# Moon lighting



## adam79 (Jun 27, 2007)

I've seen several people using moon lighting on their tanks. I'm assuming this is a kind of bulb or is it a kind of fixture? How does moon lighting effect fish behavior and plant growth?


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## jrf (Nov 10, 2009)

Most moon lights are just tiny, low watt blue bulbs or LEDs. You can find them at most local fish stores or online retailers. There are people that also do red moon lights under the theory that fish have a diminished capacity to see red.

IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ve seen people state that it doesnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t affect the fish. However, my experience differs. When I tried blue moon light, it did seem to keep them awake. I donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t know about the red moon lights Ã¢â‚¬â€œ IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ve never tired them.


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## JWerner2 (Jul 7, 2008)

Im actually using a red light on my Bicher tank and it has no I'll effects. When all the surrounding room lights are out the fish cant even detect me standing there watching as if it is still in total darkness. I do still like some peoples idea of using a low watt soft white bulb to barely light the tank or just a small bit in one spot but I use red cause its my daughters tank and she likes to have a nightlight.

I did the blue and hated it after a week.


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## Steve St.Laurent (Oct 2, 2008)

I use a blue LED moonlight setup in my 90 gallon tank and love it. The mistake (IMO) that I see most people that try a moonlight setup is they have it WAY too bright. Mine is just barely bright enough that I can see what's going on in the tank - it's difficult to even make out exactly which fish is which because the coloring is so flat. I like it because I can see what my fish do in the middle of the night - which is mostly sleep but there is some activity, particularly my pleco's who come out and get to work at night. Here's video of my setup at night: 



 and here's a still picture that gives a better idea of what the lighting level is (video camera doesn't do low light very well):


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## Carmesi (May 8, 2008)

I am currently setting up a moonlight system for my breeding tanks and have done some research to obtain a level of light equal to that of a nightime natural environment. there are a few variables to consider but here are some facts on natural moonlight:

Temp: 4,100 K (sunlight 4,500k-6,500k)
The spectrum is basically the same as the sun. Moonlight appears different to us because our retinas contain two discrete classes of photoreceptors: rods and cones. Cones come in three types, one which responds strongly to each of the three primary colors of light. Thus our color vision arises by comparing the output of the three different cone types, the human eye can discriminate between many thousands of distinct hues and tens of thousands of different colors. However all of the cones require fairly intense radiation to be stimulated at all. 
Rods on the other hand, do not respond much differently to different wavelengths of light, and so provide what we think of as 'black and white' vision. But the rods are much more sensitive to photons, and so will still work under low light conditions (especially when 'dark adapted'.) 
Thus, the low light conditions of night vision usually do not stimulate cones, and all we are left with is a colorless perception of the world around us. Though it is the same light. we just do not have the cones activated to see the color of the light.

The blue LED moonlights tricks us by trying to replicate moonlight with color, but are not a natural moonlight spectrum. Not to say they dont look good, or that they keep your fish awake, just that they are not natural.

I personally like the white LED bulbs, but i try and dim them using a peice of wax paper between them and the water because they are brighter than the fish would expirience in the wild. This dims them down enough to make the light about as natural as possible. I feel that a moonlight, if not too intense, can stimulate breeding. (IMO)

those variables that effect natural moonlight that I mentioned at the beggining of the post are:
1. depth of fish in their natural environment ("attenuation of light through water" the exponential decay of light intensity with increasing depth results from absorption and scattering) In this case the deeper the fish are in their natural environent the less red and yellow color spectrum ever reaches there, but moonlight may not reach there at all.
2. overcast in natural environment
3. moon cycles (full, half, new)

Hope this helps.
Carmesi out


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## adam79 (Jun 27, 2007)

Carmesi said:


> I am currently setting up a moonlight system for my breeding tanks and have done some research to obtain a level of light equal to that of a nightime natural environment. there are a few variables to consider but here are some facts on natural moonlight:
> 
> Temp: 4,100 K (sunlight 4,500k-6,500k)
> The spectrum is basically the same as the sun. Moonlight appears different to us because our retinas contain two discrete classes of photoreceptors: rods and cones. Cones come in three types, one which responds strongly to each of the three primary colors of light. Thus our color vision arises by comparing the output of the three different cone types, the human eye can discriminate between many thousands of distinct hues and tens of thousands of different colors. However all of the cones require fairly intense radiation to be stimulated at all.
> ...


Wow, thanks for being thorough in your reply. I think your right about the moonlight encouraging breeding behavior. I know it does with many animal species. I wonder how much we alter the natural behavior through artifical lighting. Most tanks don't have natural graduated light like in nature. Being a fisherman I know many fish feed mostly in the morning and evenings. A lot of this has to do with the insect hatch, but it has to be a natural reponse to light as well.

Anyone know if moon light has any effect on plants? Does any photosynthesis occur under moonlight?


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## JWerner2 (Jul 7, 2008)

All I know is that when I used to hop the pool fence at night or go swimming in the lake at night, regardless of how clear and how bright the moon was, I couldnt see a darn thing under water so I dont buy this whole fish need moon light jazz to begin with,... IMO!


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## SupeDM (Jan 26, 2009)

With fish as well as most other animals moonlight plays a vital role in breeding behavior as well as health. The moon cycle goes from bright to dim every month and can trigger spawning as well as migration activity. The trick is to try and mimmic nature as much as possible so researching the day night schedule in the actual location the fish are from will give a great idea as how long to run the lights.


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## hey_wood1981 (Apr 7, 2004)

Does it really matter with fish that have been tank raised? I could justify with a fish that was wild caught, trying to mimic it's natural environment to make it more comfortable.


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## trigger (Sep 6, 2002)

I don't think it matters weater they are tank raised or wild caught. A friend of mine has a significant difference in breeding between the tanks in his shed with a roof window allowing sun- and moonlight in and the tanks in his house with only artificial light


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## hey_wood1981 (Apr 7, 2004)

I see. I've got some geos that I want to breed for me, so maybe moonlight is the trick. Would artificial "moonlight", with led do the trick? If so, what would be a good way to do this cheap?


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## hey_wood1981 (Apr 7, 2004)

*adam79* I'm not trying to hijack your thread.

I did some searching for a cheap led unit and came up with these, linked below. They will be going on a standard 90 gallon tank. I was thinking just 2 on the tank. Another online site that sells these said to use 6 of the units. The link provided says 2 will work. I would go with the moonlight white. Any and all opinions are welcome, blue or white? If these are junk I'd like to know.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/p ... atid=12760


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## Steve St.Laurent (Oct 2, 2008)

The problem with that style of light IMO is that in your tank each light "beams" down into your tank so it looks like there's multiple moons up there. Here's an example of what I mean:










In my tank I use one light of that style (although it has only 1 led in it, not two like that one) to give that moonbeam effect down into the tank (gives a cool shimmering effect). For the general lighting I bought an LED kit off of eBay and installed them into my light fixture so that they are bouncing off of the reflector inside of shining directly into the tank. This diffuses the light so I don't get that projector look from each light. Here's a thread with a post on how I did it:

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/view ... highlight=


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## Maxima308 (Jun 6, 2009)

If your not a fan of the "spot light" affect i would make sure to get wide angle LED's. Here is what I used for my project. I posted a picture of them installed in another thread here. I have mine pointed directly into the tank not bouncing off any reflectors.

I've been really happy with them. I run them from 10am-2am and again 5am-7:00am. I like to see whats going on in there and provide a little light to help acclimate my fish in the morning.

Can't really comment on the spawning my Cobue spawn every few weeks before and after installing the moonlight.


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