07-30-2012, 11:52 PM
Well I really liked Todd's LED lamps on my viv and my aquarium started looking downright shabby, so I picked up 3 x 22" LED light bars from him and lit my aquarium I started with a crummy set of tape LEDs and man were they terrible. These light bars were quick and easy to install in my existing DIY low profile hood. I documented most of the details here:
http://www.oneillscrossing.com/2012/07/2...rium-hood/
I picked a few highlight shots to show off the light bars in case anyone is interested in trying them on their viv . This is a shell dweller 33L (12x12x48) tank with three species of shellies and S lucipinnis. It's been up for over a year. The front of the fixture is on the right. Right most pair of bars are the daylight lamps driven by one timer, middle blue tape LED's are the moonlights on a second timer, and the left most bar is dawn and dusk on a third timer:
[ATTACHMENT NOT FOUND]
moonlights (morning and night, moonlights only)
[ATTACHMENT NOT FOUND]
Dawn and dusk (rear single bar lit, moonlights on)
[ATTACHMENT NOT FOUND]
Full sun (all three bars lit, moonlights on)
[ATTACHMENT NOT FOUND]
I found these exceptionally bright in comparison to a Marineland single bright and comparable to my DIY brightness, but the colors of these bars are far better. They are made of aluminum track with a sealed insert of LEDs. There are 4 eyelets on each unit which makes for easy installation. Overall, piece of cake to install, and worth considering for a DIY hood. I would caution that the beams are narrow, so I'm not sure you'd want to go with a single strip on a viv - I'd probably do 2 shorter strips to even out the light distribution. The three bars worked perfectly for me.
I'll post a few shots of the inhabitants shortly. Prepare for little brown fish shots....
http://www.oneillscrossing.com/2012/07/2...rium-hood/
I picked a few highlight shots to show off the light bars in case anyone is interested in trying them on their viv . This is a shell dweller 33L (12x12x48) tank with three species of shellies and S lucipinnis. It's been up for over a year. The front of the fixture is on the right. Right most pair of bars are the daylight lamps driven by one timer, middle blue tape LED's are the moonlights on a second timer, and the left most bar is dawn and dusk on a third timer:
[ATTACHMENT NOT FOUND]
moonlights (morning and night, moonlights only)
[ATTACHMENT NOT FOUND]
Dawn and dusk (rear single bar lit, moonlights on)
[ATTACHMENT NOT FOUND]
Full sun (all three bars lit, moonlights on)
[ATTACHMENT NOT FOUND]
I found these exceptionally bright in comparison to a Marineland single bright and comparable to my DIY brightness, but the colors of these bars are far better. They are made of aluminum track with a sealed insert of LEDs. There are 4 eyelets on each unit which makes for easy installation. Overall, piece of cake to install, and worth considering for a DIY hood. I would caution that the beams are narrow, so I'm not sure you'd want to go with a single strip on a viv - I'd probably do 2 shorter strips to even out the light distribution. The three bars worked perfectly for me.
I'll post a few shots of the inhabitants shortly. Prepare for little brown fish shots....
Jim from Austin | https://www.oneillscrossing.com/dart-frogs/
fantastica nominant | summersi | reticulata | A barbotini
fantastica nominant | summersi | reticulata | A barbotini