Rate My Fish Tank

Wed Apr 23, 2008 11:57 am GMT   Reply      

I have a 90 gallon freshwater community tank and I have been doing some reading on the benefits of a full light cycle including lunar lighting.Does anybody have any info or opinion on this?

Wed Apr 23, 2008 12:45 pm GMT   Reply      

can't speak to the actual benifiets of them as im not and scientist, lol but they look cool as hell and logically...the more natural you can make your environment for the fish the better it is ....right?

I have even seen some full LED light bars for tanks that are computer controlled and you can set up a USB cable with weather proigam on the PC and the damn lights will mimic the weather in the area you pick I.E. the carrabean or something....crazy as hell and prices start in a 3-4 thousand dollars range.....so there must be something to you question being true eh?

NOTE: i don't have the afore mentioed light bar...hahahahahahaha

Snowboss

Wed Apr 23, 2008 2:52 pm GMT   Reply      

I have Current USA Satellite Compact Flourescent lights... one bulb daytime and one actinic (lunar)... but my unit doesnt allow me to switch on each separately (since its the 40w 20 inch unit). THe larger units allow separate control for both, I would suggest this option.

As for benefits... i agree with Snowboss... also depends if you have night time scavengers. Either way, they look cool as hell.

Wed Apr 23, 2008 3:23 pm GMT   Reply      

Lunar lights do look super cool. I know it isnt exactly the same but I'v used them for my reptiles and its especially awesome for the nocturnal ones...especially since thats the only time you'll really see them in action.

Quick question (kinda branches off but i dont want to post a new topic and take up the space if i dont have to...) I'v got a Repti Glo 2.0 that I bought for a terrarium but never used and I'd hate to see it go to waste if theres a possibility It could bennefit my fish tank. Specifically, its a full spectrum daylight lamp UVA 25%, UVB 2%, high colour rendering index of 98 CRI, 6700K colour temp.....So i have no idea what most of that means. Is it not strong enough for fish? too strong? I dont know...any lighting experts here?

Wed Apr 23, 2008 4:07 pm GMT   Reply      

i believe my lights are at 5000k... you could look up your spectrum, but i think spectrum and wattage will affect both your fish and algae. Too strong of lights (watts) will burn some fish who are surface dwellers, and definitely strong lights will bring about algae issues. Don't add them until you are 100% sure... someone on the forum should be able to accurately chime in here soon. Don't reptiles usually use lighting for heating purposes as well, i don't know if i would chance that with fish, who just use light for viewing.

Wed Apr 23, 2008 11:47 pm GMT   Reply      

i have been dabbling with the lunar light idea as you may find in one of my earlier posts, this seems to keep the fish extra happy, as when the lights go out completely in my home at night they still have some light to see by and don't get spooked by my cats hopping up on top of the tank to watch the fish at night. i have an led bar that is set on a 5 hour timer so there is still some dark time (lights out time) for the fish, it runs roughly as a full moon would in the summer time, and i have plenty of plants and lily pads on top to cast moonlit shadows on the tank so that it mimics the amazons natural canopy, not only does it look cool but i think it benefits the fish quite a bit, the leds are cheap ones as i am not made of money but i have a six led bar for both sides of the tank on the back of the glass lids so it's not directly over the center of the tank causing more light than needed, the led spectrum is quite low so the algae load stays at a minimum. once i get a better camera that i can adjust the shutter speed on i will try to get some decent pics so i can post them for all to see.
Hope this helps,
Brandon

Thu Apr 24, 2008 8:51 pm GMT   Reply      

I think you have something there Brandon. I leave a very small 15 watt plant fluorescent on for my 100 gallon when I have the TV and bedside light on. The fish do seen kind of freaked out when the tank is dark and I make shadows/silhouettes when walking in front of the tank. With the moon lights (or my equivalent) the fish don't get those scary shadows that make me think of a bird of prey flying over the water.

Thu Apr 24, 2008 11:25 pm GMT   Reply      

my fish seem to be super happy and super healthy and the moonlighting doesn't bother them whatsoever, i really think it helps having them on for small periods of time, anyone who knows fish biology may be able to chime in at some point and advise whether this is a good thing to do or a bad thing to do. LOL eh hem... pk your stepmom is a marine biologist? LOL had to see if you could poll her and see what she thinks. i don't see salt water and marine life being much diff than freshwater, they are all fish and all fish whether salt or fresh benefit from certain amounts of light at certain times, at least that's my thinking.
Brandon

Thu Apr 24, 2008 11:56 pm GMT   Reply      

She's been into her orchid business for the last 30 years, but she used to use a red light so she could observe her 9 crayfish tanks at night. I remember her telling me that the fish don't see the red very well or as well as humans and it was ideal for her to observe fish behavior at night.

I would have mentioned the red light earlier except that I don't think any of us want to bath our fish in red. At least I don't think it looks as good as the moon light color.

I have my little "night light" on mainly so the fish have some in-tank light when I have their main lights off and my TV, room, or bedside lights on. I've noticed that the fish can recognise me as the guy who feeds them when there is a light on in the tank that partly illuminates me as I get close to the tank. I also like to see the fish in a "moon" lit kind of light, and I also imagine simulating sunset or a part of the night being "moonlit" is something the fish appreciate.

If there are no lights on in the tank and only the room light is on they can only see me in profile, as a black shadow, and that seems to scare them.

I really doubt she has ideas on whether there should be a period of complete darkness with adjacent periods of moon light or whether you can leave the moon light on all night.

I'm being lazy, and I didn't follow this thread thoroughly, but that's what you're talking about right?

Fri Apr 25, 2008 1:34 am GMT   Reply      

bro there's a HUGE writeup at cichlid forum, or i think fish geeks on this... he made his own processor board and programed a crystal to time it all... it's freaken insane... i'll look for they diy's...

Fri Apr 25, 2008 5:37 am GMT   Reply      

lol pk yeah that's what i was talking about WOOOOOT it's ok to be lazy once in awhile...