I turned my moon lights on for the first time last night. They are very bright, brighter then my old light which was not surprising since it was a 20 watt flourescent light. However the tank did not seem to get the same nightlife activity it used to when the lights were totally off. Will there just be a time of adjustment or should i not keep the moons on all night?
lighting
- Thread starter Nick540
- Start date
Moon lights are mostly personal preference. I have moon lights on my tank but don't run them very often. The fish don't need any lights on at night and moonlights are for the benefit of people viewing the tank and not the inhabitants in the tank.
That said, it's really up to you on if or how much you'd like to run your moonlights. As long as it is not so bright as to disrupt the day/night cycle of your tank then it shouldn't be a problem. I'd give it a few days and if you still notice diminished night activity then I'd say your moonlights are probably too bright and you should consider running them on a short timer or even just when you viewing the tank.
That said, it's really up to you on if or how much you'd like to run your moonlights. As long as it is not so bright as to disrupt the day/night cycle of your tank then it shouldn't be a problem. I'd give it a few days and if you still notice diminished night activity then I'd say your moonlights are probably too bright and you should consider running them on a short timer or even just when you viewing the tank.
I would have to disagree with drobes on this. Moon lights when done properly benifit your tank substantially. The night cycle of your tank is a huge part of your tanks health. It is when the majority of life in your tank is active. Moon lights increase the activity of many things including spawning and molting. If your lights are too bright you will actually hurt the cycle. Moon lights should be low powered and only minimaly light your tank. If you want to see in your tank at night, shine a red light into your tank. The majority of animals in your tank will not see the red light (I think it has something to do with the spectrum length and how it naturaly penetrates the water). You could simply cover your flash light with red sulifane to achieve the red color.
If you can, you should dim the moon lights so that they provide a more natural light... IMO removing the light would just be a different problem
-LS
If you can, you should dim the moon lights so that they provide a more natural light... IMO removing the light would just be a different problem
-LS
It is true that corals spawn by moon cycles but they use the cycles and not the light as cues. If you are not immitating the moon cycles then any moon lights you have on your tank are just for looks. There are some products you can buy that try to create the moon cycle in providing full intensity (I.E. full moon) all the way down to no moon lights (new moon) during the course of a month. But even then, there are mixed results as the blue LEDs commonly used for moonlight don't represent the spectrum put out by true moonlight and other factors such as seasonal temperature changes play into the annual spawning periods of some corals. Some people swear by moonlights and prefer to use them on their tanks and others don't use them, it's really personal preferrence. Here's an article by Steve Tyree on the subject if you're interested:
http://www.breedersregistry.org/Articles/v1_n3_tyree/tyree.htm
http://www.breedersregistry.org/Articles/v1_n3_tyree/tyree.htm
I would suggest that it is too bright...All you really want for a moon light is very soft light, more of a glow in the tank...the seems more of an actinic light than a moon light...
just my opinion of course
Niko
just my opinion of course
Niko
You could use your current setup as actinic supplements for your main lighting. Judging from the video, it looks like it would work well for this. You could also stagger it so that it runs by itself for an hour or two after your daylights turn off every day so you could still get some cool effects of that lighting during your viewing hours before they shutoff and you run your 1 watt moon lamp overnight.