Lunar/Night Lights: My DIY Adventure

[robflanker]

Goal:
A cheap and relatively effective night/lunar lights for my 10g.

Materials
12ft Blue Rope Lights from Walmart – approx $9 I believe
Gorilla Glue - $4 Lowes
Clamps x 4 - $10 Walmart (I didn’t have any appropriate sized ones so I had to buy some, so one maybe able to get away without this step)
Something to spread the glue – I used cotton swabs, free
Wax paper – so you don’t glue yourself or anything else unwanted to the hood
Total cost – less than $25
Total time – approximately 5 hours (mostly due to 1hr waits between gluings), but in reality maybe 30-45mins of true work.
http://robflankerpictures.shutterfly.com/116

Before
So here is a before view of the hood
http://robflankerpictures.shutterfly.com/117

Method
So I started out my plugging the rope light in for a couple of hours and letting it run for a few hours to see how hot it got. It didn’t get very hot and I felt it was ok for the tank in terms of potentially melting the glue, overheating the water, or melting the hood.
Next I took the rope lighting and just measured it out in the tank and kinda planned how I wanted to snake around my hood. Biggest thing to keep in mind is to have the excess line outside of the tank, and have a good plan for how to start and end it. Each hood/set up will be different so not much I can do here except show you how I planned the snaking out
http://robflankerpictures.shutterfly.com/118

I chose to use Gorilla Glue as it was recommended by someone on the site, and I’ve used it non-Aquarium settings with much success. I decided I would glue in shifts as I didn’t have enough clamps and wanted to ensure that the tension wasn’t pulling the rope lighting out of place. I glued the initial stretch by putting glue along the seam and then some on the inside of the hood. Then, I let it dry for an hour.
http://robflankerpictures.shutterfly.com/119

[robflanker]

Basically, it became a rinse and repeat. I found that the initial gluing did a great job holding it, and then once it had hardened, I could move the clamps and then glue where the clamps were if necessary. I found the glue really expanded upon drying and in several places I chose to scrap a bit up as one part was impacting my flap opening, and another part was a bit too close to the water-line for my liking.
http://robflankerpictures.shutterfly.com/100

I used all manner of objects to help hold down the rope in place until the glue hardened. Hammers, candleholders, anything you’ve got lying around. Also, I recommend putting wax paper between anything being glued and the thing putting weight down on it. That way you won’t glue your hammer to your hood.
http://robflankerpictures.shutterfly.com/99

Ok now for a series of finished pictures. I am not going to lie, its not very aesthetically pleasing but its functional! And my fish aren’t looking up and commenting on my lack of gluing ability
http://robflankerpictures.shutterfly.com/102
http://robflankerpictures.shutterfly.com/103
http://robflankerpictures.shutterfly.com/105

Ok, time for the finished product look. It is ridiculously difficult to photo night lights – I even contacted the King and Queen of Photos (Brookfish and Celtic Fins respectively) for advice on photos. These are the best I could do with my amateur camera, and even more amateur skills. It isn’t very bright at all, which is great. Sitting on my sofa about 10-12ft away you can’t see anything in the tank. You can make out a slight blue hue to the tank but certainly nothing in the tank. It becomes clearer only when you are like a foot or two away from the tank. I felt this was pretty “realistic” as after all, its night lighting its not meant to be as clear as day.
Here are a couple of photos;
http://robflankerpictures.shutterfly.com/107
http://robflankerpictures.shutterfly.com/113
http://robflankerpictures.shutterfly.com/114

Well folks, that’s about it. I hope this helps anyone who is looking at a cheap DIY way of doing night lighting. So far so good, I hooked it up to a timer opposite that of my day lights. Any questions please ask them!

More pictures on the link in my sig – I just can’t get the pictures to work

[Northernguy]

I like the lights!
Fill your tank and get rid of the gap so the light only shines in the water.

[robflanker]

Thanks NG - yeah I should have done that before I took the pics. My brain wasnt working.

[Northernguy]

Try a water change!
Its a great write up!

[robflanker]

Lol if I mention a WC anytime soon I'll get a beating

Thanks!

[LadyHatred]

This is great! Isn't it wonderful fish cant talk?! I know mine would have a thing or two to say to me!!

Question though: You've got the light rope glued in there. What happens if it burns out? Can that glue be taken off easily? What about condensation (sp?) will that cause any problems, like, shorting out or w/e? And finally, can one use "out door" light rope in this application?

[robflanker]

Lady Hatred
1) If it burns out, i'll just cut it off. An exacto/stanley knife should take it off relatively easily. So i'm not worried about
2) Condensation hasnt been a problem so far. I don't see any issues in my tank and there has been no morphing of the glue.
3) The rope I used was outdoor rope lighting. Its encased in a thick plastic covering. I didnt use the daisy chain style-xmas lighting, im sorry if that wasnt clear

[matthew.shelly]

very neat effect! im def a fan of gorilla glue.

[Z Fish Man]

Looks very nice. I have been thinking about lunar lights for my 10g so I'll keep this in mind.