Can You have too many moonlights??

[Reefjunkee]

I have had 3 1W coralife blue moon lights on My 92corner bowfront since it was setup.I just aquired 6 powerbrite LED modules.I put 3 of them over My 92.Each 1 has 4 1Watt blue led`s,with a total of 12,along with the 3 coralifes I already had.15w total.Is this too much?With blue moon lights does it still appear night time to the fish?Just dont want to keep My fish awake.My purple tang and pinktail trigger seem a little more active than usual,all the others see to have settled for the night.This is the first night with them on the tank.

I posted this in the lighting forum too but wasnt getting any replies so I put it here too.

 

[Reefjunkee]

No one?

 

[DragonRage]

I wonder the same because it seems like my clown never sleeps and I have 4 moon lights running all the time.

 

[Snowboarda42]

you might consider having them on for a little while after your main lights go off, then turn off sometime in the night...

 

[JimKelly12203]

would be interesting if anyone had a good hard number in terms of moonlight wattage / gallon of aquarium. Anyone have a good rule of thumb on this?

I'm sure that tank depth would be an equally significant factor as overall tank volume. i'm going to google it and see what i find tomorrow at work.

 

[xenon]

I have two 1w coralife lunar lights and they are BRIGHT!

I am curious if this prevents my fish from sleeping.

 

[bph0013]

too many moon lights = solaris

 

[JimKelly12203]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11893166#post11893166 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by xenon
I have two 1w coralife lunar lights and they are BRIGHT!

I am curious if this prevents my fish from sleeping.

I can't immagine that being too much. How is your visibility at night? I knwo it's greedy, but we all strive for moon lights so that we can observe the nocturnal patterns in our systems. I hear they even stimulate natural night-time spawning.

I want to enjoy watching this stuff at night, but i have no desire to mess things up.

 

[greenbean36191]

You can definitely have too much moonlight. Fish and corals are more sensitive to blue light than our eyes are, so the lighting appears even brighter to them. Too much light can disturb their rhythms of sleep and can even cause corals to continue photosynthesizing at night which can cause oxidative damage.

A good rule of thumb for simulating real moonlight is that if you can read by the lights then they're too bright. Almost all moonlights in the hobby are orders of magnitude too bright. However, a rule of thumb for what's safe is that if your fish and corals behave the same as they do in total darkness, then you're probably fine. If you have restless fish and fully expanded corals at night though, it's a sign that you need to tone things down.

 

[Titus07]

There is only one moon, thus only one moonlight.

 

[auntynatal]

I have two 1w moonlights on mine, both together in the centre of the tank. Each end stays much darker so those fishies wishing for darkness have options. Its no way bright enough to read by and just puts a slight blue glow down a central 3rd of the tank.

 

[mokeyz]

One of my moonlight bulbs bleached a hitchhiker SPS coral last week, Anthony Calfo warns about this - I should have paid attention.

 

[stumpy08]

I'm just tagging along.

I asked almost the same question at the same time last night!

 

[rbursek]

Remember also the moon is not always out or full!

 

[Reefjunkee]

I think I will set it up in My AC2 to cut them off about the same time I go to bed.And just leave the 1watt coralife ones on.I did notice that My purple tang and pinktail trigger both seemed a little more active with them.They were still a little active when I went to bed a about 11:30 but were hard asleep at 6 this morning.

 

[mokeyz]

The optimum is to have the moonlights on a true to the phases of the moon cycle - which some people do. Also, it would be cool to moonlight bulbs that are positioned in numerous places over the tank and cycle through each night so that the "moon" is waxing and waning.

 

[useskaforevil]

what wavelength of blue light do plants use for photosynthesis? shouldn't it be ok as long as your moonlights are not that?

 

[monty]

interesting points, im considering adding some small 1watt bulbs to my tank...does anyone have any pics of their tanks with JUST these lights on..and if so, which ones do you use? sorry for asking a question in your thread...figured i might get a good response

 

[Reefjunkee]

fulmonty if You are going to use the 1w ones go with the coralife ones.They IMO are the best for the money.They are like 35ish each.Or for about 60 You could get one of the powerbrite modules.They have 4 1w leds in a 12" module.If it is for Your 180 might want to go with like 3 or 4 of them.They`re pretty sweet.I bought a whole tank setup from a guy and it had 6 of them.

 

[monty]

thanks for the info..im doing the 1w since i dont have any more space for bulbs in my canopy, so i figure i can fit them into smaller spaces..appreciate your input