Moonlights?

[Mazdaman]

Does anyone have any info on moonlights. Maybe moon bulbs? Blue leds not sure but looking for that kind of moonlighting effect. (no not the bruce willis show) Does anyone know if these could be left on 24/7. I will not have any live plants so that isn't a worry. Also the tank will have some sunlight on it for a good part of the day but not direct. Another way would be - just having it on at night? The reason for this is that it will be at the foot of my bed and would like to see the fish when i go to bed at night. Thanks, any links would be great too.

 

[Clown Monarch]

Mine stay on all the time - though you can't see them at all during the day.

 

[Mazdaman]

so it is no harm to the fish? How does it look at night? where did you get it/them? How much $? can one buy them to fit in standard hoods?

 

[Clown Monarch]

Here's the one I bought:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=46314&item=4356317456&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

I highly recommend this moonlight. I haven't seen any others so I'm not exactly an authority, but I'm very happy with my purchase. It's easy to install (stick-on or screw), the wire has a disconnect which is a nice touch, the lights look great and cover a wide range.

they make the tank look awesome at night, that's all I can say.

 

[Clown Monarch]

I'm moonlighting a reef tank though, so many of my corals glow in the moonlight. I'm sure they'd look good regardless.

Orange ricordia mushrooms under moonlight - wow.

 

[Mazdaman]

it would fine for fw setup though right

 

[czcz]

Yeah. It is also very helpfull for viewing noctournal fish. I've found red leds are best as far as not spooking fish, followed by blue led and blue cold cathode. I've not tried red cold cathode yet. You can see pics of a simple 6v LED assembly and cold cathode moonlighting in my gallery if interested. There are also many threads here and the DIY section from more experienced members. HTH.

 

[thanew]

hrm.. i recently did something with two cold cathode lights from compusa.. theres actually a picture of it in my gallery. i liked the setup I had because I could adjust the light to a more natural look by changing the voltage.

many say it does not look natural and the fish know it, IME the fish loved it and would swim around like they do in the complete darkness.. I had a few catfish in there and they swam around like normal (darkness normal)

as for keeping it on, I turned it on about 20-30 minutes before the lights went off and stayed on for about 5 hours and then slowly dimmed..

 

[youronlysin]

I have a combination of ultrabright blue and clear leds that I used in my DIY setup. I have some old pics in my gallery of what the blue leds look like on a ten gallon freshwater tank, but I dont use that setup anymore. On my bigger community tank I made a fixture in the hood that uses switchable combinations of both blue and clear leds. I can switch between blue and clear, a combination of the two, and anywhere from three leds on to all 24 on at the same time. With as many Ultra bright leds as I have, I can almost light my tank up like daylight....the reason I dont use it as a primary light source is because I wanted 6700K light for my plants.
If your just wondering if its worth the money, Id say so...if you like the look. They are gorgeous on a reef tank, and a lot of fish, even freshwater seem to glow vibrantly under them. I'll leave all 12 of the blues on even with the normal pc lights just for the way it makes the fish glow. At night when the tank isnt being viewed, I use three blues for a more normal looking moonlight. Most of the time though, they are on 24/7.

 

[czcz]

Just curious, have you ever tried turning moonlights on after lights are off? I found going to blue cold cathode from total darkness would scatter the fish quickly, whereas they only paused when going from darkness to red LEDs. Interested in other's experiences with this.

 

[youronlysin]

It could be that fish just dont see well in the red spectrum. Do they still use red lighting in submarines? I mean theres a science to it...I just dont know if fish see the same way as we do. It sounds like they are less sensitive to red light though, but that may also depend on the fish. Kind of like the fish that can see at all in the light, they use other senses....which is why they will "hide" in a clear tube while they are completely visible to the rest of the world. I personally havent noticed any adverse affects to using my moonlights, the fish dont seem to mind.

Ive thought about using the red leds in the past, I just cant get over how well the blue looks...the red just doesnt seem as natural to me, but Im sure it has a cool effect!