modding your hood and lunar lights

[napydred]

In my LFS most the marine tanks have a blue or black light which makes the color in the tank vibrant, i was curious if these are the lunar lights or just regular black lights, i was lookin at the lunar lights online, and does anyone egree with me that the more expensive ones are a scam, I mean with minimal knowledge of electronics you could just mod your hood with an inexpensive led of the desired color for way cheaper than what they are charging for them, and i saw some of them just come with a screw so you still have to mod your set up, anyway, what are your thoughts on lunar lights?

[SeeDemTails]

The blue light you see in the tanks is actually called actinic lighting....It is neither black light or lunar lights.

And yes LED moon lights are expensive....15$ a peice is not uncommon for blue LEDs.

And lunar lights only come on at night!

And Actinic lights are even more expensive, you have to buy a ballast and have a hood to mount it in, and you also need a 10,000K daylight to go along with it.

The best way to go for most people is to buy a hood from Coralife or Current USA. Check out Hellolights.com!

[afishyonados]

If you retrofit your moonlights, mount them at a 45 degree angle; the caustics or glitter lines that are often seen with halides will appear!

[SeeDemTails]

Correct!

I have the screw type LEDs(For mounting a license tag! ) and I have them on either side of my 18" 96 watt CF at a 45 degree angle and it makes the inside of the tank shimmer!

[afishyonados]

That's so cool!

[SeeDemTails]

I will try to post a pic of it!