--= what light for moonlight? =--

[J Crew]

just bought a stand and canopy for my 55gal and was wondering what kind of light and what color light i should use for a moonlight. i have the 4 vho kit from lampsnow.com... so that will be going in there. i was thinking a standard house light bulb on each end of the canopy would work? i guess blue would be a good color but i'm not sure... is this a good choice?

if i put these in there... do you think it would effect my vho's and how well the light gets to the tank on each end?

thanks for any input and help, peace

 

[J Crew]

any suggestions? i was going to buy the stuff tonight when i went to the store to buy stain for my stand. peace

 

[mariner]

Some people leave an actinic bulb on for night viewing. That'll be fine or you could use a standard socket red bulb. I always thought a black light looks awesome with the flourecent colors of the corals. That is definitely a kodak moment when those colors glow. I have some mushrooms that are show themselves about 5 different colors at different times with my blacklight on. Try it. You'll be rather surprised of the beauty.
P.S. I have a 90 gallon and I use a 4 foot blacklight bulb in the canopy for night time. Dual 250 MH 12k's for daytime.

 

[J Crew]

thanks for the help mariner. i never even thought of that... a black light would be cool! do you think it disturbs them though? peace

 

[Blk_Gto]

How long have you been using that blacklight? I remember reading a post a while back mentioning that blacklights actually harm the corals. Any comments on that?

[ November 09, 2001: Message edited by: Blk_Gto ]</p>

 

[tim000]

I have been using a black light in my 15g reef and it does look really cool!

 

[Carpentersreef]

I'm not sure what your bank account is like, but if you want serious moonlighting, check out aqualine.
I think I saw a place once in calif. that sold it for $69.95.
It's a white LED setup with a blue lens that gives your tank night time ripple lines that apparently replicates natural moonlight effects.
I've got it, and love it. It's life expectancy is 20,000 hours. (that's 10 years at approx. 8 hours/night)


Mitch

[ November 09, 2001: Message edited by: Carpentersreef ]</p>

 

[J Crew]

Carpentersreef thanks for the link. how many of these are you running on your tank? it said that two LED's come with a purchase... would that be enough for my 55gal?

and last but not least... where would be a good place to mount them?... any ideas? cause my canopy is gonna be cramped for space with four vho's under there. there is no top space left... so would mounting them on the side walls be ok? thanks again, peace

 

[Carpentersreef]

I run 1 on my 180g, in the middle, right beside my Aquaspacelight, no canopy. There's more than enough light for the whole tank. (but I've also got a new Mac G4 which puts out an annoying pulsing power button light!)
I would suggest mounting it ideally within the front of your canopy, or second choice, in the back. The unit is relatively small, and puts out NO heat. The unit that Aqualine has pictured has 2 LED's in it. Mounting it on the side would , of course, give you side lighting, which also could be cool.

 

[Pman]

I use a reptile moonlight heat lamp for my romantic evening light. Its an elongated 40 watt incandescent lamp with a rare earth black phosphurous coating inside the bulb(fits standard sized light sockets).It looks just like the moonlight in my 55 gallon cube! Not too much light to disturb the fish but just enough for me to be a peeping tom

Be aware that is does produce some heat( being a heat lamp for reptiles)but I havent noticed any temp changes in my tank because of it.

 

[J Crew]

i think i'm gonna buy a standard socket and install a 25w blue bulb. should i use just one or two for my standard 55gal? thanks

 

[Xphixer2]

I had also heard that a black light does damage to the corals.

 

[npaden]

J Crew,

I would think 1 of the 25W blue party bulbs would work great on a 55. You might even get a dimmer so you can vary the light based on the cycle of the moon.

I'm running a program by a fellow reefer that dims the moonlight with x-10 and does a moon rise and set for me as well.

http://www.mv.com/users/besposito/lightmaster1.html

FWIW, Nathan

 

[newkie]

For those interested the Aqualine Buschke AquaMoonlight diode night light is available at https://www.customaquatic.com for $69. I just called and they're checking to see if its dimmable or not.

FWIW I've used the GE Plant Light. They're available at OSH for about $6. When off they look baby blue, but when on they give a yellow-bluish light. They work best with a dimmer so you can run them between 0-40%.

 

[Mabu]

I am experimenting with some custom high-intensity LED setups made by a friend of mine - they make the tank look really cool...

What's particularly nice is these are low voltage and generate no heat. They are VERY bright and are in the 8000k spectrum. With the new advances in LED technology, we're playing around with seeing if we can use these in a variety of scenarios.

If you are interested in having something custom built for your tank, take a look at:
http://www.genlight.com

My friend is just doing this as a hobby and I'm experimenting with different types of LEDs trying to figure out what works best.

[ November 19, 2001: Message edited by: Mabu ]</p>

 

[toptank]

I guess I am cheap as I went to Kmart and bought a light that you hang over a picture frame (15watts) and bought a blue bulb from Petco. Works for me.

 

[Mouse]

Those moonlight bulbs by AB Aqualine need the a computer to run them. Aquamedic have one but then again you could run it through an IKS if you wanted. And yes they are dimmable, they can be used to directly simmulate lunar phase, and with the IKS aquastar you can even put in longitude and latitude, so even the most homesick of corals can be catered for. Happy spawning

 

[newkie]

Response from Aqualine regarding dimming Aquamoonlight:

Sehr geehrter Herr Green,

our aquamoonlight can´t be used with a dimmer. That´s only possible with the
moonlights in our starlights, spacelights or sunlights.

Best regards
Stephan Gohmann

 

[Mouse]

oh cheers greenbud, i thought the moonlight bulbs they put into their systemised hoods would be the same. I think ill have to have a word with my mate at Aquamedic.

P.S. Black lights no good guys, has been debated at length many times here.