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Hi guys

the date for 4' setup is getting closer, and i'm getting a few more ideas.

How does moonlighting affect the growth of plants if at all?
Is it detrimental?
Will it upset the CO2/O2 thingy if I'm running CO2 during the day and CO2 and an airstone at night?
Does it just plain look daggy?

Any opinions appreciated

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

I have it, like it I don't think it affects the plants at all isn't it the "wrong" light for plants? don'tknow about co2 tho, why would it?

I don't know if you know about the spectrum thingy (i don't)but I can't find one for the blue moon lights and so figure that it doesn't effect anything.

this is the one I have.

[link=http://www.fishfurfeather.com/lights-fluorescent-tubes-c-1_47_104.html]http://www.fishfurfeather.com/lights-fluorescent-tubes-c-1_47_104.html" style="COLOR: #000040[/link]

it is certainly true that shy fish come out more.

I did read some where that they don't "see" the light?

GFG



_______________________________________
Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself.
Harvey S. Firestone

My expert opinion is that it will kill the plants!

-- Gomer

P.S. It won't do anything. If it does, it won't be detrimental.

'Daggy"? I'm not sure what daggy means but it sounds like not good. Think I like it, will add to repertoire. I think they looked good in Littlefishes 125g tank, he showed a picture. I wish I could add moonlights to my 10g and 25g, although none of my fish are shy, they do have interesting nightlives.

"If you're afraid you'll make a mistake, you won't make anything."
-Family Circus

Moonlighting has no effect on plants for me either. I have used cold cathode and LED in both red and blue.

"I wish I could add moonlights to my 10g and 25g"

I am sure some commercial fixture will fit, but DIY definitely will, is easy, cheap, and there are many HowTos on the internet. I find fish are spooked least by red LED, fwiw. I "tested" by observing their reaction from complete darkness to moonlighting.

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http://justanothertank.com

I have several blue led's I think I may go ahead and setup some of them for my tank that has fish active at night, and the one whos fish are always active. I am just going to have to add it to my light hoods

Calla,

Here are my opinions:

“How does moonlighting affect the growth of plants if at all?” – Not at all
”Is it detrimental?” - No
”Does it just plain look daggy?” – Not knowing exactly what daggy means, I dare to assume it has something to do with viewer impression and as such I would say it is up to the individual’s preference
”Will it upset the CO2/O2 thingy if I'm running CO2 during the day and CO2 and an airstone at night?” – Well, here we have to work a little . Why do you run CO2 and an airstone at night? Wouldn’t both cancel each other out (more or less)? But the light will not influence any of these.

I have my lights on for only about an hour after “lights out”. I see no need to run it all night. I have fun to look in the tank once in a while when 6 LEDs create beautiful cone-shaped light sections in the tank.

An image in action can be found [link=in the middle of this Page]http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/forums/Planted%20Aquaria/64425_3.html" style="COLOR: #ff6633[/link].

Gomer: Please elaborate on the “My expert opinion is that it will kill the plants!” as I would like to know what draws you to that conclusion.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Hi,
I've seen a few tanks that use the moon lighting, and
I think they are neat. That being said, especially in
a planted tank, I'd run the regular lighting for 10 hours
and then switch to the moon lighting for 2 and then
complete darkness (no tank lights) for the remainder of
the time. That gives everything a "time to rest."

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Remember that the extremely slow shutter speed (&gt; 5 sec) makes it look much brighter as it really is

Have fun

LITTLE_FISH attached this image:

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

LF, yeah, they would cancel each other out, thats the point. I panic that I'd wake up one morning and all my fish will have suffocated overnight. I have spoken to a few local wet-thumbs and several have suggeted having an airstone on low on a timer that comes on overnight to cancel out the CO2 while the plants aren't using it as much. Possibly not the most efficient way of running things, but its less scary for a wimp like me.


And you guys don't use the term "daggy"? I am going to have great difficulty explaining the meaning without sounding bad, but it is derived from the word "dag" which is a grotty bit of wool near a sheep's tail. Common usage has it meaning something along the lines of ordinary, lower-class, etc.


Hmm, it certainly looks pretty swish. I might give it a shot



For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Calla,

I somehow made the assumption that you would not run a DIY CO2 on a 4&#8217; tank and that then you would be in the possession of a solenoid. I guess one or the other is not true. Otherwise, nothing would be easier than to hook the solenoid to a timer that turns the CO2 flow off after lights out.

But I am just as scared as you when it comes to risking anything in my tanks, except of course if I don&#8217;t know that my actions might have fatal effects. But that is where FP comes in and fortunately I didn&#8217;t have any such event in quite a while .

And I don&#8217;t care if my disco lights look low-class (aka daggy) . Once in a while it is a nice thing to look at, it somehow changes the perspectives inside the tank.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

i have one from odyssea...it can be submerge, anyway, no...it does not affect nor detrimental to plants...it gives u extra viewing enjoyment in ur tank.

i let my co2 running 24/7...i dont see my fish gasping for air at anytime during the nite...im more worried about pH flactuation.

tankie,

Actually, it would be interesting to find out what causes a greater ph fluctuation, turning CO2 off at night or keeping it on.

We all know that plants produce CO2 at night, although probably not in the quantities that some of us (including myself) add it during the day (I am at around 30ppm).

I would guess that leaving the CO2 on over night, having a high concentration during the day, and being heavily planted could push the ph further down than a turned off CO2 would allow the ph to rise.

And remember that a change from 6.6 to 6.8 (CO2 off) is not the same as a change from 6.6 to 6.4 (CO2 on), as the scale is logarithmic, the latter is a much greater difference in acidity.

Ingo

PS: Maybe this should have been a seperate topic then, don't want to highjack Calla's light question, sorry about that.

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Yeah LF whats the deal TOPIC HIJACKER!!!!!!!!!

Hahahaha, I am kidding I don't think your to far of topic the question involved CO2 but I guess it's up to the topic starter to descide that. You know I had a thought if your using co2 injection into the intake of a filter whats to stop you from adding 02 at the same time ergo saturating pure o2 and co2 at the same time? This is off topic and I am being a hijacker sorry.

Hi,
Generally speaking, you do not have to worry at all about
the O2 level in a tank during the lights out hours.

Many do, but truly there is no reason. The sure way to
tell is to get up one morning before the lights come on
and look at the fish. IF they are all gasping at the
surface, THEN you do need to add an air stone. The fish
should look like a tank full of feeders in your LFS right
after a new shipment has been dumped in. You would have
to have your tank way, way, way over stocked for this to
happen.

With a DIY CO2 system, you have no place to vent the
CO2 that is created during the "off" hours. You can't
turn the CO2 off and on as one can with a bottled system.
In a bottled system they use a solenoid connected to a
timer. When the lights go out the solenoid shuts off the
gas flow and when the lights come on, the solenoid opens
allowing gas to flow into the tank.

Some use a computer, called a controller, that has ports
for a pH probe and other devices and has a connection
for a solenoid.
Then the pH limits are set up. For instance you want to
keep the pH at 6.8 and you don't want it to drop below,
say 6.7 nor climb above 6.9. You set those limits on the
controller, and turn it on. The controller will turn the
CO2 on and off keeping the pH within the preset limits
24/7.

Some folks turn off the CO2 at night because they feel it
is a waste of good gas as the plants shift from using CO2
to using O2 at night. They feel that this "stretches" the
length of time that a tank of CO2 will last.

Personally, I run my 24/7/365. The tank lasts for 7-8
months and only costs 9$ and some change to refill. No big
deal, and, my tank is lightly stocked so no worries about
needing an air stone at night.

Frank


Last edited by FRANK at 30-Nov-2005 11:23

-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Thanks for explaining 'daggy' and is 'swish' good? Because I think it looks swish as well. Anyway, go for it and let us know how it turns out, post pics then teach us some new words. I love the way moonlighting looks and I think it is the totally wrong spectrum of light to confuse plants. The moon doesn't cause them to start using CO2 in the middle of the night and the moonlights are supposed to simulate moonlight. I'll let the experts handle the CO2 questions and then I'll learn from them as well!

"If you're afraid you'll make a mistake, you won't make anything."
-Family Circus