Moonlighting

[funkyhoney]

I'm a little confused on the whole topic, does what is called a 'moonlight' different to a blue halogen light (designed for growing coral)?

If so (and I'm guessing it is) what are the actual differences, are they commercially available and are they similar and/or the same to nocturnal terrarium lights?

Thanks for any help

 

[Rooster]

The coral lamps are VERY bright.... and are not what "moonlight" is about.
The term comes from , errr the light of the moon ! IE dim blue/white light. Mostly homebrewed (not sure there are any commercial kit !) from PC case upgrade bits, low output "cold cathode" tubes, available in several colours, blue and red being the most popular - these run on 12vDC so need a plug in the wall power supply, and can be mackled together quite cheaply.
Another alternative is to use LEDs, again running on low voltage DC power supply.

The idea being that when the lights go out, you have a low level of illumunation for viewing the fish at "night" - it may also lower the shock of some fish being plunged into instant darkness.

Hope this clears it up, if you fancy a dabble I can supply more advice, or even parts !

 

[funkyhoney]

Ah I see, thanks a lot

I have a couple of cathodes lying around and at work we sell plenty of LED submersible lights; so basically they are just dim lights? It's not really a big issue for me as my fish don't get turned off until about 10pm so I just view them with 1 of the 2 halogen lights from about 6pm onwards after feeding.

I really just wanted to clear it up as I have blue coral lights (along with daytime lights) as it makes my tanks look a lot better, I'll probably set up a few simple LED or possibly cathode lights on some future tanks in a more open part of the house.