moonlight?

[josh f]

How do I do it? Is it a certain type of bulb? Incandescent? What?

 

[tanker newbie]

i cant answer ur question, but i can add to it though, i have a smartlight(55 watt) and bought a dimmer that works great, it can cover from practily no light to the full ammount, would it be okay to turn it to the lowest setting(like a moon light) and leave it on all night?

 

[panchito]

I think what most people have is a red light for night viewing, I just set one up, just have to get a bulb like 13 watts It was it needs,I am pretty sure you can leave that light on all night on the lowest setting, it is always good to leave some kind of light on for the fish because in the wild the moon shines so there is never total darkness

 

[pootietang#1]

What about when it's cloudy? LOL, I know what you mean!

 

[coralbeauty]

I added moonlighting a couple of weeks ago. I did several searches of several different reef sites and I found that the most common way was with little inexpenisve nightlights. I used the type with photocells so they come on when my VHO goes out. I used blue christmas light bulbs that are 7 watts each. So I have a total of 14 watts in my 55 gallon reef. I read that if you use the type that are painted rather than clear that the paint begins to wear off and the lght gets a little brigher each night. Then you replace the bulb each month and start the cycle over. You do need to be careful to not let any of the paint fall into the water. The nightlights come with a protective clear cover. you just leave that cover over the bulb. So I kept tis on to keep any paint chips from falling into the tank. Also, this is not the most water tight system so you do need to be careful. I connected it to my GFI circut.
It is really cool looking and it only cost $5.
Good luck,
Connie

 

[nm reef]

for my 55 reef I use 2 15 watt 03 no bulbs on a dimmer.....installed them in the canopy........basically set the dimmer to full on with full moon and gradually dimmer as the moon cycles.....personally I love the look.....probably don't do much for the tank but I like it

 

[up north hermit]

I, too, took the elcheapo route. And it works terrific.
Wal-Mart---$5 bucks. A flat indiglow nite lite, that the actual light is round, disk measures about 3" diameter. Perfect moon. Beautiful color. Sends a "glow" across the entire reef.
I mounted it on the back upper left of the tank, on the glass (since its flat easy to do). Looks awesome after all your lights are out. Strong enough to see all your nocturnals creepin' around.
HTH
Hermit