best moonlight option for my light hood?

[Gary Majchrzak]

I have 3x 400 watt halides and two VHO actinics in a fan cooled hood.
What's my best moonlight option?
What's more popular- blue or white? What should I get? Decisions decisions.
My ACjr will control them.

 

[Johnny C]

If you can find them used, the old Current Powerbrites are a great option. The new TruLumen strips are okay too but aren't nearly as bright (you'd need a bunch for your 225). I think Reefbrite makes 1W strips, too.

 

[pascal32]

If you can find them used, the old Current Powerbrites are a great option. The new TruLumen strips are okay too but aren't nearly as bright (you'd need a bunch for your 225). I think Reefbrite makes 1W strips, too.

IME the powerbright strips are pretty bright. On memory I was getting 25 par at 2ft of water.

I've always run moonlights that are just enough to light the tank at night. personally I use the MLC from digital aquatics - not the best fit to Gary.

With that said I have red white and blue moonlights, the red is nice if you want to go stealth - the white was neat, but the novelty wore off, only run blues now with a touch of white.

 

[Capt_Cully]

Would DIY be an option? Seems like a lot of the prefab stuff these days are aimed at accent, or supplemental lighting, and are too bright for moons.

 

[Jacwil]

Ecoxotic Stunner Strips?

 

[Hiltonc57]

I would go with ReefBrite. They are a little expensive but they are well worth it. Gray if you would like to stop over and see how amazing it is...I live just around the corner from you... LMK

 

[MD Ocean Girl]

Ecoxotic Stunner Strips?

+1

Jesse and I have them on our main display tank (the tank is only a 40 gallon long, but one strip could do a much wider and deeper tank), and they're awesome. Especially with the reflectors. Has a nice blue color that really causes colors to pop at night. They don't get warm, and they're really skinny, so they can fit just about anywhere. Also comes in a bunch of sizes and colors.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

I think it really depends on what you mean by "moonlight." Most reef keepers who put "moonlights" on their tank are not coming anywhere near to imitating natural moonlight on a reef, and of course that's OK if it's what you want. I'm struggling to find it now, but when I began my LED journey a few years ago I found a website that provided spectral and intensity data for real reefs in the pacific, 24/7. Moonlight was incredibly dim. And, it was pretty much the exact same spectrum as daylight (which makes sense, since it IS daylight, just reflected off the white moon). By comparison, what most reefers put on their tanks is much brighter, and much bluer.

I'm not really familiar with off the shelf moonlights but if you wanna think about DIY lemme know, it would be pretty easy to fab something that was controllable and whatever color/intensity you wanted.

 

[BlackLagoon]

You can buy a 4 LED moonlight kit from Rapid LED for $18. I have 3 royal blue moonlights from Rapid LED on my 180 Gallon and it it almost too bright. Very happy with the product.

 

[Tonynlo]

Blue and red mix. I've always had blue, since I added my red the night time is one of my favorite times to watch.

 

[pascal32]

I highly suggest not using reefbrites for moonlights. I love the two 48" bars - these are WAY too much for moonlighting. it's like leaving two T5s on all night.

Like Nate mentioned - moonlighting should be dim.

 

[Tonynlo]

I have 10 individual LEDs on my tank. Plenty of light

 

[StashuDave]

Why not just use the Neptune Moonlights

Why not just use the Neptune Moonlights

Again, depends on what you mean by Moonlights..... Why not just get the Neptune Lunar Lights? They won't be really bright but you can use the AC Jr to give you a "true" lunar cycle with dimming built in and you won't have to use an outlet on your DC8.

Dave

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

good suggestions. Dave- I hadn't really researched moonlight options. Obviously, I don't want an extremely bright moonlight setup.