Lighting time
 

I just set up my coralife Aqua light pro. I have the atinics come on at 7am and off at 9pm. The HQI's come on at 8am and off at 7pm. The moon lights come on at 9pm and off at 7am.

The question is should the moon lights stay on thru the hole night or should I turn them off and give the tank a rest sometime during the night

Are you running the "moon lights" just a few nights per month, like the real moon? If you do that I don't seee why they couldn't be on all night long.

reply
 

Are those the LED type moon lights? How bright are they? If they are too bright they will inhibit some nocturnal inverts from coming out at night, you may want to compare the amount of life you see. Check at the same time each night when you use the moons lights vs. when you don't, that will give you the answer you are looking for. In my tank I have noticed that certain inverts will not come out until the tank is completely dark, actinics and all.

This is what the moon lights are (-Three 1 watt Lunar Blue-Moon-Glow 470nm LED lamps.)

Are you running the "moon lights" just a few nights per month, like the real moon? If you do that I don't seee why they couldn't be on all night long. Last night was the first night with them on. At the present time I have the time set to have them on all night and every night.

If they are too bright they will inhibit some nocturnal inverts from coming out at night, you may want to compare the amount of life you see. Check at the same time each night when you use the moons lights vs. when you don't, that will give you the answer you are looking for. In my tank I have noticed that certain inverts will not come out until the tank is completely dark, actinics and all. I did notice that my cleaner shrimp and perpermint shimp didn't come out. The blue leg hermit crabs did seem to come out same. The star polyps, where the moon light was hitting, didn't close up fully for a couple of hours.
This morning the star polyps were open again where the moon light was hitting.

Thanks Alan and Danny for your coments :smile:

I know have the moon light come on at 9pm then off 12pm back on at 6am then off at 7am

So you're using them as "secondary actinics?" Kind of a neat idea.

I have a mouse control for my PC speakers that glows blue - I leave it on near the tank a couple nights a month for "simulated moon glow." :mrgreen:

That's getting pretty hight tech for you Alan :razz:

Lighting time
 

I have three 1 watt moon lights over my 48 gallon and one over my 27 gallon that are on all night. My stony corals remain open as opposed to closing up without the night lighting. The inverts adapted and the fish still retire for the night. It's really not that much light when you think about it. Remember that in the tropics the nights are not usually cloudy all the time.

Larry

Re: Lighting time
 

Sounds fine I guess, but are we now saying that there is a source of nocturnal light over the wild reefs all nights of the month?

I just thought that Moon Lights were to simulate Moonlight.

Lighting time
 

No, I did not mean to imply that. :rolleyes:

Everyone has a reason for having moon lights. Some can get away with only a few nights a month and some need them more often. The requirement to have total or near total darkness comes into play when you want to induce spawning. But you also need to be able to regulate the various moon phases aswell. Anyway you look at it, having them on every night, all night, would be beneficial if you have corals or invertebrates that can benefit from them. Especially if you have corals like the open brains that have two feeding mechanisms. One they use during the day and the other at night. Invertebrates, like Fire Shrimp that don't like bright lighting, would also benefit from them for feeding reasons. Since you would be increasing feeding opportunities, then an increase in growth rates will also occur. It has been my experience to observe that not all corals, zoos and mushrooms derive any benefits from the moon lights since they only have one feeding mechanism which they employ during the day. It's a personal decision on what suites your needs.

The only down side I can see of using them every night is the extra couple of bucks for the hydro.

Larry