blue light

[rossi]

hi guys,
i have 6 tubes on my reef tank five wht t5 and one acadia blue,what i want to no is does anybody leave there blue lights on for 24 hrs,my lfs told me they leave there blue lights on 24 hrs seven days a week,they say in the wild the reef is not under total darkness my blue comes on 1 hr before my whites and stays on for 1 hr after they have gone off,what do you think,is this good or bad practice. :?

 

[jandree22]

i'm not gonna comment whether or not this is helpful/harmful in the aquarium, because I honestly don't know that... BUT, that line he gave you about the reef in the wild never being completely dark is a bunch of bologna! Okay, so maybe when there's a Full moon casting a glow on the reef there's some light, but I'd like to know how the hell there's any light during a new moon, completely away from any ambient light, under 20-30 feet of water?!! Trust me, reefs get dark at night :lol:

IMO, the whole blue light thing at night is just for asthetics

 

[Anonymous]

There is nothing wrong with what you do.

> in the wild the reef is not under total darkness

It is very difficult to get "total" darkness unless it is in a reef cave during new moon. But the amount of light in reef during full moon is so dim that even a 1 watt night night is too bright. Moonlight simulation is nothing but hip, IMHO.

 

[cdeakle]

Current light cycle is good.

I also have my actinic (blue) lights on 1 hour before and 1 hour after my MH lights (white)

-puff

 

[grav]

5 to 1 seems low, most have half blue half white.

I like the 1 watt moon light, and I THINK it makes my LPS corals open up more, but I KNOW that I never saw them open till I got it.

My guess it that it is hype, but I like the look.

 

[K9coral]

Hey guys - just a thought !

If the Fish Master at the LFS tells you to leave any of your lights on ALL the time, think about this -

The longer the light stays on -

The shorter the light lives -

The faster you go buy new lights from LFS -

The faster the Fish Master retires :!:

 

[Anonymous]

The blue light is for a dawn dusk effect not a moon light effect. If you want moon light add one of those little moon light things. You can do it but you are just wasting cash.

 

[NewMan]

Hey guys - just a thought !

If the Fish Master at the LFS tells you to leave any of your lights on ALL the time, think about this -

The longer the light stays on -

The shorter the light lives -

The faster you go buy new lights from LFS -

The faster the Fish Master retires :!: