DIY led hood

[ToriLoo]

Ok laugh if you must, but I gotta ask? I've been watching videos on youtube of reef tanks with led lighting and thought to myself... with Christmas right around the corner and Christmas lights for sale right now, would it be possible to make your own led hood with those kind of lights? Maybe a few strings of a hundred each or so, drill holes in a piece of plywood to poke the led's through? I have a 55 gallon. I say a few hundred because I would like them to have a daylight, not moonlight effect. Maybe half white and half blue? I also have read how cheap led's are to run. Anybody who cares to chime in it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Flame Angel]

Talk about thinking outside the Christmas light box. I am curious to see how this thread pans out.

 

[cujo6984]

not gonna work they just dont have the power yes i have looked into it

 

[DoctaQ]

its not even worth it, especially for that size tank, go for crees
but be prepared to dish out prob over 500 bucks if you wanna do it right

leds are awesome though, and the idea is that you wont have to change out any bulbs or anything for many many years, no heat and like you said, very effecient

 

[chris03079]

I thought about the same thing as well, not sure if it would be bright enough or not. I was following a thread over on RC about cheap LED's. I ended up buying 2 96 strands of LED's from E-Bay the URL is;
http://cgi.ebay.com/96cm-Blue-LED-Flexible-Strip-Waterproof-Car-96-lights_W0QQitemZ290371719042QQcategoryZ58018QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp4340.m263QQ_trkparmsZalgo%3DSIC%26its%3DI%252BC%26itu%3DUCI%252BIA%252BUA%252BFICS%252BUFI%252BDDSIC%26otn%3D9%26ps%3D63

the sets i bought for $4.97each + shipping Are OK for moonlighting but not bright enough to even see with just a 65 Watt 50/50 PC bulb over a 20 gallon long tank.
the color is great, just not enough to use to sustain life with. Probably more of a novelty item. But one thing to think of as well is the LED's I bought are 12v(low voltage) completely sealed in silicone water proof. Xmas lights= not so much!

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Good luck with what ever you choose to do.