Multi-colour LED Mood Lighting Modification + video

[Tim Harrison]

Now that the tank is on a strictly controlled diet of CO2, EI, and lighting, I can’t be so random with the photoperiod so I’ve had to come up with another solution that allows me to view the tank late at night when the lights go out.

So I’ve been to IKEA, brought some LEDs sold as Dioder http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/00202324/, and modified my Arcadia (0T8 – 600mm) luminaire, so that I can view the tank by artificial moonlight.

An added advantage I discovered is that the LEDs chuck out enough light to just noticeably supplement my existing twin 15w T8 tubes.

But perhaps most significantly the LEDs come complete with a dial that allows me to change the colour of the diodes from white right through the specrum to red, so I can now also subtly alter the colour temperature of the photoperiod lighting to suit my mood or sense of aesthetics as well.

It was a perfect fit for the Arcadia unit, and it was simplicity itself to attach and wire up.

I attached it to the central section of the luminaire, using the sticky pads provided and then used cable ties to keep the wiring neat.

 

[Nathaniel Whiteside]

Multi-colour LED Mood Lighting Modification

Looks great mate. A FTS displaying each setting with the lights ON, would be good !

 

[Ady34]

Re: Multi-colour LED Mood Lighting Modification

Looks great mate. A FTS displaying each setting with the lights ON, would be good !

Yeah, that would be good Troi, looks cool...hopefully the 'sticky pads' wont fail over the tank!
Seems like the c02 trial has lead you down a path of gadgetry and tinkering
Cheerio,
Ady.

 

[Tim Harrison]

Re: Multi-colour LED Mood Lighting Modification

OK so here goes, not the best quality low light video, or demo for that matter but you get the idea - I don't think the fish were particularly impressed either. It looks a bit crap but it actually works really well - its a dial so the "settings" are infinite across the spectrum. Watch in awe as the light changes almost imperceptively before your very eyes

 

[Ady34]

Cool, thanks for that.....disco tank!

 

[Nathaniel Whiteside]

Looks great mate, I would be happy with that.

 

[zed]

If only they added a timer function for the sunrise/sunset effect too!

 

[Antipofish]

Tim its a great idea to use this sort of thing for night viewing etc. I see they probably go RED too which would be awesome for catfish that only come out to play at night. Another good use for them is BEHIND the tank (where you dont have a solid background of course) to provide different lighting effects.... some awesome tank images that appear to be a true orange sunrise/set have been made using this sort of lighting. Thanks for doing the video too. It should give some ispirational ideas to people.

One thing worth mentioning regarding your comments that it supplements your T8 tubes... it doesn't ! Visually it may seem to, but the PAR value of these low wattage LED's is so minimal that it makes no difference at all. Someone else on here has a journal where he bought a luminaire with lots of these low wattage LEDs and they just didn't do anything for plant growth. So if you were banking on them upping the lighting for that purpose it wont have any affect. In terms of visuals though, they are great and I have been thinking of some too, as I dont like the late photoperiod I am currently running in order to see my tank at bedtime !

 

[Antipofish]

PS dont know if you or youtube chose the music but nice choice either way. Claire de la Lune by Debussy Next time take a 5 minute video so the music isnt cut off 8)

 

[Tim Harrison]

Antipofish wrote:
Someone else on here has a journal where he bought a luminaire with lots of these low wattage LEDs and they just didn't do anything for plant growth. So if you were banking on them upping the lighting for that purpose it wont have any affect. In terms of visuals though, they are great and I have been thinking of some too

You're right, I was thinking mainly in terms of altering the colour temp of the lighting for aesthetic purposes. Which it does pretty effectively.

I tend not to put it on during the day, but when I have it alters the visual effect of my T8 luminaire to something approaching T5 lighting. That is if the LEDs are set to white.

For nighttime viewing it's best somewhere between white and yellow, which gives the effect of a full moon, or somewhere in the blue part of the spectrum for a darker nighttime effect.

PS dont know if you or youtube chose the music but nice choice either way. Claire de la Lune by Debussy Next time take a 5 minute video so the music isnt cut off

Yes I did choose the music, it's corny I know but it seemed appropriate. Debussy is my all time favorite composer.

 

[graham77]

This looks amazing, I'll go for purple and blue shades. Brilliant idea. Thanks for sharing it.