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Retirement and forum shutdown (17 Jan 2022)

Hi,

John Howell who has managed the forum for years is getting on and wishes to retire from the role of managing it.
Over the years, he has managed the forum through good days and bad days and he has always been fair.
He has managed to bring his passion for fish keeping to the forum and keep it going for so long.

I wish to thank John for his hard work in keeping the forum going.

With John wishing to "retire" from the role of managing the forum and the forum receiving very little traffic, I think we must agree that forum has come to a natural conclusion and it's time to put it to rest.

I am proposing that the forum be made read-only from March 2022 onwards and that no new users or content be created. The website is still registered for several more years, so the content will still be accessible but no new topics or replies will be allowed.

If there is interest from the ITFS or other fish keeping clubs, we may redirect traffic to them or to a Facebook group but will not actively manage it.

I'd like to thank everyone over the years who helped with forum, posted a reply, started a new topic, ask a question and helped a newbie in fish keeping. And thank you to the sponsors who helped us along the away. Hopefully it made the hobby stronger.

I'd especially like to thank John Howell and Valerie Rousseau for all of their contributions, without them the forum would have never been has successful.

Thank you
Darragh Sherwin

DIY LED lights and power supply

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16 Apr 2012 22:16 #1 by m4r10 (m4r10)
Following another topic re. lights, I was thinking of going the DIY LED route and thought I ask here if someone used them before. This is the strip:
www.ebay.ie/itm/230684802892?ssPageName=...l2649#ht_2211wt_1187

Would they be good enough for plants as are rated 6.3-7K Kelvin?
Also, if I get 2 strips, would I need 2 power supplies or one would suffice?

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17 Apr 2012 08:52 #2 by BillG (Bill Gray)
The colour temperature of the lights is ok for plants; however there is no detail on the spectrum of the light the strips emit, so cant realistically comments on their overall suitability for plants. You would need details on the actual light spectrum to really make that determination. If you could get 2 strips with different spectrums it would be better, one in the Blue wavelength range and one in the red range, and the overall appearance would be still a soft white. Typically the problem with LEDs is that they emit a very narrow spectrum. The T5 and T8 LED replacements typically contain a mix of colours, not just white LEDs to give a more complete light spectrum.
Regarding running multiple strips off one power supply, the detail given lists the PSU at 12V and greater than or equal to 2A so once you scale this up, you can run as many as you like off one supply. For 2 strips, you need a minimum of 4A output on the 12V supply. Obviously, this is the min rating for the PSU and you are realistically better off going for something better as it would cover the peak demand as the strips switch on too. Could be better off getting a 6A supply if you can to run 2 strips.

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17 Apr 2012 10:40 #3 by BlueRam (Sean Crowe)
Bill is spot on i was going to say to watch out for the peak on start up as this could nearly double when starting up

as for LEDS for plants i have heard off a few that tried these strips on planted tanks and not many where mad about them but not sure wat LEDS they used but by all means no harm in tryin them and if they work id say they would look pretty good

maybe send the seller an email and ask him about the details on the spectrum of the light the strips emit

Sean

Sean Crowe

ITFS Member

Location: Navan

Always Remember Surviving Is Not Thriving

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17 Apr 2012 18:28 #4 by m4r10 (m4r10)
Thanks guys for the help. Was looking for one and this one looks to be able to run 2 strips:
www.ebay.ie/itm/New-EU-AC100-240V-DC-12V...3bd66#ht_2013wt_1187

Now, if I go with one power supply, can I just strip the connector from one strip and add it to the other one? This is how they connect to the power supply:

Attachments:

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17 Apr 2012 19:25 #5 by BillG (Bill Gray)
Hi M4r10,

that supply should be ok for you :) to connect the 2 strips to it, you will need to connect the 2 red and 2 black wires, as shown in the pic you posted, together and then link to the power supply. It looks like the female connector for the supply on the lights is itself an adapter connector. The green block on the pic looks like it plugs into it, you should find this has 2 pins on it. SO just remove this clip from both LED strips and connect both sets of wires to one connector. Would recommend soldering the wires and covering the join in either heat-shrink sleeve or silicone. When you are joining the wires, try to ensure the joins in the red and black wires can not touch. Best way to do this is to leave the red longer than the black on the connector side by say 3cm and on the LED strips, leave the black longer than the black by the same amount. Then you know there is no risk of causing a short circuit. Only need to worry about waterproofing the connection then :)

Hope this makes sense. If not, I will throw up a few pics to show what I mean.

Cheers,

Bill.

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17 Apr 2012 19:45 #6 by m4r10 (m4r10)
Thanks Bill, was thinking the same about the connector, it seems pretty straightforward to connect both strips, but wasn't sure about the capability of the PSU to run both of them.

I'll just send the seller an email about the spectrum of the lights, maybe they'll have more info.

Cheers,
Mario

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17 Apr 2012 19:47 #7 by Gonefishy (Brian oneill)
I have to say its super to have such experienced views, opinions and advice in here as Bill and the rest of the mods and fellow enthusiasts!! I don't have any particular interest in this thread itself for example but still find it fascinating to read. Great way to learn and live the site!! Well done to all those that keep the show on the road so to speak!

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