lunar cycle

[jtoliver]

The guy at my lfs told me today about putting my tank on a lunar cycle by putting in two nightlight bulbs that you turn on and off at night in combination to simulate the lunar cycle. He said that this would make my corals reproduce and would increase the general quality of the tank by simulating the natural ocean environment. This sounds like sound reasoning to me but I want to know if anyone else has tried it and if it is worth the trouble?

 

[clayton]

He is talking out of a hole other than his mouth!! Sexual reproduction has not been achieved in corals kept in captivity apart from those removed from the sea a couple of days before spawning. The triggers for spawning are only just being discovered. It may not just be the lunar positioning, the tide levels may also beinvolved. It sounds like this guy is just trying to get your money.
[This message has been edited by clayton (edited 07-12-2000).]

 

[krazzydart]

sounds like B.S. to me and I think Clayton is right.....

 

[kmr]

I am sure the moons cycle has alot to do with sea life. I don't think it can be fully duplicated in a tank though due to the fact you can't duplicate the gravitational (sp?) effects the moon induces. It wouldn't hurt any to try it anyway. Some people use low watt Atinic blue at night. Some corals feed at night and look cool under the soft blue light. You never know maybe button polyps and such do spread faster with the accent lighting. Let us know what you do and how it works if you do try.

 

[jtoliver]

This guy said that when the light is simulating a full moon that the corals all reliese reproductive stuff (for lack of a better term) that get sucked into his sump and stick to his bio balls and that he actually has taken some of it off and grown corals. this is in his 200gal reef tank. Now, he wasn't trying to sell me anything, he just said that it worked. so i've decided to give it a shot when I get the chance to get a couple of night lights. (what can it hurt.)

 

[reptilicus]

Hi,
if you look at the tanks of people whob are seriosly trying to grow SPS corals, they all have moon bulbs on their tanks. There is a site called the Acropora connection which explains how this can be done. It sounds reasonable, although personally I think sexual reproduction of corals is difficult to acheive, and something that should be left to people with 200-gallon tanks with nothing in them except Acropora or whatever. But give it a go and keep everyone posted.
Tom

 

[kmr]

Astronomy? We all know the moon reflects the sun, but does is filter out ultraviolate(sp) and infared light. Both of these colors can be reflected. Mylar for example will even cause hot spots of ultraviolate. Flat white reflects somewhere around 90% of the spectrum. Just curious as to how the moon doesn't reflect full spectrum. I am not in totall support of the moon bulb idea and I'm sure they mean Atinic not some "moon bulb" but do like to keep an open mind. We are dealing with corals that nobody not even top biologists know a whole lot about. Also the vit. d-3 issue is for mammals isn't it? One more thing, does water filter out the infared with the red (thats in white light) too. Just some ?'s as this is a interesting topic.

 

[kmr]

Thanks. I am still confused about the moon not reflecting light. I have seen rays of light through trees in the forest on nights with a full moon or near full moon. How is this? Also I have tagged alot of shark in Santa Cruz on nights with full moon. The fishing was always better on those nights no matter what species fished for. This has to be due to moonlight exposing schools of baitfish by making them more contrasting to the night sky on brighter nights. I have dove at night and there is more visibility in shallow water on nights with full moon. I think the most important thing the moon does is keeping the earth from wobbeling(sp).

 

[harris]

A ha. I am not the only longwinded board member. It's good to see there is another person who likes to explain every niche of what is discussed.
My Hat's off Sundog!!
As for the moonlight topic. It is still in the air. I know that most underwater animals are somewhat specific when they spawn, choosing night time. But that me be only a result of evolution. Possibly in the past it was not as productive to spawn during the day becasue of all of the animals consuming the eggs or sperms that are released. Wether it deals with moonlight or not ????
If the person is able to truly to get coral to spawn in captivity, then by all means have him call a scientific journal and post his findings. From what everyone else says this has not been duplicated befoer so I would like to be the first.
As far as what he finds on his bio balls at night, the possibilities of what it is could be endless.
"Science doesn't lie, it only proves you right or wrong"
If it's cheap jtoliver try it. no harm in trying.

 

[clayton]

Originally posted by jtoliver:
This guy said that when the light is simulating a full moon that the corals all reliese reproductive stuff (for lack of a better term) that get sucked into his sump and stick to his bio balls and that he actually has taken some of it off and grown corals. this is in his 200gal reef tank. Now, he wasn't trying to sell me anything, he just said that it worked. so i've decided to give it a shot when I get the chance to get a couple of night lights. (what can it hurt.)
If it's true then this guy should call all the marine research stations and public aquariums, scientific bodies etc. I don't think this has ever been done before. He could make himself rich!!!!
Many species of corals and sometimes entire reefs sexual reproduce on the same night once a year. Others sexualy reproduce monthly or less, but always at an exact night. It is thought that the timing follows the lunar cycle. This is probably more to do with gravitational pull than light.

 

[kmr]

I don't believe in full moon myths either, not at all. But you did say it's brighter with a full moon. That was my point exactly. Whether or not corals reproduce by the lunar cycle is the question we can't answer for sure. If it's the content of the light being reflected off the moon that stimulates corals to reproduce no one knows, but you have to admitt there is a measurable amount of light at night although not very intense from the sun reflecting off the moon that increases and decreases with the moons cycle (I should say the earths position relative to the sun and moon) Maybe it's not the content of moon (sun) light but the interuption of darkness there would be without the moon. Then again tanks lit(sp) at night with low wattage atinic blue look nice. I don't do it but my friend does and I like it. For everyone that uses a flashlight at night to watch the critters they wouldn't need one. One more thing, maybe there is something to do with zooxanthellae and the photosynthesis process of it? Once again I don't believe that using low light at night will work miracles. I just don't want to be too fast to shoot it down. Theres too much we don't know about corals to rule that much out.
P.S. The only reason this was debated this much is because you said the moon didn't reflect sunlight.

 

[kmr]

Just wanted to make you guys scroll all the way down here. Fun debate, but I did mis read the reflection bit. Oops!
JT still let us know what happens if you try it.

 

[jtoliver]

it looks like i have caused quite the discussion. I will try to get ahold of this guy to have him explane to me in more detale what this is all about, how it works and where he discovered it. from what I got from what he said it seemed like it didn't have anything to do with the spectrum of lighting, but the presence of light and the proportion of it. He said that on his tank he uses 2 regular old 25 watt light bulbs in combination. Then he told me that I could do the same thing with night lights. Like I said I will try to get ahold of him soon, but his store is 45 min. away and I am quite busy at work right now. My tank is only 37 gal so to make this a scientific experiment I think some of you with bigger tanks should try it as well. Later.

 

[reptilicus]

Sundog and all,
being a University student studying Marine Science with an obvious interest ic corals and coral reefs I can tell you that the phases of the moon almost certainly have an effect on coral spawning. On the Great Barrier Reef, every single coral on the whole reef all spawn at exactly the same time, on a full moon in October/November every single year. Every type of coral along the whole 1000 miles of reef all spawn. It is not possible that the animals just "happen" to spawn every year on a full moon. So the fact that the phases of the moon does have an effect on coral spawning is almost indisputable. What is disputable is exactly what effect this is. The people I have come across with moonbulbs on their tanks (simply normal lightbulbs painted gray) are on controllers so as they lighten and darken exactly with the phases of the moon. Most of these sorts of tanks also have controllers on their tanks to simulate clouds, storms, and so forth as well. Given the limited success of even these advanced hobbyists, you would imagine that a simple light bulb over the tank would not really have much of an impact. However, the fact that we cannot recreate this accurately enough does not detract from the fact that the phases of the moon have a definitive effect on the spawning of corals.
Regards,
Tom

 

[phliguy]

What i propose to do is to
have a perfectly round bulb(like those for vanity mirrors) and paint the mountains and vally areas just like the moon with the overall size replicating the size of the moon
like may be 1 inch diameter.
Then i will take a 1.25 diameter half round
sphere and have it motorized to make it show the different phases of the moon by blocking as rotating around the light bul insync with the reel moon as viewed from the south pacific as averaged long /lat from the differing corals that i have from that area.
And if THAT don't work,....
I'm gonna take a 20 lb sledge hammer and ,...
well,... you get the picture,....
But on a serious note,.....
Do i need to have the bulb tracking across the sky/aquarium also? or just phaseing with it,..
Phil

 

[clayton]

Originally posted by phliguy:
What i propose to do is to
have a perfectly round bulb(like those for vanity mirrors) and paint the mountains and vally areas just like the moon with the overall size replicating the size of the moon
like may be 1 inch diameter.
Then i will take a 1.25 diameter half round
sphere and have it motorized to make it show the different phases of the moon by blocking as rotating around the light bul insync with the reel moon as viewed from the south pacific as averaged long /lat from the differing corals that i have from that area.
And if THAT don't work,....
I'm gonna take a 20 lb sledge hammer and ,...
well,... you get the picture,....
But on a serious note,.....
Do i need to have the bulb tracking across the sky/aquarium also? or just phaseing with it,..
Phil

What if it's got nothing to do with the light at all (which it probably hasnt) and everything to do with the gravitational pull?? Even large (1000s g) that are kept in the open air and are exposed to the lunar cycles, still don't achieve spawning.
BUT if you got a realy, realy tall tank then you could simulate the changing tides and that might work!!! (LOL)

 

[jtoliver]

I set up my lunar cycle simulator (lcs) today. Unfortunately I just missed the full moon. But even so, It does make the tank look cool. If you would like to see, just put a night light on to of your tank.

 

[phliguy]

Is there any consideration to water pressure on corals as in the depth that they
are comfortable naturally in the open ocean?
Would'nt they be able to "know" that they are only a few feet deep, instead of 25/30 ft. or what ever depth that they like?
Do you think that this would make a difference?
Phil

 

[jtoliver]

Well I talked with my fish guy today and he explaned a little more about the lunar cycle. I also gave him this address because he wanted to come on here and explane it. so, I will leave it to him when he gets here.

 

[blacktip]

The original post is the result of telling someone I have been sucessful spawning corals using Lunar Cycle Technology. I just would like to know of the people who have posted doubtful responses how many of you have tried this?..............Didnt think so......if everyone was as stubborn or stupid as these people we would all be living in caves and pulling our women by their hair (flintstones). It has been proven that for whatever reason coral spawning does occur under lunar cycles...this is most evident in the carribean where corals have been known to spawn under certain lunar cycles, however most corals are taken from the indo pacfic, so i guess this wouldn't apply. Corals in the indo pacific spawn generally under full moon condtions about 6 times per year, generally when water temps hit 82 degrees. If you ever get the chance, go scuba diving, it is an incredible sight to see. I, as well as a few other people I am aware of have been able to spawn corals under the condtions of lunar cycling, temp adjustments and current differnetals. The moral to this whole post is just because YOU were not sucessful in spawning....or maybe even keeping corals healthy and alive, this is no reason to doubt another ones sucess. If you don't have knowledge in an area don't speculate on a subject. I have a degree in Marine Science, yet i would never tell someone on an Oil Rig in the middle of the ocean how to do his job. As for calling other institutions....just goes to show how truly ignorant some people are: Bayside Aquarium, Shedd Aquarium, Splash of Life, Holiday Coral, Tennessee Aquarium, and The Mote Marine Aquarium are all institutions who currently have spawning programs in the works and are successfully growing captive born corals. Tropic Marin in Germany has been an instition which has been spawning not only 48 different corals but 169 different species of fish and are currently working on a Reef Shark breeding facility. They are the leaders in captive marine reproduction. Maybe my sucess has not been due to lunar cycles, maybe just good fishkeeping, one thing i can say however, for all those doubting Thomas' guess I am one up on you....I did it and will continue to push the envelope of knowledge whether it is lunar cycles,pulsating currents or differnt lighting i just know it never hurts to try and if someone thinks they have an idea why not jump on the bandwagon......you never know what may happen. Oh and by the way I have also sucessfully bred Percula Clownfish, Cortez Turbo Snails, and Hermies...should I call Ripleys' Believe It or Not