Help me out with my moonlights!

[BBoley24]

Id love to get a moonlight setup over my 120g. I have been researching with no luck. There seems to be little to no information on correct placement or brands that seem to outperform one another. I know it's all personal preference but come on! I want to go really cheap as moonlights shouldn't be bought at 70 bucks! Heck I saw some people using rope lights from wally world.

How many?

What brands?

Ebay brands?

Height from tank?

I am a major DIYer... but this I don't care to spend time building on. Just buy a cheap set and mount... any recommendations???

Going for a natural look.

 

[Raceimage]

I have 8 over my 120 gal. They are about 1 1/2 - 2 inches above the water and attached to my light fixture with zipties. They were purchased on ebay a while ago and I don't remember the seller's information. I'm really happy with them though.

 

[Stray32]

It's a matter of personal preference since they really don't offer any benefit to the tank. I was told that they aid in the mimicking the natural lighting cycle of the sun and moon, but with research found out that they are purely for looks.

You can get cheap ones on ebay.

 

[Jabberwock]

I really like the Ecoxotic stunners that I have over my nano... Kinda expensive (~50 per strip + 1 transformer per 6(?) strips --- might be able to make a DIY transformer), but you can also add reflectors, which is a nice option. I had issues with QC (bad transformer, 3 LED's were DOA) but ecoxotic's customer service response was good. These deliver a little bit of PAR to the tank, so I run mine morning/day/evening to supplement my PC's.

(I think these readings are without the reflectors installed)
http://blog.aquanerd.com/2010/02/ecoxotic-stunner-strip-par-numbers.html

I run the 453nm version. The tank lights up deep blue (maybe not the natural look you are going for -- there is an 8k version and 8k/453nm mix though) and the Zoas honestly look like something out of candy land.... I think Current has a similar strip out as well.

Also, plenty of DIY stuff to for not a lot of money... I was just browsing this site and brainstormed some possibilities (not sure if the site is reputable though)....

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/index.cgi?action=DispPage&Page2Disp=/mini_tubes.htm

 

[NaClH2Opgh]

I had ones on my 75 from ebay. I paid like under $20 shipped and they lit up my tank very nicely.

I am pretty sure these are the ones: http://cgi.ebay.com/Moonlight-Aquar...334?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item588bdea136

In case the link gets deleted, the seller is gsolom

 

[NaClH2Opgh]

I got these 5light pods for my 220.

http://www.plasmaled.com/ledpods.htm

 

[slate55]

You should just swipe the moonlights out of the fixture your getting with the tank,
it has two directional clusters with like 6 led's in it that just runs straight from the cluster to a power cord

 

[slate55]

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they look similar to this one.

 

[BBoley24]

Wow! Thanks for the input guys! It seems as if its an inexpensive trial and error. Im afraid of the par value because id rather it just be for looks than actually adding light. Could mess with the natural light schedule.

As for ripping them out... ill put them on the tank and see what they look like. I think that would be my cheapest option would be to test with that fixture. If I like them I can definitely make a sound decision from there. What color are they on the fixture? BTW do you want more deposit??? Ive sort of upping my tab monthly ahahaha.... im shooting for either next week or the the next week after that at the longest. Its just my father and I building the place so for such a tiny place it's taking us a really long time!