Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just ordered (100) 2500-4000mcp red LED's. They run 5-30 mah, 1.8-2v. (minimum order was 100, for $9.50. Not bad. lol.)

Anyway, I've got an old cell phone charger that puts out 5 volts, 400 mA. I'll probably go ahead and buy one that puts out 12v DC power, to make it easier. This way I can just run 6 bulbs in series, then make each series in parallel with each other. My voltage problem is worked out, now my problem comes to mA. How do I regulate this? I would prefer to run them around 25 mA, that way I potentially will never have to unsolder them to replace 'em.

They will be switched, I considered a photo cell right up by the flourescent light to control them, but I don't want the dang things shining at night when i'm trying to sleep.

If anybody knows how to control the mAv, i'd really appreciate it!

Thanks
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0.1 Licorice Stick Black Rat
1.0 Black Rat
0.1 Vietnamese Blue Beauty
1.0 Green Tree Python
0.1 Texas Bairds Rat

The educated are the few. The uneducated are the masses.

You can't run LED's in series/parallel. They are diodes and only allow current to flow 1 way.

The 5v transformer will work fine, you'll need a 100 or 120 ohm resistor wired in line with each LED to drop the voltage down to 2V. All LEDs need to be wired in parallel to each other with the correct polarity or else it will not work. Don't worry about the current, it will take care of itself. Easy DIY page http://www.kaotica.com/frag/diy/moonlight/. We've been doing these setups for years in saltwater aquariums, so there is a lot of resources out there for guides.

I'm not sure of the light output of the led's you ordered, they may be a bit dimmer than you want. If so you'll just have to find some high outputs, and likely need to change resistor values when you wire them in as they run around 4v.

I see you mentioned LEDs have been in use for a while now in the saltwater hobby. Is there a commercial reflector made that those of us without the electrical know how can use? Thanks.

There are a few commercial units availaible, similar to this:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=12110&Ntt=moon&Ntk=All&Ntx=mode matchallpartial&Np=1&N=2004&Nty=1
But most people make their own for a couple reasons, the main one being that commercial units generally cost $35 PER LED. Which is a little (read: one hell of a lot) more than it is worth. In the aquarium industry, the best bet is to buy lighting with the LED's installed inside the hood.

But that's not really an option for reptiles, unless you want them under a few hundred watts of metal halide lighting. Would work well to broil your animals in a short matter of time. The other downside is, all commercial lighting is blue for the industry. It's supposed to simulate the natural wavelenghts of moonlight, which makes your corals grow better. Bunch of crap in that respect, but the blue does make nighttime viewing underwater nice. For nightime in the snake cages, I'd recomend using low intensity red. They would give enough light to have a look, but not be so bright or of a visible enough spectrum to disturb your animals.

I've made a few nice sets for friends, and still have my prototype running in my reef tank. It's ugly but effective I can probably help you out if its something you want but aren't comfortable doing yourself. You can email me if you want at thumper18@bresnan.net.

Thank you very much, thats very nice of you. I'll let you know.

Bob.