I thought I'd share my new LED lighting setup in case anyone else is thinking of doing something similar. It's complete with the exception of the light shining on the top mesh. I'm waiting for (non-toxic) paint to dry on a strip of timber which will prevent the light shining on it and make the plants appear to come out of darkness.
I used 5050 LED lighting. 5050 is an RGB light that allows you to set the exact colours you want via a remote. In my case, I was after a dim, warm glow that would bring out the warm tones in the timber and Piper. For this tank, I used 2 x 850mm strips working out at around 25w at full power (though they're run at about 50% of that). 5050 comes in 30, 60 or 120 LED's per metre. I used 60 per metre.
On the remote, there are a number of preset colours but, also, a number of custom buttons you can program. It takes a while going back and forth with red, green and blue to get the effect you want. But once you find it, it's locked in for future use.
I used 5050 LED lighting. 5050 is an RGB light that allows you to set the exact colours you want via a remote. In my case, I was after a dim, warm glow that would bring out the warm tones in the timber and Piper. For this tank, I used 2 x 850mm strips working out at around 25w at full power (though they're run at about 50% of that). 5050 comes in 30, 60 or 120 LED's per metre. I used 60 per metre.
On the remote, there are a number of preset colours but, also, a number of custom buttons you can program. It takes a while going back and forth with red, green and blue to get the effect you want. But once you find it, it's locked in for future use.