# advantages having moonlight?



## Steve001 (Feb 26, 2011)

I don't think there's any data that can answer the questions.


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## audioaficionado (Apr 19, 2011)

It's more for our visual benefit than for the fish or plants.


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

yep, if anything, depending on the leds used, the plants may still think they're getting light. I ran a 3 day blackout with just the leds(blue moonlights) on because i ran out of co2 and all my plants started stretching to reach the moonlights because of it. I think having them on for a couple hours is fine at night/morning , but may get better growth having an off period as well during the middle of the night.. It would depend on the moonlights in question though on the plant growth. The fish and everything else shouldn't notice, its just neat to be able to see eall of them and get that shimmer effect at night ^^


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

I don't think they have anything to do with plant growth at all, but I think they would be help in fish spawning as most animals breed by lunar cycles, so there may be some trickery in that department. The also look nice and are great for watching nocturnal fish like Khuli's, Cats, etc., I would definitely use them if there available.


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## johnny313 (Apr 15, 2011)

thanks, it looked like the fish were freaking out every time I passed the tank when they were on.


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

They were freaking out from your movement but you couldn't see it before.


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## wkndracer (Mar 14, 2009)

150EH said:


> I don't think they have anything to do with plant growth at all, but *I think they would be help in fish spawning* as most animals breed by lunar cycles, so there may be some trickery in that department.


100% correct but for another reason. In breeding angels and even ancistrus that use a cave the change in survival rate is hard to believe without seeing it first hand. Maintaining low level lighting through the night on the tank allows the parents to control/protect the fry. Most spawns are triggered by proper yet changing parameters either temp or a shift in hardness. Lunar lighting *is* more natural for the critters with a natural setting rarely providing total darkness. 

Even with fry moved to grow out tanks the fish tend to do better when not left in total darkness at night. Repeatly spawns have produced higher survival numbers with a night light over the tank.


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## EntoCraig (Jun 7, 2010)

Hmm. Very interesting... I may have to try out a moon light to see if my survival rates increase.


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## Steve001 (Feb 26, 2011)

johnny313 said:


> thanks, it looked like the fish were freaking out every time I passed the tank when they were on.


This is only a guess. I'd say the reason for being spooked wasn't the light directly, but that enough light was cast onto you to create a dark mass which they mistook for a predator.


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## audioaficionado (Apr 19, 2011)

At what night lighting level? 

I keep just a small kitchen light on and let it shine into the living room and the tank gets a very low level of reflected indirect light. So low that I have difficulty seeing any detail, but I can see some slow movement going on in the tank. Brighter than just star light, but not as bright as the full moon.


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

That's a little different becuse it should be almost total darkness, like walking down a country road at night, my hood has 4 white leds not more than a watt each in 4' that is powered with 150 mA so it very low light, just enough for the plants to cast a shadow if all the lights are off in the room.


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## audioaficionado (Apr 19, 2011)

I'm thinking of getting some real cheap low power 12v strip LEDs and running some blue ones an hour before and after main lighting period. Then having some whites that I'll attenuate with paint until they barely glow at all for the rest of the night. I don't want it any brighter than actual moonlight if even that bright.


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## bassmjm (Jun 1, 2011)

Truelumen makes a mini, linkable strip of 3 453nm led's. I was thinking about getting just one of these for my 25g tall. As long as it doesn't encourage algae, I think lunar lights are pretty friggin' cool!


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

It's not strong enough to promote algea and they should stay on all night.


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## Steve Holmes (Jul 29, 2018)

This might be an Uber geek question, but does anyone know if the lunar cycles can be programmed into LED lights in such a way that, on a new moon, there would be no light, and on a full moon it would be as bright as possible?


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

W/ the right controller .. yes you can follow the moon phases..


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## Wobblebonk (Feb 13, 2018)

heh i took that out of the hurricanex because apparently noone uses it and it's tied to the geolocation schedule which noone uses :/ (also there are serious program/ram limitations)

but it's currently a standard feature of hurricanex and possibly storm x? and I think bluefish does it.

I might put just the moonphase back in but hardly anyone sets it up to use the actual sunrise/sunset.


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## LeKing (Mar 13, 2018)

Does anyone know if the Radion XR15fw can be programmed to have a lunar cycle?


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## aubie98 (Apr 22, 2017)

the AI Prime HD leds has a lunar cycle function. Seems like a pretty cool idea but functionally I haven't been able to see much of a difference across the month.

It basically takes whatever % blue you set for night and decreases it a percentage based on the phase of the moon. I keep the blue % at 1, so any decrease thereof is pretty minimal.

On an unrelated note: the lights also have a storm setting that I accidentally turned on. And of course, the simulated lightning struck right when I was walking by the tank at 1 am on my way to the kitchen. Scared the bejeesus out of me!


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