# Creating a moonlight effect



## thinkrevolutionx (Feb 8, 2011)

Any suggestions? I want something that when the lights go off, I can still see kind of dark inside the tank. Obviously i'm not looking for anything that's going to trigger plant growth or algae etc

I already have a 3x56w t5h0 fixture (running 2 bulbs in it, 75 gallon tank) so I need something else.


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## Calmwaters (Sep 2, 2009)

On my 55 I have two led moonlights that I got at petsmart. I have one on each side of the tank and it looks nice. These are the ones I have:
Marina Micro LED Lights, Light Set, & Hub - Lighting & Hoods - Fish - PetSmart


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## thinkrevolutionx (Feb 8, 2011)

you wouldn't happen to have any pics would you?

I just want to still be able to see the fish while the lights are off, and since in this tank I can only have the lights on like 8-9 hours it kind of sucks =(


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## Calmwaters (Sep 2, 2009)

No but I could get you some this weekend if you like.


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## Mikaila31 (Dec 18, 2008)

reduce your current lighting then run it longer. Moonlights are okay... however you need to make sure they are not bright enough to keep the fish awake. I have them on a number of tanks, they are quite cheap to make. Though I rarely ever turn them on....


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## Calmwaters (Sep 2, 2009)

I don't keep mine on all night just an hour or so then I turn them off and go to sleep myself.


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## Mikaila31 (Dec 18, 2008)

I can't imagine that those two small lights produce enough to keep fish in a 55 awake all night. I don't use LEDs on tanks that large.


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## Calmwaters (Sep 2, 2009)

Thats why I don't leave them on all night just about an hour or so.


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

I have read that fish and plants need around 10 hours of total and complete darkness; no room lights, nothing. They get this in the tropics of course, so it makes sense their physiology would be geared to that.

I don't know the amount of light it takes to stress out the fish, I do know that once or twice when I have shone a small flashlight into the tank [I had a reason, looking for my new very nocturnal woodcats that only come out in pitch black darkness] the light bothered the characins, who started bumping around. That's not much light.

With plants, I read a while back from one of the botanists that something as minimal as car lights shining through the window will be picked up by plants. Plants react to very minimal light, not to photosynthesize obviously but for other physiological matters. A streetlight over dandelion is sufficient light to make them lose their biological clock (for lack of better words) and they remained up in frost and were killed.

As long as one turns all these things off for a decent period of total darkness, I wold assume it doesn't matter.

Thinkrevolutionx, why don't you just change the light period to be on when you are most likely to be there? Fish and plants don't care if the "daylight" is in the middle of the night, provided they also get the total darkness "night" they need. Have the lights come on later in the morning and keep them on later in the evening. Or use the siesta approach. Either way, you would be able to see the fish properly.

Byron.


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## cornflakegirl (Feb 24, 2011)

I just saw some moonlight globes at petstock. Look in the reptile section............just got a heat pad for my betta....and my goldfish a new filter.


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## Mikaila31 (Dec 18, 2008)

I am curious where the moon comes into that theory bryon? Obviously the moon waxes and wanes. A full moon though can be quite bright. One must also look at the light hitting the plant. Moonlights(blue) LED or CC are not full spectrum and use only a few watts.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

Mikaila31 said:


> I am curious where the moon comes into that theory bryon? Obviously the moon waxes and wanes. A full moon though can be quite bright. One must also look at the light hitting the plant. Moonlights(blue) LED or CC are not full spectrum and use only a few watts.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


In a majority of the forest streams, moonlight never gets to the water due to the overhanging canopy. Same as sunlight rarely directly hits the streams. Which is perhaps why most of the streams have no aquatic plants, only marginal vegetation extending into the water. Many of our "aquarium plants" are actually marsh or bog plants (the Echinodorus, Cryptocoryne, Anubias, Java Fern, and others) that spend half the year submersed, the other half emersed. But many of these are also under a canopy of overhanging trees and vegetation. Also, moonlight (unlike sunlight) is much more irregular, it is not there every night.

The other thing one must remember about aquarium lighting is that it is, even at its best, far removed from nature. Many botanists have pointed out that our aquarium plants are subjected to "ideal" conditions in the aquarium that they would never see in nature. We do this to promote faster growth, so the light is going to be more direct and much more constant than it normally is in their habitat. Same with water parameters, both temperature and pH. I suspect the plant's natural growing cycles reflect all this.

I am actually more concerned with fish than plants, and reducing stress on the fish as much as possible.

Byron.


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