Auto LEDs DIY

[TheRealCramer]

Anyone ever use the LED strips from auto section/store for tank lighting?

Ive used them before for other projects but never needed them for tanks size I've only kept big tanks. Now that I have one fw 3 gallon and soon to setup sw 3 gallon I wanted extra blue lights with the whites and for moon lighting.

I attached pic of blue LED strip that comes two in a pack for $8 at Walmart. I spliced one on a AC 12v power adapter and it's too bright for the 3 gallon. So I thought I could use the two for moon light on each end of my 125g instead of the mini 5" fluorescent I use.
Well, one is so bright I disconnected the other. I have to sleep in there. Pictures from an iPhone don't do it justice but it lights up the entire bottom of the tank, throws waves dancing across the ceiling and looks like I have a $200 LED strip in there. I think I'm going to pickup some whites and see if I can replace my old school tubes. Even if I have to mount ten together.

Anyway, you may need to use two or more for corals but if you just want tiny lights for accents or dark spots, $8 for 2 in Walmart auto.




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[nicko378]

I like this. I have wanted led moonlights for my 50 gal corner loach tank. How hard is it to splice the lights? I am not very familiar with wiring other than doing a couple tweaks on my guitars.


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[TheRealCramer]

Easy. Two wires black and colored or white. Cut power cord wire and strip ends of the two wires inside so the copper wire is exposed. Twist with matching wire and tape up with electrical tape.




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[nicko378]

Ok thanks il be trying this very soon!


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[Aussie944S]

Rigged a automotive battrey powered bar light to mains power using an old nokia phone charger so i have a light under my stand and light for my grow out tank for my feeders.

 

[Jacunaba]

So youre taking LED's designed for a 12V system and plugging them into 110?

 

[Inglorious]

So youre taking LED's designed for a 12V system and plugging them into 110?

You use a transformer like you find on a cell phone charger or a modem to convert the 110AC down to 12VDC. I've done this before on a smaller tank for moonlights and it worked out very well. I don't know if the white lights would be enough to fully light up a tank but it's worth a try. When I upgraded to a larger tank instead of using auto lights I bought a string of LED christmas lights and installed them in my hood. It's probably hard to find them right now but they work great and only took a little bit of work to install.