LEDs for Moonlights

I am planning to make some moonlights for my tank. The following are the specs of the LEDs I am going use.

Emitted Colour : OCEAN BLUE
Size (mm) : 5mm
Peak Wave Length (nm) : 465 ~ 470
Forward Voltage (V) : 3.2 ~ 3.8
Reverse Current (uA) : <=30
Luminous Intensity Typ Iv (mcd) : Average in 6000
Absolute Maximum Ratings (Ta=25°C)
Max Power Dissipation : 80mw
Max Continuous Forward Current : 30mA
Max Peak Forward Current : 75mA

I've read that the moon's spectrum is between 470 - 480 nm. Would this LED (465 - 470 nm) good for imitating moon's light?

I am planning to use 11 in my 6' tank, 6 inches between each led.

Thanks!
GKW

 

Hmmm....you know, i would probably start out with less moon lights...even though they dont look bright, when you have 11 little lights on in a pitch black room at night they will be very very bright...i am going to buy a new moon light system for my 55gal and they recommend 2...im prolly gona do 3 but remember, you would be surprised how much they light up below them...of course if you have alot of rock work and need more depth i can see how more would do but from what you said i think your planning on doing a line of them? Maybe try with 6 first and then add on if its not bright enough Remember you dont want the moon to keep ur critters up at night

 

That make sense. I really don't know how bright they will look cause I had never saw moonlights fixture when they are turn on at night. I got the 11 from this setup on aquatrader. I think in this case, I will lower it to 6 or 8 depending on how bright this LED is. Thanks!

 

Sounds good! Post some pics as soon as you can, i wanna see those bad boys!

 

Ok, I did some researching and came across the Cold Cathode Lights. They are used in lighting the PC tower.

DIY Lights

The only thing about the cold cathode lights is the wavelength at different voltages. I can't find any info on them.
What do you think? Should I do the cold cathode lights or LEDs?

Ebay Cold Cathode Lights

Thanks!

 

those cold cathode look kinda bright....

I have 6 LEDs on my 48" tank, there's 1 on each end then 4 in a roll in the middle.. in between them are the 2 MH, which makes 2 nice dark spots at night so if anything doesn't like moon light they can hide out in the shadows

 

Those cold cathode can be bright at higher voltage, but it can be dimmed with lower voltage transformer.

I will most likely be doing LEDs because of the wavelength of the LEDs is the closest to the moonlight's spectrum. I do have to buy the LEDs in bulk(500) though. I will probably make one for my cichlid tank too.

Thanks!

 

My lights came with moon lights. I put a dimmer on them to control the intensity. Figure some nights are clear others cloudy.

 

6000mcd is pretty bright, isn't it? It will definetely illuminate the room and might illuminate the tank a little too much.

 

I was wondering the same thing, but I hope I can be able to dim it with lower voltage transformer or put a dimmer like Dador did.

and the place will be something like the diagram. Is that good?