My wife and I have a 58 Gallon Oceanic Systems tank (discussed in my intro) with a matching stand and 48" light fixture. All are a light oak color. Last year, after years of use, the sockets where the fluorescent bulb attaches got so brittle that they fell apart. I'm pretty handy with such things, so I located and replaced them with new pieces and it has worked since then, but it got me to thinking about the fact that new lighting technologies have been developed and that no doubt translated into the aquarium world as well.
I got online and began looking at all of the options and was surprised at what exists, and at what does not. All of the lighting varieties are a bit to wrap my mind around, but I was disappointed that there don't seem to be any replacement fixtures that would blend in with our tank's oak color scheme, and it would look strange to have a big black fixture on the tank.
I did however find out that vendors such as Current USA offer some LED strips that can be attached to an existing fixture and that got me to thinking about the possibilities. One thing I would like to do is use white light in the daytime and then switch to a black light for the evening so that we could further enjoy the luminescence of our Cardinal Tetras. I suppose I could add a colored (Blue or Red) LED strip or two instead of actual black lights.
So, my first question to the denizens of this forum is how many of you have retrofitted or repurposed existing fixtures in thsi manner, and will the LED strips give us a good light color to enjoy our more brightly colored fixtures, and, if so, what colors and brands have you used?
Thanks,
Steve
I got online and began looking at all of the options and was surprised at what exists, and at what does not. All of the lighting varieties are a bit to wrap my mind around, but I was disappointed that there don't seem to be any replacement fixtures that would blend in with our tank's oak color scheme, and it would look strange to have a big black fixture on the tank.
I did however find out that vendors such as Current USA offer some LED strips that can be attached to an existing fixture and that got me to thinking about the possibilities. One thing I would like to do is use white light in the daytime and then switch to a black light for the evening so that we could further enjoy the luminescence of our Cardinal Tetras. I suppose I could add a colored (Blue or Red) LED strip or two instead of actual black lights.
So, my first question to the denizens of this forum is how many of you have retrofitted or repurposed existing fixtures in thsi manner, and will the LED strips give us a good light color to enjoy our more brightly colored fixtures, and, if so, what colors and brands have you used?
Thanks,
Steve
