sorry it's not that much unless they are high intensity led bulbs or a lot of them. But then again running 30w that's a lot of power for led.

[fkshiu]

That's true. If you just want to see your fish or have a night light then an LED fixture is relatively simple. But if you want to mimic the equatorial sun at midday like you need for a reef tank then LEDs get really expensive really fast.

[thharris]

For my 20 gallon tank I have just been using a cheap led strips from dealextreme that I had lying around. Seems to be working well the plants are all growing great, but I guess its already in a pretty bright area

[joker1535]

I got bleu led lights on a timer. Stuck them to bottom of custom lid. They are waterproof and look great at night. Paid $25 on eBay for lights. A strip of lights depending on length of aquarium. Expect some extra algea growth because of continuous light!

[disco lad]

I got bleu led lights on a timer. Stuck them to bottom of custom lid. They are waterproof and look great at night. Paid $25 on eBay for lights. A strip of lights depending on length of aquarium. Expect some extra algea growth because of continuous light!

was the timer separate or built in? battery or wall plug?