day/night light cycle with lunar lighting on timers

kimmisc

kimmisc

is in your closet.
Mar 12, 2007
963
0
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Florence, SC
I got my lunar lights hooked up last night. I was under the impression that they would not disturb the normal nighttime behavior of fish. My fish stayed awake and active all night. Does it usually take a few nights for them to become accustomed to the new lighting and figure out that it's nighttime for them?
 
Fish don't have eyelids, so they can't go to "sleep" with light on. They need total darkness. What I do is keep the moonlight on for a while after the main light and then turn it off when I go to bed. That way i get to use the lunar light, they get a transition from bright light to subdued light, and they get a night time to sleep. You aren't using the light when you are sleeping anyway, so that will save the bulb.
 
So in the wild, fish only sleep when there's no moonlight? 1, 2, maybe 3 times a month when it's new moon or it's cloudy?
 
Do the fish have a cave or something to escape the light? I have run moonlights on both fresh and reef tanks with no problems from my fish. My perc swam 24/7 for 2 years before giving him up. He slept/rested vertically but was swimming hard the entire time.

I say leave them on all the time. You could also get a timer that knows the moon cycles and adjusts the moonlights so it has a more natural feel to the fish.
 
I see my little ones under the leaves of the my plants, some are under the driftwood and some are just basking under the lunar light.
 
I just installed lunar lights on my 29 gallon last week. It took about 2 days for the fish to get used to it. Now I actually get to see my pictus cat! And the rest of my fish rest in the plants and in the caves. (except the danios, they NEVER rest :)) The lunar lights are great!
 
I tilted them up towards the reflector so the light is more even and not as bright... more like a glow instead of spotlights. They slowed down a little. The timer I'm using is this one. I wanted it fully automated because I have very irregular hours myself, and work 40hr weekends. Atleast the fish will have a regular schedule, if no one else in my home does. :)
 
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I added a moonlight to my 75g tank a few days ago - very cool! The fish are very active at night, the Tetra normally stick in the mid levels, once the moonlight comes on and the regular light goes out they start exploring the uppers levels as well. Cant wait to get some nocternal based fish!

I have both the moonlight and my regular lights set on timers - currently I have the regular lights set to come on at 10am and off at 10pm - the moon lights come on at 9:45pm and off at 11:45pm then on at 8am off at 10:15am. I'm thinking I might change the moonlight to stay on allnight.
 
OK, two things. First, sharks don't need to constantly swim to live. That's a myth older than time itself. Second, if you look at your fish w/o the moonlight, guess what....they are still moving. I think you just notice it now because of the moonlighting obviously. Trust me, there is always some sort of light outside. You don't think they notice a difference between the moonlinghts and full lights?
 
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