OK, all this Night Light Talk has me wondering?

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superstein61

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I am finishing up a enclosure for my lights for my 72 gallon tank - putting in 2 55W PCs with the AHsupply kit - and I have room behind them to install a single normal flourescent strip or regular incadescent light.

I want to add a moon lite - for nighttime viewing- so for those who have them, where do you find red or blue bulbs?

I know they sell 25W incadescent bulbs in red or blue - is that what you use - or does anyone have a source to get red or blue flourescent bulbs?

I have read about the Actinic bulbs - but am unsure if they are suitable for moonlight viewing. I thought they were brighter than that. Are these the blue bulbs you use?

What about the red ones?

Thanks
 
Blue light or Actinics are not suitable for night viewing if that is what you are after. In fact, unless you have a specific reason, you would not use actinics in freshwater tanks.

You will need to use red light and your best bet is using high brightness LED's. I have seen advertising for red fluorescent tubes but they are not common and I certainly have not seen them in aquarium shops. A red incadescent will be fine though I would personally use an LED because of the heat and power consumption issues.
 
Not Lazer Lights!!!! get the HI-lite system. This system uses leds!

Get blue.. really nice at night!
 
My moonlight is a 13w kit from AH Supply. They sell both blue and red bulbs for it. I use it without the reflector and partially mask it for a 30g. For a 72g it may be perfect, may be too spottish. I've been meaning to hunt down a blue bulb locally, just for comparison sake. (Does anyone remember "Just Bulbs" from Letterman a few years back? How could I not?)

I think the relative virtues of blue and red bulbs was covered thoroughly in last night's thread. No need to rehash. (note: water is not blue :p , sorry can't help it).

Jamison's LEDs (from Walmart) are another interesting option and are apparently available in different colors. Also may be a little spottish. I have no personal experience with them. PBQ or JBW may be more helpful on this point.

RTR mentioned using red lights and filters in last nights fray, but never specced them.

In the past, I've also thought of using the small-type Christmas lights for a more all over look. Cool and diffuse. Again, never actually tried it.

The only problems I can see with incandescents is heat and spottishness.
 
Just posting to let you know that I'm going to avoid addressing this topic, other than to say the led's are nice (although a little sparse), and that blue or red would look just fine. It's a personal decision. (I can't comment on either color because my led's are green... the blue hurts my eyes...)
 
blue hurts your eyes? Do you have the LEDS in the tank? I have mine shining through the glass tank top and into the water. You dont actually see the LED itself..Just the Light it emits..
 
OK, thanks everyone - I think I will go with the red 13W flourescent. I tried the Walmart LED lights last night - and personally didn't like them. Maybe in a smaller, shallower tank they work better - but shining them thru the glass top of my 72gallon (which is about 21" from top to substrate), they didn't have much effect. I could spotlight a couple 8" plants - but shining them on my petrified wood rock maze - you hardly noticed them. And I tried blue, green and red. The only other option would be to stick them in the tank - I could get some better efects that way - but I spent a lot of effort hiding all my wires, air tubes, etc in my rock wall - so I wouldn't want to do that and see those unsightly wires in the tank. Plus having the LED itself in the tank just seems way too unnatural. So the flourescent red bulb in my light hood seems the better way to go for my tank at least. thanks for everyone's opinions.
 
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The color bulb you get depends on what you want it for.

For just nighttime viewing get a red bulb. Most likely the fish will not notice it and will go about their nighttime behavior.

If you want to simulate the moon, get a blue bulb and only turn it on once a month or so. You can create a little disc that blocks part of the light, and use that to make all the days of the lunar cycle.
 
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