# Interpet River Reef Tank - DIY LED replacement



## thepnut (9 Sep 2011)

Ok, 

first post and first DIY project. I'm finding it really hard to source the T5 replacement bulbs for my Interpet (to the point that I'm fed up with shop keepers quizzical looks when handing them my dead bulbs). 

So after reading a few blogs, I have taken the plunge and decided to take out the T5's and replace them with power LED's. I have a basic planted tank. 

So I have bought 12 x 1w white LED's, 2x 1w Amber and 3x 3w Blues.








So I have brought controllers, wires and soldering iron, put the fear of god into flatmate and will set out on this little project. 

First issue what to use as the mount and heat sink. Thankfully the tank has a reflector for the T5's so I have taken that off and the ridiges seem to angle that LEDs into the tank and the onboard fans must be useable.





So do you think this will work? One weekend, one soldering iron and the internet, what can go wrong? 

Pnut


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## flygja (9 Sep 2011)

You probably wanna ditch the blue LEDs as it won't look good in a planted tank setup. Your red plants won't look red while your green plants will have a bluish hue.

I'm not so sure about the angled reflectors, because LEDS are highly directional. Your LEDs might end up being pointed wrongly. You could buy a regular flat reflector and cut it down to size if needed.

Let us know how you go!


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## Tom (9 Sep 2011)

thepnut said:
			
		

> first post and first DIY project. I'm finding it really hard to source the T5 replacement bulbs for my Interpet (to the point that I'm fed up with shop keepers quizzical looks when handing them my dead bulbs).



The bulbs in my River Reef were a standard fit to an Interpet T5 starter unit. Should be a standard size. I had the 18w one and I'm using it over my Mini M now.


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## thepnut (9 Sep 2011)

> The bulbs in my River Reef were a standard fit to an Interpet T5 starter unit. Should be a standard size. I had the 18w one and I'm using it over my Mini M now.



Now you see this is interesting, these are 4pin 36w bulbs and 46cm long, no-one can find a stock. They seem custom made by Interpet for this 98l tank



			
				flygja said:
			
		

> You probably wanna ditch the blue LEDs as it won't look good in a planted tank setup. Your red plants won't look red while your green plants will have a bluish hue.
> 
> I'm not so sure about the angled reflectors, because LEDS are highly directional. Your LEDs might end up being pointed wrongly. You could buy a regular flat reflector and cut it down to size if needed.
> 
> Let us know how you go!



I was going to use the blue & amber to supliment the "moonlight " effect of the already built in LED's for morning and evening phasing. The problem with the tank is that all three lights (two T5's and the blue moonlights) were on one power cable, so if you put that on the timer you manually have to switch the blues on. With this new setup I will have the whites on one power line and then the blues / amber on a second timer. Just makes it more interesting at 8pm instead of watching a black tank. 

Your comments about the ridges is a really good one, might go away and think about that today and see if I can find an alternative. 

Thanks all! 

Oh this is the tank with the old lighting (One T5)






 Not the best!


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## thepnut (10 Sep 2011)

Ok this afternoon has passed and 5 coloured LED's glued in. A few false starts the first being that the LED's were not on PCB and I didn't think about shorting them out on the metal reflector! Send them back or carry on? Silly question; 

Here is the lid before and after stripping; 









I was hoping to use the reflector, but my word it was hard work. So I started witht the blue and amber, "sticking" them to the reflector but it took a couple of trys to not short out the LED's, here's the outcome;









They are wired into the switch so that there is an over-ride, Sunrise and Sunset here we go .... this took 4 hours, soldering is an art! 

No burns yet!


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## thepnut (10 Sep 2011)

Ok one last picture; 

I have stripped out the old underpowered blue LED's and I have mounted the new whites onto the PCB strips ready for wiring tomorrow. 









A step forward, I will wire them into the switch and fans.


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## flygja (11 Sep 2011)

Great idea with the PCB strips, it will make things look a lot cleaner. How does the strip dissipate heat? These LEDs produce a lot of heat and its lifetime is proportional to the temp at which it runs at.

Might be too late for this, but the original lights are just normal 36W PL-Ls? I'm not at home so I can't measure my own PL-Ls.


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## JenCliBee (11 Sep 2011)

The original bulbs will be easily source from ebay aswell as places like lamp spec..... infact i think my nephew had a load of these at one point and was selling for around about £1 each.... local fish shops usually dont stock these due to not many people needing them but they are far from hard to source elsewhere.... both in 4 pin or 2 pin.... oh and the length or shape really isn't that important... as long as they are the correct wattage and the correct 4 pin fitting they only need to fit in the availbale space to work.

Nice idea for the LED's though.... bit more work than i would have done myself but im sure it will look good once finished


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## nelly1066 (11 Sep 2011)

If your still struggling to find replacement bulbs or anyone with the interpet light unit this might help,i was struggling to find replacements for my 4 55w interpet t5's so did a load of research and found these http://www.hygienesuppliesdirect.com/pr ... 151571,had them in tank for about a week now and am pretty sure im seeing good growth with them(i consider this a low light tank about 120 gallon 72x18x22).They have these which might suit your needs http://www.hygienesuppliesdirect.com/pr ... 51564.When there brand new the can be a bit too bright but then they settle in nicely,at the moment i have 2 new bulbs on one side and 1 new bulb and a interpet beauty light on the other just for comparission purposes e.g growth and look,hope this helps someone.ill try to add photo.


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## nelly1066 (11 Sep 2011)

Uploaded with ImageShack.us


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## thepnut (11 Sep 2011)

Nelly what a great tank and thanks for the link, it least I won't need to do this on my other tank! Bulbs on order.


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## thepnut (11 Sep 2011)

Well Boys and Girls, 

What a day it's been. Managed to bugger up the LED's that I mounted onto the PCB. The glue shorted the LED's and trying to get then off the board just mad a bad suituation worse.

So three Maplins later and £30 more I bought 6x3W LEDS and a bit more soldering, this is the outcome;









Everything works, Fans & Night Lights and Day lights. I'll put up some tank shots when I get home.


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## thepnut (11 Sep 2011)

Well thank you for being with me this weekend, here is the results;

Sunrise and Sunset




Both 




Daytime


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## flygja (13 Sep 2011)

Looking pretty good mate. Not sure about the mad psychedelic sunset though


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## thepnut (14 Sep 2011)

Lol it is a bit strange, I put on a bit a dance music and the fish have a rave. Thanks for the comment.


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