Good or Bad: Led strip on 24hrs

[Hadakiri]

I'm setting up a tank ( new to the hobby) and I'm thinking of leaving my strip of LED's on when my regular lights are not on. I have t5 lights with actinics and whites that I plan on running for 8-10 hrs. Would the LED's on for the rest of the day bother the corals and fishes. I currently don't have any sps but plan on getting some acans and soft corals. Thanks in advance for ur opinion.

 

[MechEng99]

I think it depends on how many/type of LEDs you have. If they are just moon lights, that shouldn't be a problem. If they are the type of LEDs meant for growing corals, then I'd say no. Your corals and fish need rest just like all living creatures, so keep that in mind while deciding what to do.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

^^ +1

for what it's worth, I have blue LED's for moon light effect, and they stay on 24/7, if that's what you're asking then there's absolutely no concern.

 

[flyyyguy]

I dont really agree with the notion it doesnt matter, or that it is absolutely no concern

I have nothing but anectdotal evidence to the contrary, but just the same, I feel that true nighttime is important

While my opinion is just that.... an opinion, it is fact that all of your sps behave differently at night based on how much light is in the room. Anybody can prove that for themselves by simply playing with the lighs at night a little, and even by having the light on in nearby rooms or the tv..........the corals PE varies bases on how much ambient (or indirect) light is on in the room or in adjoining rooms.

Most sps, not all, have far greater PE in complete darkness than they do in partial and or indirect ambient light.

That said, it seems logical to me that they need this darktime to do their thing, and intentionally never giving them a true darktime certainly cant be a positive thing.

I know I certainly sleep better without an obnoxious blue light over my head.

Will running moonlights hurt them? Not in obvious terms, but I do believe it isnt good for them, and with as much ambient going on and offin most peoples living rooms as it is, when the opportunity arises to give them true nighttime you should let them have it. They will most likely apprecaite it, and be happier and healthier for it whether you can actuallyy quantify it or not.

jmo

 

[BucNtears]

^^^ agreed +1

 

[MechEng99]

That said, it seems logical to me that they need this darktime to do their thing, and intentionally never giving them a true darktime certainly cant be a positive thing.

Have you ever gone snorkeling/scuba diving at night? While there isn't a whole lot of moonlight that reaches the corals (depending on depth), there's definitely some. Some aquarists have been able to get their SPS to spawn based on changing their LED moonlighting to mimic the moon's cycle. I have no idea how much moon light to a coral is compared to LED moonlights, but I can say I disagree that "never giving them a true darktime certainly can't be a positive thing." If the LED moonlights do what they're supposed to do and follow the moon's cycle (with a controller), there will be some pretty dark nights anyway.

 

[flyyyguy]

Have you ever gone snorkeling/scuba diving at night? While there isn't a whole lot of moonlight that reaches the corals (depending on depth), there's definitely some. Some aquarists have been able to get their SPS to spawn based on changing their LED moonlighting to mimic the moon's cycle. I have no idea how much moon light to a coral is compared to LED moonlights, but I can say I disagree that "never giving them a true darktime certainly can't be a positive thing." If the LED moonlights do what they're supposed to do and follow the moon's cycle (with a controller), there will be some pretty dark nights anyway.

I have

if one were to follow a moon cycle, and try to roughly follow the changing intensity as well, then that would be a different thing. But there would still be total darkness most of the nights in a cycle, and total darkness part of the nights on many of the remaining.

that said, running moonlights every single night every day of the year is simply hassling them IMO

Just a opinion of course

I think it would be pretty cool to truly try and follow the lunar cycle. Who knows what corals we may be able to get to spawn besides pocis which will spawn for anyone.

I havent actually heard of but a very few cases of other sps doing it in captivity. I may have just not heard about it


But since that isnt going to happen for me....my tanks lunar cycle happens whenever I walk into the fishroom at night and flip the lights on for a few minutes. lol The rest of the time I give em a break

cheers

 

[MechEng99]

LOL, yeah, I went for 4+ years with no moonlights...no problems. I recently purchased the moonlight controller for my Apex (still haven't hooked it up), but I'm interested to see if there are any benefits.

Sorry this turned into more of a "theoretical" discussion, but it's interesting. IMO the little amount of light reaching the corals probably isn't photosynthetically usable - especially to the zooxanthallae located on the underside of the corals. If anything I'd think only a few of the algae would be bothered, not the whole coral. At this point, my knowledge on what light LEDs put out compared to the moon is exhausted...maybe someone else will step up.

 

[Hadakiri]

Thank you all for your opinions. I do have moonlights but they are not hooked up to a controller to follow the moon's cycle. So as for right now I think I will not run 24 hrs a day.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

I was under the impression that we were talking about leaving the LED's on during the the time the T5's are on, and with that, there's no reason to turn them off, the light from the T5's will drowned out any visible effect, and if it's color shift or shorter life span of the LED's that you're concerned with, then you need not worry about that either, they'll last a long long long time.

On a different note, not that I agree totally with the LED's having a negative or even a direct effect on the corals (although it sounds good in theory), I have read that fish breeders were mimicking the lunar cycle to promote fish spawning activities with positive results, I wonder if coral spawning is triggered by an indirect occurrence from the lunar cycle such as a trigger from the fishes or some other ocean species that is doing something unique during those times of the month (or lunar cycle).