24 hour lighting

[mch1984]

I have always seen conflicting stuff on this and was wondering what everybody's thought were on it. I like having at least a very dim light on my tank 24 hours a day. At night time I like to run as low as 5% on lights just to have a little "moon" light in the tank. But it seems like a lot of people run their tank dark at night. What do yall do, and is there any negative effect either direction?

 

[cracker]

they look nice with a tiny bit of night light. As for healthy? I'm interested. I do allow complete darkness during the night.

 

[mch1984]

they look nice with a tiny bit of night light. As for healthy? I'm interested. I do allow complete darkness during the night.

I agree they look nice with it. I hope somebody as some insight. My coral seem to react to the "moon" lighting the same as complete darkness. They close up either way so I would like to think its not unhealthy for them but I don't know.

 

[cracker]

I'd like to know also.

 

[Camaro Show Corals]

corals need darkness for photosynthesis

 

[mch1984]

I agree with that, but does an extremely dim moon light effect that process? I would think there is at least some light coming through at night time in the ocean. But I guess the argument could be made that even at lets say 5% most lights are still a little too much.

 

[JBKReef]

I am considering adding a "moon light" dim LED to extend the viewing hours of my tank but would definitely let it go completely dark at least for 5-6 hours a day for photosynthesis.

My advice is completely anecdotal, so take with a grain of salt.

 

[mch1984]

I am certainly not arguing the point, I don't have the experience or expertise to do so. I guess light manufactures have made it kind of confusing for me. There are certainly a lot of light manufactures that seem to suggest or have preprogrammed schedules with a complete dark phase in the schedule at some point. I guess that should say a lot.

 

[hart24601]

Corals don't need darkness for photosynthesis. The "dark reactions" are a bit of a misnomer, they are called that because they don't require light.

I have never seen or heard of any issues that have been traced back to moonlights.

"I couldn't figure out why my acros have all been dying"

--You check the moonlights?

It doesn't seem to matter. People just have strong feelings about this issue. I have run moonlights, I have run 24hr lighting stronger than moonlights in coral and FW tanks. Didn't seem to matter one bit.

The strongest argument I always see to these issues are ones where people just feel it must be better to have complete darkness. That's cool, but not exactly a solid reason.

 

[mch1984]

Well I was speaking to a friend of mine locally and he told me about a night dive he did. He said they turned off their flashlights and its was darkness like he had never seen before. So with that being said, I guess there are less lights coming through at night then maybe I thought. But your right, does it actually hurt anything?

 

[hart24601]

I mean there isn't really any reasons to keep the lighting on unless trying to avoid another timer for dedicated moonlighting or something like that, or if you like the looks, but at least for moonlights it seems harmless. It's hard to apply the logic "if it happens in nature then it should happen in our systems" just because our silly glass cages are about as far removed from a real reef as possible. I like to run moon lights 24hr over my FW tanks because the fish get less spooked when we approach.

 

[mch1984]

I mean there isn't really any reasons to keep the lighting on unless trying to avoid another timer for dedicated moonlighting or something like that, or if you like the looks, but at least for moonlights it seems harmless. It's hard to apply the logic "if it happens in nature then it should happen in our systems" just because our silly glass cages are about as far removed from a real reef as possible. I like to run moon lights 24hr over my FW tanks because the fish get less spooked when we approach.

I've always done the same on my freshwater as well. The moonlight for me as always been ascetics, I like the way it looks and it's nice to view the tank 24hrs per day. I have to agree, my little glass box is about a 12 hour drive from the closest piece of ocean and we'll never recreate the perfect environment. I just don't ever want my desire for ascetics to out weigh the over all health of the creatures in it.

 

[hart24601]

I can understand that. I wouldn't worry about moonlights being a detriment though. If there is a negative impact it's so small that it will be unnoticed as many great systems run them 24hr, and for all we know there could be a net positive impact from running them. But either way it's too small to be notice compared with everything else we have to worry about.

 

[Tony Thompson]

Hi @mch1984 . If your corals and fish have shown no noticeable detrimental effects, then just carry on as you are. There are lots of things we do with our aquariums that are directly linked to aesthetics. I can`t` think of any reason that a low nightlight (moonlight) should have any real effect other than allowing you to enjoy the glow from your aquarium.

I can however, understand how continuous stronger lighting and excessive extension of the photo period for photosynthetic corals may have a detrimental effect. However I would think that at such low light levels as moonlight, the process of photosynthesis would be absent. This would certainly be apparent in a small PH swing during the moonlight hours, suggesting that the coral is no longer producing oxygen through photosynthesis.

Don`t forget the other animals in your aquarium though. Some species of fish may prefer a relatively true dark period. Depending on the intensity of the moonlight some daytime active animals may be a little nervous around dusk, as this is the switch over period between the night time predators and the day shift. I think that generally though the animals will be gradually become accustomed to a little aesthetic moon light.

I personally have an off period for my lighting, during the night time. But this is simply to save on energy bills. However when my animals are due to produce larvae, I leave a small light point on overnight to attract the larvae into a laval trap.

In conclusion, I would suggest you just keep to what you like and as long as it shows no problems, then enjoy the moonlight.

 

[mch1984]

Hi @mch1984 . If your corals and fish have shown no noticeable detrimental effects, then just carry on as you are. There are lots of things we do with our aquariums that are directly linked to aesthetics. I can`t` think of any reason that a low nightlight (moonlight) should have any real effect other than allowing you to enjoy the glow from your aquarium.

I can however, understand how continuous stronger lighting and excessive extension of the photo period for photosynthetic corals may have a detrimental effect. However I would think that at such low light levels as moonlight, the process of photosynthesis would be absent. This would certainly be apparent in a small PH swing during the moonlight hours, suggesting that the coral is no longer producing oxygen through photosynthesis.

Don`t forget the other animals in your aquarium though. Some species of fish may prefer a relatively true dark period. Depending on the intensity of the moonlight some daytime active animals may be a little nervous around dusk, as this is the switch over period between the night time predators and the day shift. I think that generally though the animals will be gradually become accustomed to a little aesthetic moon light.

I personally have an off period for my lighting, during the night time. But this is simply to save on energy bills. However when my animals are due to produce larvae, I leave a small light point on overnight to attract the larvae into a laval trap.

In conclusion, I would suggest you just keep to what you like and as long as it shows no problems, then enjoy the moonlight.

Thanks for that, I am currently running an older used set of t5's that have the moon light led built in. But I just ordered two maxspect ethereals and am trying to decide how I'm going to set the schedule. I don't guess I've actually thought about the other fish in the tank on this question. Your right, they may benefit from some off time, something to think about for sure.

 

[vetteguy53081]

As in the ocean, sea life in general need a photo period of No light and many corals feed when it is dark.

 

[hart24601]

Fwiw I ran these lights full on for 24hr a day at reduced PAR so the daily light amount was the same for a couple of months for fun. Not moonlight but full on. I didn't notice appreciable differences in fish behavior or coral grown/consumption. So I don't think it matter much. End the end the power consumption wasn't worth it and I didn't see any need to keep the 24hr lighting although I continued to run moonlights all night.

 

[Dana Riddle]

Any deviation from what is 'normal' will have consequences. If the consequence is positive or negative depends upon the circumstance(s). Continuous light (if high enough) can disrupt zooxanthellae reproduction cycles at least initially. *Some* (not all!) corals' reproduction cycles are linked to lunar cycles. Mimicking natural moonlight intensities in an aquarium requires a quantum meter capable of measuring light at less than 1 micromole/m2/sec (hobby meters can not do this.) I think artificial moonlight would not have negative consequences in many cases, but I do wonder if the cycles are not carefully controlled, we might disrupt reproductive cycles in at least some coral species. As mentioned earlier, the dark reactions in photosynthesis require light in the sense that the required initial photochemical reactions are driven by absorbed radiation.

 

[Tony Thompson]

Corals don't need darkness for photosynthesis. The "dark reactions" are a bit of a misnomer, they are called that because they don't require light.

I have never seen or heard of any issues that have been traced back to moonlights.

"I couldn't figure out why my acros have all been dying"

--You check the moonlights?

It doesn't seem to matter. People just have strong feelings about this issue. I have run moonlights, I have run 24hr lighting stronger than moonlights in coral and FW tanks. Didn't seem to matter one bit.

The strongest argument I always see to these issues are ones where people just feel it must be better to have complete darkness. That's cool, but not exactly a solid reason.

Hi @hart24601 , yes I totally agree that there seems to be confusion sometimes when the Calvin Cycle refers to "Dark Reactions" which for me personally are easier to remember as Light Independent reactions. As I understand it, instead of requiring darkness it simply means it does not require light.

Great to see @Dana Riddle join in the discussion. That is one of the things I love about this forum. To have access to the knowledge of such highly qualified and experienced members of our reefing community. Dana`s comment re reproduction cycle in certain coral Sp. and the effects of the lunar cycle, has motivated me to do a little more reading into Jamie Craggs work at the Horniman Museum. I am now intrigued to see what data Jamie published with regards Lunar Lighting and Dark Periods.

Great looking Reef Tank by the way. Best wishes from across the pond

 

[mch1984]

Thanks for all the great answers, it's always nice to have informed answers and stuff like this.