# Lights with storm simulation



## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

Functional benefits? Not that anyone has ever mentioned.

Cloud effects are sort of cool for some though completely fluff.


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## Rasbora Beret (Oct 29, 2018)

Roboto said:


> I see some lights offering storm simulations.
> Does this provide any functional benefit?


The flashing may make your fish skittish


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## kgalle (Oct 8, 2020)

jeffkrol said:


> Functional benefits? Not that anyone has ever mentioned.
> 
> Cloud effects are sort of cool for some though completely fluff.


Sort of cool, indeed. I'm pretty sure the lightning effects will cause unnecessary stress. I'm not entirely sure, though. They might not even notice.


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## JasonBD77 (Feb 6, 2013)

Scare the fish and cause headaches?


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## Roboto (Mar 24, 2020)

JasonBD77 said:


> Scare the fish and cause headaches?


Sort of what I was thinking. I was kind of surprised to see this functionality built into lights and was wondering if I was missing some positive element of this feature but it seems not.


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## victorusaconte (Jun 20, 2020)

Roboto said:


> Sort of what I was thinking. I was kind of surprised to see this functionality built into lights and was wondering if I was missing some positive element of this feature but it seems not.


They have good benefits for terrestrial enclosed environments like ants, amphibians, lizards...(animals from tropical areas with a lot of rain during the year). Especially for plants. However, I didn't study any fish that will enjoy the water drips from the storm system to advise.

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk


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## Rosalaine (Sep 10, 2020)

I don't know how true it is, but I did read somewhere that it can trigger breeding in certain fish. From what I recall, it said some fish breed as a result of heavy rainfall and storms, so the storm lighting and big water changes can simulate this in the aquarium. I feel like if it's true it'd be pretty niche. It'd be an interesting thing to study, though, if someone had the right type of fish to experiment with it. I personally just find it hard to look at though, and I'm sure my shrimp would agree.


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## Kubla (Jan 5, 2014)

victorusaconte said:


> They have good benefits for terrestrial enclosed environments like ants, amphibians, lizards...(animals from tropical areas with a lot of rain during the year). Especially for plants. However, I didn't study any fish that will enjoy the water drips from the storm system to advise.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk


I'm curious what benefits are provided by flashing lights.


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## Asteroid (Jul 26, 2018)

My finnex 24/7 has storm simulation. I think I used it once or twice when I first got the light to show off to my wife, LOL. I'm quite sure it's just a marketing gimmick to go along with the ramp up/ramp down and a more natural approach to lighting.


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## sm1ke (Jun 30, 2016)

IMO the storm feature doesn't provide any functional benefit to flora or fauna. It's basically just for aesthetics.

Most of the cheaper lights with "storm features" are nothing more than a repeated pattern of on for .5s, off for .5s, on for .5s, off for 1s, on for 1s, then repeat. Some of them are really cool though, like the Orbit IC LED with Rolling Cloud Cover and Storm Effects.


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## Roboto (Mar 24, 2020)

sm1ke said:


> IMO the storm feature doesn't provide any functional benefit to flora or fauna. It's basically just for aesthetics.
> 
> Most of the cheaper lights with "storm features" are nothing more than a repeated pattern of on for .5s, off for .5s, on for .5s, off for 1s, on for 1s, then repeat. Some of them are really cool though, like the Orbit IC LED with Rolling Cloud Cover and Storm Effects.
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yypmOFmnzuc


Ah. The gradual effects are nice looking. I'll give it that.
I have fluval aquasky's and I scratch my head over it including lightning storms... Fast light changes always seem to scare the fish a bit.


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## en7jos (Jun 7, 2020)

The Kessil A360x Tuna Blue marine light has various special weather effects when used with the Spectral Controller, inc. storm, cloud cover, moonlighting, aurora. I seem to remember reading that you can set moon phases to change throughout the month which allegedly helps with spawning in a marine setup. Assuming that the other effects are just a bit gimmicky though, and none of the effects are available on the Tuna Green freshwater / planted light (it's a shame it doesn't have a moon light function for evening viewing of the tank).

https://youtu.be/YOsHlA1ljYE?t=366


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## victorusaconte (Jun 20, 2020)

Kubla said:


> I'm curious what benefits are provided by flashing lights.


Not the flashing lights, the storm system

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## nickandjess2008 (Jul 4, 2020)

There are no benefits, it is mostly for the person watching. I have these on my lights, too. I use the cloud effects sometimes, but, not too often, same with the storm effects. There fun for me, but, the fish hardly notice them at all. I have the orbit IC LED and I used them at first, just for s***s and giggles, but, rarely use them anymore. I do put them on every now and then, though. Kind of neat, but, worthless, as far as the fish and plants go. They don't care....
I pretty much have every light that Current-USA makes (actually, I have them all except the old version of the Orbit) and they are nice and easy to program, but, ultimately, the storm effects are for the user and not the fish and plants inside the tank. Mine just don't seem to care at all. I have had Current as long as I have had fish and plants and at no point in my long career in the fish hobby have I ever seen the fish even notice that the lights are blinking or dimming. That isn't to say that all fish won't be affected by them, I just have never seen them care about it. The cloud cover maybe different. The newest Orbit does random cloud cover. It will slowly dim the LEDS across the whole light on a percentage basis. If you put %50 on, it will do this effect %50 of the time that the sunlight is on. It would make for some interesting experiments, imo. I have done a lot of experiments on lighting in the last few years, just not with the cloud cover, unfortunately for this thread. Sorry...
I just read the post about the breeding thing. I notice that my cories breed after a real thunderstorm, I believe they notice the change in air or water pressure, maybe? They act all crazy when the storm is starting and then mate afterwards. Unfortunately, I have a LOT of fish and the eggs get eaten. I have tried the thunderstorm effect with the lights to see if that would trigger it, and the answer, as far as my fish are concerned, is no, it doesn't seem to trigger breeding in my cories. They seem to notice some kind of change, what that change is? I don't know... They do dart to the surface more when the storm starts and when it is developing, they seem to act crazy when it hits, darting to the surface and then back down WAY more than they usually do! They must notice a change in the air they are gulping? Maybe someone can confirm this for me?


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