WOW That is some very nice data.
I think an appropriate lunar cycle will help our tanks for more then just photosynthesis.
Many animals use the moon for reproduction, travel, etc and our coral may use them in a completely different manner all together.
To the OP's question I would think light spectrum would be less important than mirroring the moons cycle (waxing/wanning) throughout the month.
I concur... I doubt the corals gain much if any photosynthetic gains from the 1.0 Lux the moon puts out (Compared to the 100,000 Lux of full direct sunlight)
I think your on to something with the waxing/waning of the lights being more important than the spectrum... And as the one article sighted mentioned, some scientists believe that it is an ancient class of blue-detecting zoanth that allow the Corals to detect the Moonlight.
As for what triggers it [reproduction], I wouldn't know for sure but I'll still bet on the tides. It doesn't seem very logical to me to leave that up to moonlight. What if there's overcast or a storm? Does that mean they won't reproduce that month? I wouldn't think so.
I would also think the tides certainly play into it - but I would still suspect the moon's light as one of the triggers... it's monthly illumination as one trigger with tides being another possible.
The great thing about 'using' the moon, is even if there is a bad storm for days [blocking out light] the corals can still 'see' the about-full moon the days surrounding that event. And even then, that would be a local event not a world-wide coral event.
And I don't know, but I don't think reproduction is a sublimely timed event "Everyone at 12:14am exactly on only the Full Moon!" as much as a window or period of release more like 'Everyone within the same week surrounding Full Moon."
I have a mated pair of clown fish that lay and hatch eggs. So IMO moon lights are not needed.
True that. perfect replicated moon cycles and light are not
needed to sustain life in our tanks.
I enjoy this topic as a theoretical "what if we could"? It could only help the corals as opposed to be a detriment I would think.
My expensive Vortech power-head with adjustable flow to mimic changing ocean conditions was not needed either [could have saved $200 and bought another Korelia]... but I still think it's a cool addition.
Reeferbat, thanks for the excellent information. Its not often that I ask a question and get data and not an opinion! Unfortunately I also have blue-based LED moonlights so will have to pick up some white lights to be closer to the natural spectrum.
Anytime man... I enjoy these discussions! They give me a reason to do more research. And like I said, I like the open discussion on the topic.
Anyway, I wouldn't add too much white lighting, as
A)it takes a lot of blue lighting to 'blue up' the tank look after adding white (like 2-3+ blue bulbs for each white or more depending on setup)
B) the real moonlight intensity would be sooo dim that even it will be very easy to 'overdo' the white light... Which might even have the detriment of inflicting photo-inhibition on the corals [too much light/no resting period can throw off the corals 'cycle' and make it under-productive in photosynthetic gains - almost like starving on too much light].
