Different hood lights

[Ryanlr88]

So I've seen people have pictures of blue lights and dimmer/darker lighting in their aquariums. I think this would be really sweet to add to my tank, but not sure how to go about that. I've never seen different kinds of bulbs available at stores, just different sizes. Also my hood is just a basic hood with one button for on/off switch. There isn't multiple slots for bulbs either. So I guess my question is how do people get blue lighting. Do they always have blue lighting and just have a different bulb? Do they have a better hood with multiple slots for different balls? Is there bulbs that can shine in two different colors? If someone could give me some explanation that would be great. I'd like to add a blue light to my tank but don't know what I need. Thanks

 

[zach_1_6]

Look for actinic bulbs, they put off a blue\purple hue to them. you could also buy some cheap blue LEDs and hook them up inside your hood.

 

[boadams87]

I think you have to replace the entire hood. Its an LED lighting system.

 

[blert]

Got an AutoZone or DAP near you? If so check out the LED strip lights. They have blue, green, red, yellow, orange and white. It is sticky on one side so all you do is peel and stick. You will need a 12v transformer but chances are you have one lying around the house somewhere.

 

[boadams87]

Got an AutoZone or DAP near you? If so check out the LED strip lights. They have blue, green, red, yellow, orange and white. It is sticky on one side so all you do is peel and stick. You will need a 12v transformer but chances are you have one lying around the house somewhere.

Would water evaporation not hurt those kind?

 

[paytertot]

Water evaporation souldnt get to the light, there should always be something between the light and the water.

 

[blert]

Would water evaporation not hurt those kind?

They are made for decorating your car, outlining the headlights and goofy stuff like that. Water won't hurt them but I wouldn't actually submerge them. Just stick them to the underside of your canopy somewhere, a little splash won't hurt a thing.

Here's a pic. They are four inches each and cost about 10$ but I already had the wire sleeving, shrink wrap and transformer (from an old broken cordless phone). They have longer ones also. Just make sure the transformer you use says "12 volt DC" and is 100-300 mA.

 

[boadams87]

Do you have a pic of how it makes the water look?

 

[blert]

Do you have a pic of how it makes the water look?

This pic really doesn't do it justice as it is slightly brighter. Still, I find myself sometimes wishing I got the eight inch set. Maybe I'll just add in another four inch set.

 

[boadams87]

Very nice. It doesn't look bright enough.

 

[blert]

Very nice. It doesn't look bright enough.

Thanks. Like I said, sometimes I wish it was a bit brighter and they are a bit brighter in person (that's an iPhone pic). I may experiment and overdrive them to 14 volts or maybe try and crank them up to 500 mA. I'll get the 24 inch strips for my 75 gallon though. Maybe get the 12s to replace these and move these 4s to my ten gallon QT. Oh yeah, they do have a "super bright" version, these are just the regulars.

 

[Race2d]

I want to say that I have this setup on my 55 and 46 gallon I did spend a little extra money and went to radio shack and bought a transformer u can change volts on these light only work from about 9 volts and up the more volts the brighter the lights you will not be able to increase the amps because they are a led and will only pull the amps the need u can give it more but it won't make them brighter I have both the regular and the super brights on my 55 and I see no difference I have three 12 inch strips on mine hooked to a adjustable 12 volt transformer that's puts out 1 amp but the lights only pull about 400 miliamps I actually have the transformer adjusted to 9 volts and they put out nice light........I only know all this because I work at a Autozone and did a few tests before I installed on my tank but for both tanks I have about 50$ in both