moon lighting

crafty_50mitchell

New member
Hey all, just wondering who in here uses any sort of blue LED light for night light simulation, and furthermore if you specifically look forward to viewing your mantis's activity under it. Only reason I ask is Ive utilized this lighting for awhile, but until today havent had it on my mantis tank.
Cheers,
Brian
 
Almost all of the species of stomatopod available for the aquarium are diurnal, so adding a moon light isn't going to have much effect. Any respectable gonodactylid will close up its burrow and stay their till dawn.

We do, however, use blue LED's to simulate depth and to stimulate flourescence in deep water species. This is a good light to use for Hemisquilla californiensis and some of the deep water Odontodactylids such as O. cultrifer.

During full moons, O. scyllarus will occasionally come out of their burrows and forage. I've tried blue LED's and they do not seem to disturb the animals. However, you might want to simulate a natural lunar cycle using the blue LED's for only a week or so a month.

These lights might also be useful with some species that are night active. One that comes to mind would be Lysiosquillina glabriuscula or L. maculata. Both species will open their burrows and hunt on bright nights. Again, the flourescence excited by blue light would be a plus.

Roy
 
Thanks Dr. Roy since adding the led I havent noticed any different mantis behavior from my G.Chiragra but then again he is molting I think, and also he's diurnal as you pointed out (which I somehow chose to forget while rationaizing buying the gizmo) but still the tank looks great at night with everything else in there. I plan on following your advice on running the LED for a week per month, appreciate the heads up.
Cheers, Brian
 
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