# DIY Moonlight



## TypeYourTextHere (Apr 20, 2011)

I really wanted to have a LED moonlight on my 75 gallon, but I am to cheap to spend a lot of money on one that can be bought online or the local pet store. I decided to make a DIY one instead. 

So far I have spent a grand total of $11.64 plus tax. That is the cost of the LEDs and the resistors only. I had some wire, a power source(phone charger), and solder already. I can only guess what those would cost to buy new at the store, maybe $15 - $20. Anyhow, if you are interested in how to do this please feel free to ask. I will be posting pics as soon as the stupid gallery allows me to(it keeps telling me to contact the system admin when I attempt to upload pics)

here is a pic of it before i install it

Pictures by Typeyourtexthere - Photobucket


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## TypeYourTextHere (Apr 20, 2011)

I finally completed my LED moonlight installation. Here is what I did...

I bought the following

4 rectangular blue LED lights from Radio Shack (part# 276-0013) for $2.19. They are 350 mcd, 154 degree, 3.2v 20ma.
1 pack of 47 ohm, 1/2 watt resistors, $1.19 from Radio Shack.

I had a old Samsung phone charger with an output of 5v and .7ma (if your power supply had a different voltage you will need to get different resistors to put in your circuit)
I also had some cat5 Ethernet cable that I cut to about 8 feet in length. My light is 48", so I figured that double that would be more than enough (save the sheath of the Ethernet cable).

This is where the fun part starts.

I took my stock light and removed the reflector so I could wire the lights into it to it to save me from buying something to hold the LEDs in place and save space on the top of the tank.
I drilled 1/4" holes spaced evenly across the reflector.
I soldered the 47 ohm resistors to the (+) side of the LEDs (the longer leg). I then took hot glue and glued them into place on the reflector with about 1/4" of the LED sticking out of the bottom side of the reflector.
I wired the lights in parallel (connected all the positives(+) together, and all the negatives(-) together) using some solder I had (I also taped each connection with electrical tape just to be safe).
I then drilled a small hole into the back of the housing of the light fixture(taking caution not to drill into any wiring or the ballast) and ran the power wire through that hole. 
I connected the power supply (cell phone charger) to the wiring inside the fixture making sure to connect the (+) and (-) to the appropriate wires. Since the cord on the power supply was shorter than the stock light power cable I extended the power cable with a section of the Ethernet cable I had set aside.
I reinstalled the reflector and I covered the portion of the wiring that was outside the light with the Ethernet cable I saved from before to help protect and reinforce the wires.
I hot glued the sheath I put on the power wires to the outside of the hood and used some electrical tape to help keep the wires inside it. At that point the project is complete and ready to be used.

I would like to also point out that I did test the circuit before I started the installation using a breadboard I had (Breadboard - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) to make sure nothing would short out, catch on fire, or explode.

I hope these instructions make sense and are helpful to anyone who wants to save some money by making their own moonlights.

Also, unless you are very good at soldering, expect this project to take about an hour to an hour and a half. It took me about 2 and a half hours due to kids and a dog harassing me most of the time I was working on it.


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## williemcd (Jun 23, 2011)

How do I place an order?.. LOL.. great post... Bill in Va.


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## TypeYourTextHere (Apr 20, 2011)

Thanks. It is about 2:30 am right now and I have to say that it looks better than I expected it to. I took a couple of pics to give you a rough idea of what they look like. The pictures DO NOT do them justice at all(its a camera phone), but hopefully you get the idea.

Front view
http://i1085.photobucket.com/albums/j428/Typeyourtexthere/2011-11-11144903.jpg

Side view
http://i1085.photobucket.com/albums/j428/Typeyourtexthere/2011-11-12022631.jpg


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## iadubber (Nov 6, 2011)

Looks great! Something I want to do in the future.


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## sschreiner5 (Oct 11, 2011)

I copied your design and built this for my 29 gallon, I only used 3 LEDs since my tank is smaller. So far its awesome, thanks for the idea/instructions!


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## Summer (Oct 3, 2011)

very cool


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## drunkenbeast (Nov 13, 2011)

Im glad this popped up its something i want to add to my tank in the furture


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## TypeYourTextHere (Apr 20, 2011)

drunkenbeast said:


> Im glad this popped up its something i want to add to my tank in the furture


I have had mine running on a timer for over two moths now and They work great. The hardest part is finding a phone charger to power them. I was fortunate enough to find one is the lost and found box at work.


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## artur_berger (Jan 10, 2012)

Nice!!

It may look beautiful!!


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## TypeYourTextHere (Apr 20, 2011)

I figured I would bump this for others since I have not been on this forum in two years.


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

Your links do not work, the photos have been moved or deleted.


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## woody019 (Oct 4, 2012)

Rapid LED is also a great place for DIY LED lighting. My reef tank has them, the cite has true 3W CREE LEDs with their PAR ratings. If your looking for just a moonlight and dont have anything that needs blue light, 1 of these LEDs will easily light an entire small tank.

Ill also add that RapidLED has just about every color you could ever want.


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## TypeYourTextHere (Apr 20, 2011)

Majerah, it figures photo bucket removed them. Didn't realize they were broken. Guess I will have to build a new one since my exwife sold the light out from under me. At least she didn't sell my tank and grow light before I got to them.


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

Indeed, we would love to see another build!


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