[talontsiawd]

I have been seeing a lot of shop lights that are pretty cheap that are LED only. One in particular would fit my little 5 gallon fixture I made very well. I doubt it will up the lighting much, and that is not my goal. I was just wondering if it will give me any "shimmer" effect. I don't like the full on effect, I only want a bit of it so I was thinking this could be perfect. I could also use them as moon lights if I wanted to buy another timer, I probably would just manually hook them up. Just wondering if I would get this effect at all. I also am looking for options for my 29, which has raised lights, not in use right now, that I have a timer for. I would use it for both the "shimmer" and moon lights.

Do you think that will work? Can anyone try this with a fixture with moonlights and see as well?

Thanks.

 

[Noahma]

I have strip LED's that are used for storefront exterior signs glued into the underside of my rim on my 36 gal. It does provide enough supplemental light in the dark corners of my tank, and it did increase the shimmer, but not enough to be jaw dropping. The T-5's do drown out much of it.

 

[talontsiawd]

It did increase the shimmer, but not enough to be jaw dropping. The T-5's do drown out much of it.

Good to know. I don't really like the effect in full force, it actually kind of bugs me to be honest. I get just a bit when I pull up my outflow on one side under PC light and that's about what I want, but over the whole tank.

 

[shrimpNewbie]

you will achieve more visible shimmer if the leds are in front of the t5s instead of behind in your canapy

 

[DarkCobra]

I have a home-brew, computer controlled, dimmable 2x39W T5HO fixture, with 32x blue 5mm ultrabright LED moonlights. In order to simply the electronics, I wired it so the moonlights are powered all the time.

At lowest dimming level (10%), the light intensity is about the same as most cheap tanks' stock lighting. The blue moonlighting and shimmer effect is gentle but noticeable at that brightness, and produces a nice morning/twilight effect as the lights ramp up and down.

Whether it will be noticeable in your setup depends on the brightness, and possibly the lensing, of each individual LED in the shop light. Do you have some details?

 

[talontsiawd]

Whether it will be noticeable in your setup depends on the brightness, and possibly the lensing, of each individual LED in the shop light. Do you have some details?

Unfortunately I do not. I would have to go to the store and find it first of all, and I don't believe that it had much info on the box.

For one, I just know it's about 12 in or and has maybe 6 led's. They look like 3mm LED's you would buy at Radioshack just looking at them. That one is like $10, not expecting too much light on it's own. That would be paired with my homemade fixture that is a dual screw CFL bulbs) 13 watts x2.

The other tank I want something on is my 29 gallon. That has a timer I am not using so it doesn't have to work, I still can gain moon lights. Well, I can gain moonlights on the 5 gallon but would have to buy another timer and lack space around the tank to add a timer. I would just plug it in when I want to.

 

[2in10]

I found that separating the flourescent bulbs with my T5HO by just few inches can create some shimmer if the surface is disturbed.

 

[GeToChKn]

I just leave my moonlights on all the time. Just simple blue LED's. One was a underwater bubblewand that I mounted on top instead of in the water. All the rest of my tanks I just bought cutable LED light strips and wired them to a 12V power source along with cooling fans.

3 of my tanks don't have plants and just have the marineland led lights that have blue led's in them. I have 7 tanks and they have blue led's on them. I love looking into my room at night and seeing the blue lights on at night. I don't bother with timers for them, just leave them on all the time. They are on 24/7 with the marineland fixtures anyways.

Heres a few pics in this thread of them in action

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/lighting/142994-will-led-light-disrupt-my-fishs.html#post1452326

 

[DarkCobra]

For one, I just know it's about 12 in or and has maybe 6 led's. They look like 3mm LED's you would buy at Radioshack just looking at them. That one is like $10, not expecting too much light on it's own. That would be paired with my homemade fixture that is a dual screw CFL bulbs) 13 watts x2.

3mm LEDs vs. 13W spiral CFLs doesn't sound too promising. However, it sounds like you could probably test it in a way that leaves the product in returnable condition. If it doesn't work out, get a refund; and you'll have a better idea from experience what is required to achieve the effect you desire.