Does a full moon outside have any effect on our aquariums?

[MrSandman]

This might be a stretch, but i was talking to my LFS the other day and mentioned that my rose BTA strangely split into 3 last week after only having it for 2 weeks. She then said that it was a strange coincidence because last week was a full moon and it was the fullest moon in quite some time. All i said was..."Hmmm..". Is she for real? Can there be any relation between a full moon outside and things happening in our aquariums inside?

P.S. I can't wait for Santa to get here tonight!!

[johnrags1234]

This year santa is Dr mac! I just ordered 75# of kaelini ultra show cured LR. He was prertty nice. Anyhow on to tyhe question, In short no. Lighting cycles have effwects in nature (i.e. cloudy days, longe days, short days etec etc.) But in a tank I would *really* doudt that a full moon outside had a thing to do w/ it. If the tank was outside under the moon, and natural light was its PRIME lightsource id say yeah maybe, but not in an indoor, artificially light tank. I will tell you this though- My uncle is an obgyn and has been one for as long as I can remember. Him and his medical partners, always thought there were more births on nights w/ full moons. They just passed it off as coincidencal, but they loked at records or something one day, and they ARE more births during full moons. Pretty weird! CHEERS!

[Eric Boerner]

You've heard of the Kalihui Wolf Fish right? Just don't let it bite ya. :p

I think she probably messen with your mind.

Grats on the babies though. :D You'll be bringing a couple of those to SCMAS frag thing right? With one with my name on it. :D

[MrSandman]

Thx for the responses. Dr. Ron seems to think that there is some relationship although it may be a bit premature to say that the splitting of my anemone had anything to do with it.

http://archive.reefcentral.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?postid=930919#post930919

John,

That Kaelini LR will definitely be a great gift. I have about 90lbs of that stuff in my tank and am absolutely happy with it.

Eric,

I just may bring em w/ me to the swap. Ya never know....with a few more full moons i may be bringing a dozen. :D

[in2deep]

If you have ever been on a shallow grass flat in the evening within a couple days of a full moon you would be amazed at the diifference in life (fish and inverts) versus the rest of the month-it is drastic and remarkable. Happens on both the FULL and NEW moons. I am also sure that these phases of the moon coincide (more lunar gravitational force on the Earth) with the most tidal current, and the outgoing tides are even more pronounced. What is most noticable is the amount (uncountable millions) of tiny inverts that look like almost invisible microscopic shrimp that emerge from the grassflats apparently to spawn, sometimes so many that they cover the waters surface. This in turn brings large fish onto the flats to gorge themselves on the spawn and you can actually see large red drum (some over 15 pounds) sipping these unbelievably small morsels from the surface film like a vacuum cleaner and they key in on them so intently that they will take no interst in another bait or lure. Other fish like mullet also come onto the flats in huge numbers during the moon but i never could tell what they were eating. Come back to the same spot a few days after the moon and its like you turned off the light switch and the same flat will appear void of life.This happens especially over ares of dense grass flats. In the Keys there is a well documented Palolo worm hatches that happen only twice a year and only on a full moon and shrimping is always predictable with the moon .Many Sportfish are well documented to not eat and get lockjaw on the moon phases and if you spend much time on the water it is very obvious. The tides are important to most waterbound creatures for spawning and feeding and the moon is like the timeclock and controls the tides since they work together - along with a bunch of other cosmic stuff that really nobody knows for sure. This relationnship of moon/tide is easy to see on a tide chart. Just my observations from spending too much time on the water fishing and may not relate directly to corals but i would be really surprised if it doesn't. Happy Holidays, Mike.

[brhibler]

If you want to experiment.... YOu can simulate the moon and phases of the moon. Go buy a reostat/light dimmer, workers light w/large metalic reflector and a 25watt blue part bulb. Wire it all up and mount it above your tank if you have a open top or some how mount it in your hood. Put it on a timer(for night cycle) and as the moon changes phases outside, change the brightness of the blue bulb. This will be a good simulation of the moon's effects on saltwater or freshwater inhabitants.

I personly use a LED system and run it for about 5-9 nights for about 6hours.

Also this in some cases will cause spawning in fish.

[zebrasoma17]

Moon phases aren't just about lighting. They also involve differences in gravitational pull which one would assume could also be felt in an aquarium.

Look at differences in human behavior during the full moon- just ask any big city police officer or emergency room worker. Also, the word "lunatic" is derived from lunar which = moon.

It certainly wouldn't be unreasonable to think that the moon's gravitational pull might have some behavioral effect on our captive reefs.

Al

[MarinaP]

2 of my BTA split during the full night moon.

[bowfront]

Moon phases aren't just about lighting. They also involve differences in gravitational pull which one would assume could also be felt in an aquarium.

Exactly, IMO true moon phases do have some effect on aquariums. I profess to using an artificial "moonlight" but this is more because it came with my lighting fixture than to try and duplicate natural moon cycles. Perhaps a moonlight in conjuction with one of the moon replicate softwares set to exactly the same cycle as mother nature would show some interesting results. I just have my moonlight on a timer so it doesn't accomplish much other than light up the tank with an LED bluelight for a few hours. I'm not so sure this is accomplishing much of anything but who knows.

[softie57]

Just another testament to the "weird" effects that the moon may have on our tanks...my BTA finally split last night, which I beieve was a full moon, after having it for only about four months. No artificial moonlight over the tank or anything like that (unless you count the computer and tv :)) WEIRD!

[caver]

i watched a show on pbs a year of 3 ago about the great barrier reef, and they went into a section on coral seeding and how it happend one or two times a year, coencideing with the lunar phases. i cant tell you for sure which phase it was or any or any of the other spacifics. as its been a while but i do remember it was on a full moon. the photography/ filming was astonishing! it was a great show. i believe it was national geographic explorer show or nature!!! ill see if i cant run it down online today!


john
:fish2:

[caver]

found it at amazon.com, the title ie australia's greaat barier reef (1993) with a foot note about the once a year reproduction!



john