Hey guys, I'm designing a moonlight for my personal tank, and I want to judge the possibility of selling some. Here's what it can do.
It's called a "Moving Moonlight".
Now the important part, PRICE! I just priced the original prototype that I'm thinking of building. It's a 12 LED one, and it would cost me roughly $35 dollars to buy and ship the parts it to me. So I'd probably sell it for $40 + shipping. However, the less LEDs I build it for, the cheaper it will be. For example, one built for only 3 LEDs would only cost you roughly $25. The most expensive part of this whole thing is the power source, which is $9 for me. Of course, if I got a bunch of orders for these, the less I'd have to pay for shipping, the cheaper they would be for you.
Also, the price depends on the LEDs used. Red LEDs are really cheap. Blue and violet are (relatively) more expensive (We're talking cents per LED here). That would factor into the price as well. (Not by much though) A set of 12 blue leds would run roughly $6 + shipping. (Shipping for 12 LEDs would be really cheap...) Honestly, you could even use your own LEDs if you wanted, provided you know how to solder.
Let me know what you think of the idea. If you think the price is too high, tell me what you WOULD pay for a moonlight with these features. If I do end up making a bunch of these, I might just have to hold a contest and give away a few... Remember, price is directly related to the amount of orders I get. The more people order, the cheaper they get. If enough get ordered, $5 or more could be dropped from each price.
EDIT: Mods I don't really know the rules about selling stuff on the forums and what not. If I'm breaking any, please let me know. I'm not selling anything yet, since this is an idea thread.
It's called a "Moving Moonlight".
- What it does it the light "moves" across the top of your tank from one side to the other, like the moon moves across the sky.
- It can be any color you want (as long as LEDs come in that color), you'd just have to tell me when you order it.
- There is a "dimming" dial that lets you change the overall brightness of the LEDs, as to adjust it to the perfect brightness for your tank.
- I can build them to support up to 20 high power LEDs, and more if you use less powerful LEDs (which is advisable, since this is a moonlight and it's not supposed to be bright). (Honestly I could build them to support as many as I wanted, but with the power source I'm using, this is the limit, however a different power source could be used if someone REALLY wanted to use more than that many LEDs)
- It is expandable. You could buy one that supports 12 LEDs, and only use 3 of them, then if you bought a bigger tank, you could add a couple more LEDs, and it'd still work fine.
- The moonlight could be programmed to come on as soon as you turn off your daytime lights, and turn off as soon as you turn them on. That could also be adjustable, meaning it could turn on an hour after you turn off the lights.. etc.
- You could change the LEDs. If you got sick of the color you bought originally, you could buy a separate set of a different color and simply plug them in the back, and it'd work fine. You could also mix colors of LEDs this way. (Although this might look a bit odd.)
- You can mount the LEDs where ever you want. I'd suggest near your daytime lights. Basically each LED is separate from the others. You could mount them close together, or far apart, it's your choice. (But you DO have to mount them, and I won't provide materials to do so, although duck tape or little screws would work just fine.)
- Heck now that I think about it, you could use this as a daytime light if you really wanted to. It wouldn't provide a ton of light, but for a non planted tank it'd be fine.
Now the important part, PRICE! I just priced the original prototype that I'm thinking of building. It's a 12 LED one, and it would cost me roughly $35 dollars to buy and ship the parts it to me. So I'd probably sell it for $40 + shipping. However, the less LEDs I build it for, the cheaper it will be. For example, one built for only 3 LEDs would only cost you roughly $25. The most expensive part of this whole thing is the power source, which is $9 for me. Of course, if I got a bunch of orders for these, the less I'd have to pay for shipping, the cheaper they would be for you.
Also, the price depends on the LEDs used. Red LEDs are really cheap. Blue and violet are (relatively) more expensive (We're talking cents per LED here). That would factor into the price as well. (Not by much though) A set of 12 blue leds would run roughly $6 + shipping. (Shipping for 12 LEDs would be really cheap...) Honestly, you could even use your own LEDs if you wanted, provided you know how to solder.
Let me know what you think of the idea. If you think the price is too high, tell me what you WOULD pay for a moonlight with these features. If I do end up making a bunch of these, I might just have to hold a contest and give away a few... Remember, price is directly related to the amount of orders I get. The more people order, the cheaper they get. If enough get ordered, $5 or more could be dropped from each price.
EDIT: Mods I don't really know the rules about selling stuff on the forums and what not. If I'm breaking any, please let me know. I'm not selling anything yet, since this is an idea thread.
