This weekend in the fish room.

[mattrox]

I wired up my new lighting for the fish room over the weekend and just need to finish it all off.

I got one set of LED strip lights taped up using double sided tape so they are in place. All 16 light strips are up and doing a good job.

Just a few pics from this weekend.

Labidochromis caeruleus "Nkhali"

Pseudotropheus flavus

The light strips in place with the transformer taped in place too. I put a timer on to control the lights.

[dogboy]

nice fish, your getting me interested in malawis again, never seen these before.

any full tank shots with the LEDs?? are you happy with them???

[bwah]

mmm yes have never seen that lab. variant

flavus look cool too

nice one

any more pics of fish room?

[Foti]

top shots and thanks for sharing

i have never seen these Labidochromis caeruleus "Nkhali" before but he is nice

he looks to be of full display im guessing after a WC

[1hopper09]

Hi fish look good

I’m thinking of getting some led’s and wanted to know how they look when on? Are they bright and do you have any pic’s of full tank shot with them on? Cheers in advance

[mattrox]

top shots and thanks for sharing

i have never seen these Labidochromis caeruleus "Nkhali" before but he is nice

he looks to be of full display im guessing after a WC

He was displaying.... he has his 2nd female holding. And now he is showing off to all the fish in the tank.

http://www.malawi-dream.info/Labidochromis...leus_Nkhali.htm

I am happy with the lighting result. The flavus and Lab pic were taken without flash. The lights do bring out the fish's colours well. For a display tank I would proably use 3 strings of lights. They are cheap as on ebay, if you look around you can get them for $8 free shipping from Hong Kong. Each strip draws 330 mA of current so a 12V, 5A transformer can run up to 15 of them. I got the transformer for $30.

This was before I taped the lights into place.

This is a tank shot with no flash, the water needs polishing and front glass needs a wipe down and I didn't take time to set up the shot. But you get the idea.

[bwah]

interesting, i need to get some lighting

never thought of led's

so are these similar to what you are running?

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/WHITE-12V-120-CM-LE...=item2a0a8cfa38

if so, how are they powered? do i have to wire them or plug them into the transformer? i have no idea..

thanks

[mattrox]

That the ones.

You have to buy a transformer ($30 from Jaycar) and cut off the plug. I used spade terminals to connect wires.

I soldered the lights in a parallel circuit..... all positive wires (red stripe on the leads) soldered together then onto a piece wire that I connected a spade terminal onto, so it can be plugged into the transformer. Repeat process with the negative wires (clear leads, no red). Yes it matters for diodes which is positive and negative.

I didn't photograph the process though. Do you have a sparky friend to help you out?

[bwah]

this one ?

http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?I...mp;form=KEYWORD

that makes sense, cut off the plug, solder positive wires together, solder negative wires together, connect via spade terminal

more diy

cheers

[mattrox]

this one ?

http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?I...mp;form=KEYWORD

that makes sense, cut off the plug, solder positive wires together, solder negative wires together, connect via spade terminal

more diy

cheers

that's the transformer. You might need a lil extra wire to connect the leads due to length requirements, but a bit of solder, and violá, its done.

On a displsy, it woild look awesome with 4 white and one blue, blue on a seperate circuit for moonlight effect and you can turn it off during the day if you wish:

[bwah]

cool, so could you have the white and blue running off the same transformer but blue on a different circuit to isolate it from the white lights? with a switch or something wired inline?

i need a crash course in electrical circuits..

[bwah]

I am happy with the lighting result. The flavus and Lab pic were taken without flash. The lights do bring out the fish's colours well. For a display tank I would proably use 3 strings of lights. They are cheap as on ebay, if you look around you can get them for $8 free shipping from Hong Kong. Each strip draws 330 mA of current so a 12V, 5A transformer can run up to 15 of them. I got the transformer for $30.

ive got a few 12v 1A transformers lying around from something.. not sure what

so if each strip draws 330mA i could run 3 white strips of one of them..

and a couple of blues of another..

that way white and blue could be on a seperate timer

[Altec]

I am happy with the lighting result. The flavus and Lab pic were taken without flash. The lights do bring out the fish's colours well. For a display tank I would proably use 3 strings of lights. They are cheap as on ebay, if you look around you can get them for $8 free shipping from Hong Kong. Each strip draws 330 mA of current so a 12V, 5A transformer can run up to 15 of them. I got the transformer for $30.

I am thinking of putting LED's on my 6x2x2 display.

How many strings of light's would you recommend for a 6x2x2 from here: (I'd like it to be a little brighter than your tank)

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/WHITE-12V-120-CM-LE...=item2a0a8cfa38

Also is there any chance you could provide instructions (an illustration or step by step) as to how I go about connecting the LED strings to the JayCar power supply?

How much wattage does each string of LED's use?

PS: Sorry for so many question's I have no idea when it comes to electrics.

Cheers,

Craig..

[nanikjava]

Yeah it will good if you provide step-by-step instructions with picture as most us I'm sure would love to create something like that. I'm a noob when it comes to electrical thingy

[mattrox]

Maybe when I do the rest of the room I'll do a pictorial.

1. Double sided tape the LED strips to the inside of you hood using the "outdoor" double sided tape. Tape them in so that the leads are all in the middle.

2. Use a soldering iron to melt the insulation on the leads so you can strip the plastic back to have about 2 cm of bare wire.

3. Solder all the ends positive wire together. The positive wire has a red stripe. Now solder a long piece of wire to the positive wires, this is to go out the back of the hood.

4. Repeat the above step with the negative wires.

5. Strip the insulation off the ends of the 2 long wires (1cm of bare wire). Twist the end of the bare wire so they are not frayed then put a touch of solder on the ends. Insert the bare wire into the round end of the spade terminals. Use a crimping tool to squish the round end of the spade terminal so it grips the bare end of the wire.

Make sure you have bought both male and female spade terminals, and it is handy to have female terminals that have insulation over them.

6. Wrap electrical tape over all of the soldered joints under the hood. You can wrap all excess wire together so you don't have wires everywhere too. You really don't want moisture getting into the soldered joints if you can help it.

7. Before you cut off the plug (small one) off the power supply notice that the positive side has the wire with the writing leading to it. Now cut off the plug, strip the insulation to expose 1cm or wire, twist, apply solder attach spade terminals.

8. Put hood on, plug + spade terminal to + wire from LED, connect other wire, turn on.

PS. I did not put a switch so you have to unplug from the power point or use a timer in the power point (I use a timer)..... Or ask the guy at Jaycar how to put a switch in.

For 6x2 tank use 96 cm LED stip and overlap a bit. I would put 6 rows of LED lights for this size.

A 120cm strip is about 4 watts.

[Altec]

For 6x2 tank use 96 cm LED stip and overlap a bit. I would put 6 rows of LED lights for this size.

A 120cm strip is about 4 watts.

So I would need 12 units of the 96cm for a 6x2, correct??

Is the JayCar power supply listed earlier enough to run 12 strip's?

Thanks for the step by step explanation.

[mattrox]

So I would need 12 units of the 96cm for a 6x2, correct??

Is the JayCar power supply listed earlier enough to run 12 strip's?

Thanks for the step by step explanation.

Yes 12 units will be light it up well. Yes the 5Amp power supply listed above will work.

[Altec]

So I would need 12 units of the 96cm for a 6x2, correct??

Is the JayCar power supply listed earlier enough to run 12 strip's?

Thanks for the step by step explanation.

Yes 12 units will be light it up well. Yes the 5Amp power supply listed above will work.

Thanks Mate. :)

I have the soldering iron and solder but I don't have spade connectors.

Which would you choose from the following:

http://www.jaycar.com.au/productResults.as...&SUBMIT.y=0

Cheers,

Craig.

[mattrox]

For the female, get these

CAT. NO. PT4525

Fully Insulated Female Spade - Red - Pk.8

Cable entry size 4.3mm- Wire size 0.75 - 1.0mm dia.- Spade width - 6.8mm.- PKT 8

And male the flat ones

CAT. NO. PT4509

Male Spade - Red - Pk.8

Cable entry size 4.1mm.- Wire size 0.75 - 1.0mm dia.- Spade width - 6.4mm.- PKT 8

[Altec]

For the female, get these

CAT. NO. PT4525

Fully Insulated Female Spade - Red - Pk.8

Cable entry size 4.3mm- Wire size 0.75 - 1.0mm dia.- Spade width - 6.8mm.- PKT 8

And male the flat ones

CAT. NO. PT4509

Male Spade - Red - Pk.8

Cable entry size 4.1mm.- Wire size 0.75 - 1.0mm dia.- Spade width - 6.4mm.- PKT 8

Thanks once again.

What size tank do you have your LED setup running on? Also how many strings do you have running?

Thanks Again,

Craig

[mattrox]

I have 16 running in total off 2 transformers (8 each) I have to more 4ft tanks to do so will need 4 more, so one transformer will have 12 strings off it.

I am doing 2 stands per 4ft x 14in tank (20in high). I will need to do the 3 and 6 ft tanks later.

[pjmowens]

may i add a word of caution. electricity can kill so if you are unsure please get a licensed electrician to either carry out the work or inspect it.

[dogboy]

may i add a word of caution. electricity can kill so if you are unsure please get a licensed electrician to either carry out the work or inspect it.

very true, it scares the $&^%& out of me, however these LED's use a tranformer that is stepping down the power from 240V and probably 100 amps to 12 volts and 5 amps. basically the same volts/amps you find in a car, enough to give you a fright but prob wont kill you.

having said that i am by no means an expert and have an electrician for a best mate who helps me a lot...... must get him to bypass that meter one day

[mattrox]

The 12V will be like playing with the power supplies used at school. You all turned the voltage up to 12 and clicked the leads together and got the alligator clips to spark. (and if you didn't do it someone in your class did! This is more or less the same.

And I did start off by saying have a sparky friend check it out.

[Cichlabxr]

You did mention having an electrician check it out Mattrox.

As a technican by trade and having worked on radar, always amazes me that anyone needs reminding that electricity kills. But in this day and age, it is better to cover your own a--s by telling people BEWARE.

That aside, thanks for the topic. It makes people, such as myself, aware of new products and new ideas.

Think you went above and beyond, even covering which spade connectors to use.

Then again, being in the trade it is easy to forget that some people have no training. That is why I think articles such as this should be applauded.