Moon Lighting

[tpr3163]

This may be a stupid question but you don't know till you ask I guess. Can a person use regular blue LED lights for moon lighting or do they need to be a special light. I would also like to know if someone could tell me how long the regular lights should be on. I'm running a 175w mh (10000k) along with 2 26.5" 110w vho lights over my 90 gal reef tank. I'm new to the saltwater end of this hobby and would sure apreciate some input. Thanks in advance

 

[jhnrb]

Check out the helpful articles. there are several articles on lighting that will answer your questions on photo period and more. welcome to the forum happy fishin.

 

[fishman]

Metal halides do all they can do in six hours a day the rest is a wast in energy and can cause algae problems .Maybe if the VHO's you are running has a white bulb and one actinic bulb you could set those for 10 hours a day and set the timer on the metal halides for 6 hours a day .I run a PC light fixture over my main tank and it just has the LED moon lights in it.Hope this helps .

 

[jhnrb]

Photo Period

You can check out my journal entries. There you will find my lighting schedule. you will see it is based on a total 14hr. light schedule, and mh are set for total 8 hrs. Naturally depending on the type of corals you have, the depth of the system, the clarity of the water, etc. will depend on the photoperiod that will be best for you. As a suggestion you may want to start shorter say like fishman, and adjust from there. Also see the helpful articles I have just posted an article on photoperiod that may just give you some insight on the subject. good luck keep us posted and good fishin.

 

[minireefer]

welcome to the forum.Moon lights are usually in the form of l.e.d lights.There are plenty of choices available.If you have canopy top a string of lights work nice kinda look like christmas tree lights.Other wise there a glass tube with the led internal.

 

[tpr3163]

Thanks

Thank you for all your help. I'm trying a few things out and we'll see what happens. Just out of curiosity will a black light work for moon lighting?

 

[jhnrb]

A black light will not work for a moon light, but, it will excite some corals to fluoresce and if enough do at the same time, you will have some light in the system. hope this helps.