Moon light question

arman · Jul 8, 2017

Hey guys.
I just wanted to know some information about moon lights used in lightning fixtures.
Would you plz tell me how many hours should it be on after the main lights goes off?Is 1 hour enough or the moon light should or must be on after the main lights goes off until the lights come back?
And what would happen if it not be used?
Is it a must or a should?

Flippers4pups · Jul 8, 2017

Moon lights are purely ascetics and are not needed. They are for your viewing pleasure and don't add anything to the tank Inhabitants.

arman · Jul 9, 2017

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Flippers4pups said:
Moon lights are purely ascetics and are not needed. They are for your viewing pleasure and don't add anything to the tank Inhabitants.

You mean that it does not have any effect on fishes and their stress?

Flippers4pups · Jul 9, 2017

I've had moon lights in the past and most of the time didn't have them. I've never seen any difference with or without them.

clsanchez77 · Jul 9, 2017

Yep, I use them too but have never seen any change in behavior as a result. Now what I have noticed to cause a change in my fish behavior is using my moon lights for a dusk/dawn effect for 40 minutes each day. My two chromis and my 4 grammas all go into some various daily rituals during this time. My single fish do nothing.

arman · Jul 9, 2017

But as you know moon has a great effect on the reef in nature.
You mean when we cant provide some moon light like nature ,having or not having that does not make any changes?

clsanchez77 · Jul 9, 2017

It does without question, but I think what happens is that in the reef tank, we way overdo it. What 'we' call a moon light is way too intense and way to mono-spectrum. I recall standard moon lighting is somewhere on the order of only 1 lux at the surface. I don't know what it is in PAR, but it works out to be only about 0.01% of peak sunlight and is actually full spectrum. What we are providing in our tanks instead is around 1% to 10%, concentrating it at Royal Blue, and calling it a moon light. Thus, the reason I think we are not quite getting a replication in behavior.

I have contemplated building a dedicated moon light, but it's a low priority relative to my other projects. My plan was to use only 2 Violet, Royal Blue, Blue and Green LEDs, 1 of each on each side the tank, and then run them in parallel on a dimmable driver so they only peak at 350 mA. I'm still perfecting my fuge lighting and getting ready to build in an auto feeder. I may not start this project until next year, but I do have some ideas in my head.

ReeferBob · Jul 10, 2017

My moonlights use a controller that follows the actual phases of the moon. I am not sure how close the lights are to the actual moon wavelengths or intensity. If you are not using this type of controller, I am not sure if you will get many benefits out of them. And if no corals, also not sure they offer any benefit.

jrwoltman · Jul 10, 2017

As others posters have already said, moonlights are for you alone. They really have no positive or negative effects on tank inhabitants. That said, I LOVE watching my corals' insane colours under the moonlights, it is often my favourite view of the tank.

arman · Jul 12, 2017

Thank you guys.
"Clsanchez77" if you started yor moon light project i would be happy to be aware of.

clsanchez77 · Jul 12, 2017

arman said:
Thank you guys.
"Clsanchez77" if you started yor moon light project i would be happy to be aware of.

I have not yet, it's low on my list but I do have an inquiry on the Neptune Apex forum to see if I can use a LSM module as the driver. They don't like questions that involve hacking their equipment, so I guess I am on my own.