Moonlights.

[Zombies026]

Well I was wondering what ppl think of moonlights?
Are they worth it?
Does anyone around the Fox Valley use them?
Should I look into getting some?
Are they good for the tanks?


R.J.

[MalawianDude]

I have tried LED's and neon lights, i like the look of led's over the saltwater tank, and neon over the fw tank, i believe its more preference not so much as better as be hard to match wavelengths of the moon in a led...

[mrpink44]

R.J. - if you're trying to save money as indicated by your other thread, I'd skip the moonlight. They are not required by any means to run a tank....so it's just one of those extra "want" things as opposed to something that's "needed".

Matt

[Zombies026]

I wasen't sure about these at all..I see them all over ebay and I read about how good they are and what makes them so good and I was just seeing if anyone around here has them and if they like using them or thought they wasted there money on them???

[iceman5]

i seen an add in a magazine. at www.aquatraders.com they have a clip on lunar light for under 20 bucks you might want to check it out????/?

[MalawianDude]

i wouldn't suggest aquatraders, just type them in the search engine here, no one has had good things with them, tons and tons of bad feedback, just look at it on here

[Zombies026]

where can I go to look at the up's and downs of using moonlights?I wanna see what ppl think..The only reason I wanna know if there good or bad is cause my other half wants them but I don't wanna get them and then all of a sudden be like wow these things are crap...

[Stigmatic]

I use them on my 120. I dont keep them on during the full night though, but only when i want to view the tank. I hooked up some trucker LED to a 13v power converter, the total setup was like $30

[skicaltech]

I have a 36" PC Custom Sea Life hood with three moonlights that I had previously run on my 46g BF. The moonlights gave a minimal effect in my opinion and with lots of waterflow, the moonlights did not penetrate the water. I honestly do not think they are worth the extra money

[Stigmatic]

I have a total of around 16 Blue LED's in mine and mine lights up awesome.

[MalawianDude]

Yup Led's way to go! I use 14 on my 40L tank.

[Zombies026]

Stig ya just might have to show me how u made yer own..Maybe at the next meeting er something..

[Stigmatic]

thats fine, ill take some pics when i can. All i did was wire these Blue LED lights like what you would see on the back of a truck or something, then run it to the 13v power converter.

[daddavis1]

I'm interested also. It seems the LED 's them selves are cheep. Just useing a Key chain Bright Blue LED holding it about 4" over the water really lights up orange and green florencing corals.

Then there is the electricity thing. Resistors Parallel series circuts and coverting the power and wiring.

The previous statements are correct it's just a nicity and not a nessesity. But it is cool!!! I would problably need 6 for ea.tnk. LEDs have a pretty tight angle of illumination. 20 Deg. is common.

[K1971]

I have two Icecap flat panel moonlights on my system. They light up the entire tank really well (thats relative of course - it is suppose to be the moon ya know). Do they do anything for the corals - couln't tell you. But I love them. First time they came on after lights off my jaw just dropped. I get a really cool shimmer effect from them. I have them on timers so that they turn off two hours after lights off and two hours before lights on in the morning.
6 am moonlights on
8 am actinics on
10 am halides on
8 pm halides off
10 pm actinics off
12 am moonlights off

[jandlms]

Cool shimmer effect and great for flourescing corals. I have read that the moon phases are possibly involved in the timing of certain spawning events. As most of us aren't keeping tanks that have successfully spawning corals (bonecutters are so much more reliable than nature) I rank the moonlight as a want and not a need. I use the clip on LEDs that you saw in Aquatraders (most online places have some version of them now) and I love the aesthetic value. Nothing spawning yet.
jandlms

[nellie54914]

We have 4 LEDs on our 75g, they are really cool when looking at the tank at night, you get to see some stuff that you don't get to see come out in daylight!

My husband made ours himself with the plans on this site: http://www.kaotica.com/frag/diy/moonlight/ . I am not familiar with the forums on this site as I was just pointed to this club's forum today, but I look around on Reef Lounge a lot and there is a DIY section, just search for moonlight for other ideas. There's probably a lot on this forum too, I just don't know where to look.

[MalawianDude]

cool DIY, yea they are very easy to make, made one usin 20LED's.

welcome to the club nellie, u just in my neck of the woods, i am from beaver dam.