All lights and "moonlight", do i keep moonlight on all night?

BigMikeFlipz

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So I bought a kovac LED that has all the LED lights on, or just a blue light/ "Moonlight" option. Do I leave the moonlight setting on all night or just keep turning off all lights for 12-13 hours like I have been doing?

Mike
 

vetteguy53081

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So I bought a kovac LED that has all the LED lights on, or just a blue light/ "Moonlight" option. Do I leave the moonlight setting on all night or just keep turning off all lights for 12-13 hours like I have been doing?

Mike
My moonlights on 11p - 6am
Like mine- yours should be dim.
 

blaxsun

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Is that a rhetorical question? I'm not asking for sarcasm etc. It's an honest question as I have little experience with Moonlight functions. Seriously, if you are jabbing at me, feel free to not respond to any more of my questions.
Ask yourself if the moonlight is for you or the fish. If it's for viewing when you're awake (like in the evenings), it's fine. If you're going to run your tank with lights on all the time then you have to ask what the benefit for your reef is (and not just the fish).
 

Chrisv.

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So moonlights are completely optional for most of us. Folks who want to spawn corals use carefully controlled moonlight cycles and block ambient light from their tank. As Vette guy said, too bright can actually be a problem for corals. Honestly, I have tried them but I don't use mine.
 

HaveFishWillTravel

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So I bought a kovac LED that has all the LED lights on, or just a blue light/ "Moonlight" option. Do I leave the moonlight setting on all night or just keep turning off all lights for 12-13 hours like I have been doing?

Mike
Having a LED light with circadian rhythm is very cool and if you turn the brightness on your moonlight feature down, you will truly enjoy watching the moon wax and wane in your aquarium every month regardless of what the clouds are doing outdoors. It can provide quite a nice light especially for taking photos. In the natural world, your corals would be experiencing moonlight changes so, why not enjoy the moonlight in your home and on your corals? I have never experienced an adverse effect on my aquarium with the moonlight function turned on. It has mostly added to the enjoyment and the amount of time that I can watch the animals react to the light. Make sure that you have set the dimmer on so that it isn’t blasting your corals at night.
It’s pretty…
PS I think that the corals like it…check it out for a month or so and see what happens and make your decision based upon your findings. I get the frustration when you ask a question and you sort of get the run around. I hope that isn’t how you see my reply. I seriously think it is cool and the corals like it. It really depends on what you have and what you are doing and it’s so hard to know/. It’s a fair question.
I am responding from my experience :)
 
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BigMikeFlipz

BigMikeFlipz

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Having a LED light with circadian rhythm is very cool and if you turn the brightness on your moonlight feature down, you will truly enjoy watching the moon wax and wane in your aquarium every month regardless of what the clouds are doing outdoors. It can provide quite a nice light especially for taking photos. In the natural world, your corals would be experiencing moonlight changes so, why not enjoy the moonlight in your home and on your corals? I have never experienced an adverse effect on my aquarium with the moonlight function turned on. It has mostly added to the enjoyment and the amount of time that I can watch the animals react to the light. Make sure that you have set the dimmer on so that it isn’t blasting your corals at night.
It’s pretty…
PS I think that the corals like it…check it out for a month or so and see what happens and make your decision based upon your findings. I get the frustration when you ask a question and you sort of get the run around. I hope that isn’t how you see my reply. I seriously think it is cool and the corals like it. It really depends on what you have and what you are doing and it’s so hard to know/. It’s a fair question.
I am responding from my experience :)
Your reply was very nice, detailed and cordial. Can't say that about some other folks. I'm new and trying to learn as much as possible and you gave an amazing answer. Truly appreciate your time and care in responding!
 

Jedi1199

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I used to run my lights at the lowest possible level all night long. I recently went with a 2 hour period at night.. Off for 3, on for 2 and off until the next days cycle.

It has only been a week or so since I made the change so it is too soon to say if I am seeing any difference.

For what it is worth, I never observed any detrimental effects from running them overnight. The fish all found their sleeping places and the corals for the most part retract, same as if the lights were completely off.

Remember that in the ocean, very little moonlight actually reaches the sand. The Moonlight functions of the lights are "mostly" for us. The light we get from our lights in the moonlight function is MUCH brighter than what would happen in nature.

So, to answer your question specifically. Yes, you can run the moonlight feature with no issues. Is it "better"? The debate is ongoing. IME, I haven't seen that it hurts anything.
 
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BigMikeFlipz

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I used to run my lights at the lowest possible level all night long. I recently went with a 2 hour period at night.. Off for 3, on for 2 and off until the next days cycle.

It has only been a week or so since I made the change so it is too soon to say if I am seeing any difference.

For what it is worth, I never observed any detrimental effects from running them overnight. The fish all found their sleeping places and the corals for the most part retract, same as if the lights were completely off.

Remember that in the ocean, very little moonlight actually reaches the sand. The Moonlight functions of the lights are "mostly" for us. The light we get from our lights in the moonlight function is MUCH brighter than what would happen in nature.

So, to answer your question specifically. Yes, you can run the moonlight feature with no issues. Is it "better"? The debate is ongoing. IME, I haven't seen that it hurts anything.
Great detail. I may try them on for a few nights but am going to cover 75% of the blue just to allow some darkness.

My only motive is honestly what will be advantageous or helfull to the coral without freaking out the fish.

Will keep an eye out and try it off/on for a but. Really appreciate the reaponse!
 

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I downloaded an Aqua Illumination Prime HD profile that had a schedule set on at 1% blue for most of the night. I turned that off. I don't run night lighting at all. I know some people run this for a few hours then lights out. I think you have to ask yourself if the fish, inverts and/or corals you keep would ever see moonlight at the depth they're at in the wild. I also read some articles that said for the health of inhabitants they need some length of lights out for sleep as well as for the nocturnal creatures to get into their rhythm. Will you run into issues if you run moonlight all night long? Probably not but make sure it's set low (IMO).
 

Jedi1199

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Great detail. I may try them on for a few nights but am going to cover 75% of the blue just to allow some darkness.

My only motive is honestly what will be advantageous or helfull to the coral without freaking out the fish.

Will keep an eye out and try it off/on for a but. Really appreciate the reaponse!


" A few nights" will not show you anything. Find a setup you like and run it for a few months. Then make a minor change, and observe for a month or 2.

The fish, do not need lights at all. We spend all of this money on our lighting setups for coral health alone. The fish would do just fine with ambient daylight and no overhead lighting at all.

My advise is start with a setup that MOST mimics what nature does. In tropical areas, where most of our corals and fish originate, daylight and darkness do not vary much. Pretty much 11-12 hours of light and then dark.
 

LeftyReefer

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I recently upgraded lights that now have a moonlight function... old lights didn't have that feature.
So my tank had ran a long time with no moon lighting and then a few months ago, I added moonlighting.

I've noticed ZERO difference in any of the fish or corals, but I like that I can see into the tank all night long... I can check it before I leave for work early in the morning, and can quickly check to see if there are any issues before I leave. Before I had to get out a red headlamp to check my tanks when the lights were off... now the dim moonlight makes it easy.

None of my nocturnal snails or inverts seemed to mind either. Their day/night routines never changed with the addition of the moonlighting.
 

HaveFishWillTravel

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Your reply was very nice, detailed and cordial. Can't say that about some other folks. I'm new and trying to learn as much as possible and you gave an amazing answer. Truly appreciate your time and care in responding!
Thank you, I appreciate your words. I understand being new, I remember when I first had to figure how to make saltwater. After I filled my aquarium, the salinity was off and I had to somehow figure out how to raise it. I hadn’t done math in what felt like decades as sad as that is to say, it was challenging. So many questions, I get it. That is what this forum is for…asking for help, sharing your successes and the failures so that others don’t stumble into predicaments. For example, knowing what water parameters your animals need for their best survival is tough. Everyone’s aquarium is different. I know that there are ranges that you should stay in, but you gotta figure out what is needed in your environment and definitely do it so that it positively impacts your tank…not the other way around. Keep a sharp eye on your water parameters and write them in a journal. Document the health of your tank every time you do a water change. Monitor and follow up. Check your notes on when the last time you looked into your aquarium and everything was thriving. If stuff starts going sideways, try to get back to where you were. What is hard about it is that over time, the tank matures and needs more or less of something that you hadn’t thought of. Testing with a good test kit as tedious as it sometimes gets, is essential to your success. Understanding it will help you go far and one day, your water will be crystal clear, no crappy algae will be growing and you’ll watch your corals start to propagate. It’s like spring time all year long in an aquarium. Life busts out and blooms, it can’t help itself when it’s healthy. There is always going to be someone who knows
more and is 20 steps ahead of you, but someday, if you stay with it, you will be in a position to start helping others.
F30C92A0-1963-40DB-8EBE-8B72F9DDD53B.jpeg
EACCA726-33AA-4AFB-B2D6-2B6C088ED139.jpeg
 
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BigMikeFlipz

BigMikeFlipz

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Thank you, I appreciate your words. I understand being new, I remember when I first had to figure how to make saltwater. After I filled my aquarium, the salinity was off and I had to somehow figure out how to raise it. I hadn’t done math in what felt like decades as sad as that is to say, it was challenging. So many questions, I get it. That is what this forum is for…asking for help, sharing your successes and the failures so that others don’t stumble into predicaments. For example, knowing what water parameters your animals need for their best survival is tough. Everyone’s aquarium is different. I know that there are ranges that you should stay in, but you gotta figure out what is needed in your environment and definitely do it so that it positively impacts your tank…not the other way around. Keep a sharp eye on your water parameters and write them in a journal. Document the health of your tank every time you do a water change. Monitor and follow up. Check your notes on when the last time you looked into your aquarium and everything was thriving. If stuff starts going sideways, try to get back to where you were. What is hard about it is that over time, the tank matures and needs more or less of something that you hadn’t thought of. Testing with a good test kit as tedious as it sometimes gets, is essential to your success. Understanding it will help you go far and one day, your water will be crystal clear, no crappy algae will be growing and you’ll watch your corals start to propagate. It’s like spring time all year long in an aquarium. Life busts out and blooms, it can’t help itself when it’s healthy. There is always going to be someone who knows
more and is 20 steps ahead of you, but someday, if you stay with it, you will be in a position to start helping others.
F30C92A0-1963-40DB-8EBE-8B72F9DDD53B.jpeg
EACCA726-33AA-4AFB-B2D6-2B6C088ED139.jpeg
Amazing pics! Second pic has a hammer in foreground and a torch in back right? Daydreaming about those in my future build.
 

HaveFishWillTravel

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Amazing pics! Second pic has a hammer in foreground and a torch in back right? Daydreaming about those in my future build.
Yes, that is my Golden Hammer up front and center. He is beautiful. He has a mouth! I actually feed him shrimp and he eats them. I have also fed him pieces of a little fish, the name of the fish escapes me right now, in any event, the Hammer will eat pieces of fish! It’s so cool to watch. I even saw a photo once where a Hammer consumed an entire fish. Some little fish swam a little too close to the Hammer and he snatched it up and devoured it. Not kidding!
Behind it are two more Euphyllia, a Frogspawn and I call the other one, “the Euphyllia”. I don’t know what the actual more detailed name is for “the Euphyllia”.
I took those photos a few months ago and the Frogspawn gets so big that he stings the littler guy and he has almost decimated it. I should have moved him, but moving soft corals is not that easy. They don’t particularly like to be messed with. Try moving an anemone and they will crawl on one foot to exactly where they want to be. Change the water flow or lighting and they will move. Anemones are one of the cooler animals I have ever experienced. I remember the first time my Black Widow Anemone split. He was looking pretty ragged for a couple of days and I thought that I might have lost him. Next thing I see…there were two of them. He had split in the night and was almost done. I got to see him tear himself apart and create another guy that looked just like him.
Amazing experience! I was thrilled to have seen that. Nature at its finest.
 

HaveFishWillTravel

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The ocean is not very bright at night even with a full moon. I am very hesitant to run any sort of moon like on a tank.
Have you ever tried it? I have a Radion XR15 G5 Blue light and you can watch the moon rise and set. The light that it casts in my aquarium is a pale purple. It isn’t at all like a LIGHT comes on. It slowly starts to rise and then sets. It is gradual and pleasing. I migrated all of my lights even in my freshwater tanks to lights that have circadian rhythm. My guess is that it may be part marketing, but they got the idea from Mother Earth. Mother Earth knows what she is doing.
 

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