ETCs_Lady Posted June 29, 2015 Share Posted June 29, 2015 I recently upgraded my BC29 with RapidLED Retro kit: 4x 4,000K, 4x Lime, 12x Royal Blue, 4x Cool Blue - 12 Royals on 1 driver, others on second driver with Storm Controller. When I purchased the kit, I had BTAs in the tank. I decided to change themes to Rock Flower Anemones instead. Current daylight settings: Blues 109 of the 255 Whites/Others 89 of the 255 Current nighttime settings: Blues 4 Whites 0 Current tank stock: Randall Goby and Tiger shrimp FlameHawk Purple Firefish 6 RFAs 2 Dendros couple of zoas and other coral My question is the moonlight setting. Last night I saw my firefish out at 2 am. Is it ok for the moonlight to be that bright where he would stay out? I have read that RFAs like the moonlight setting and might spawn by it. What is best for my tank and it's occupants? Thanks! Link to comment
HarryPotter Posted June 29, 2015 Share Posted June 29, 2015 Omg I can't read that font.....lets repost this I recently upgraded my BC29 with RapidLED Retro kit: 4x 4,000K, 4x Lime, 12x Royal Blue, 4x Cool Blue - 12 Royals on 1 driver, others on second driver with Storm Controller. When I purchased the kit, I had BTAs in the tank. I decided to change themes to Rock Flower Anemones instead. Current daylight settings: Blues 109 of the 255 Whites/Others 89 of the 255 Link to comment
ETCs_Lady Posted June 29, 2015 Author Share Posted June 29, 2015 Omg I can't read that font.....lets repost this Sorry, I hit post somehow before I was done! Link to comment
ETCs_Lady Posted June 30, 2015 Author Share Posted June 30, 2015 Nobody can help me here? Please! Link to comment
Horerczy Posted June 30, 2015 Share Posted June 30, 2015 Do the occupants look unhappy with the light? If they aren't then I wouldn't worry. Link to comment
ajmckay Posted June 30, 2015 Share Posted June 30, 2015 Well I'm not familiar with the controller or your light so I can't say how bright "4" is, but if you think it might be too bright then it quite possibly is too bright. Does the firefish normally hide out in a cave or something and now you're noticing that it's out all night? So maybe experiment with lowering it a bit and see if the firefish hides again or if it still hangs out in the open. Link to comment
Horerczy Posted June 30, 2015 Share Posted June 30, 2015 It's out of 255 so 4 would be about 1.5% brightness. Link to comment
Benny314 Posted June 30, 2015 Share Posted June 30, 2015 How many blues are lit at 4 out of 255 (1.5%). I have 3 3w blues as my moon light channel that runs a moon cycle. At full moon the 3 LEDs are limited to 10% brightness in my controller settings (god knows what that is in PWM out of 255). At full moon my tank is fairly bright. What I go with is as long as the coral goes into it's night feeding mode (retract/close up or extend feeders) all is good. Fish have nocturnal activity patterns in the wild and in our tanks, without moon lighting in the tank you can't see it, doesn't mean it's not happening. Link to comment
ETCs_Lady Posted July 1, 2015 Author Share Posted July 1, 2015 Do the occupants look unhappy with the light? If they aren't then I wouldn't worry. I do not believe so. I was just shocked to see him out at night. Well I'm not familiar with the controller or your light so I can't say how bright "4" is, but if you think it might be too bright then it quite possibly is too bright. Does the firefish normally hide out in a cave or something and now you're noticing that it's out all night? So maybe experiment with lowering it a bit and see if the firefish hides again or if it still hangs out in the open. I'm a real newb at nighttime lights. This is my first controller. Otherwise my tanks were always off all night long. Firefish is pretty outgoing. Only hides if you really get close to him. He won't go hide if you just stick you hand in the tank. It's out of 255 so 4 would be about 1.5% brightness. Yes, that's right. I think. How many blues are lit at 4 out of 255 (1.5%). I have 3 3w blues as my moon light channel that runs a moon cycle. At full moon the 3 LEDs are limited to 10% brightness in my controller settings (god knows what that is in PWM out of 255). At full moon my tank is fairly bright. What I go with is as long as the coral goes into it's night feeding mode (retract/close up or extend feeders) all is good. Fish have nocturnal activity patterns in the wild and in our tanks, without moon lighting in the tank you can't see it, doesn't mean it's not happening. It is split into 2. So, 12 royal blues are on at a #4 out of #255 at full moon (quarter). The controller recommended 28 for all days of moon cycle. So, that it changes a degree each night. But, that was too BRIGHT... at least to me. So, I did 4, so that it'll change each quarter moon. I only noticed the fish. So, I will have to check at night to see what the corals are doing. Special Thanks to you all for answering and helping me. I don't want to hurt any fish but want my RFAs to spawn if that is truly what makes them do it. I will play around and see if what I find out and let you all know. Link to comment
Benny314 Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 That's a lot of LEDs, my 3 are over a 3X2X2 tank and I think it might be a bit much, I'd of probably gotten away with 2 but I have 3 arrays so I put 1 moon light on each one for the interest of symmetry and my OCD lol. Glad we could help anyway. Does your moon lighting get brighter and dimmer over 28 days or is it just constantly on. It's the brightening and dimming (giving the effect of new moon to full moon) that encourages spawning and natural behaviour from what I can see. But it's still up for debate as to the value of having it in a tank situation. In the ocean it's not just light intensity that changes. Full moon brings bigger tides and temperatures and nutrients in the water fluctuate which all lead to ideal spawning conditions and animals use as cues to spawn. Good luck with your spawning effort though. Link to comment
plainrt Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 No moonlights here and had two spawns from my flower nems recently. Link to comment
ajmckay Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 Is a spawn really worth promoting in a typical reef tank though? It seems like any potential for offspring would quickly be taken care of by filtration, corals, & CUC... Note that I'm not at all familiar with the procedure for raising RFA spawn, just an observation... It sounds like something I would also try to do - but without thinking of what I would do if they actually did spawn Good luck! Link to comment
Benny314 Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 My first thought would be make sure your skimmer cup or collection container is always empty as spawning inverts often cause skimmers to go nuts lol. After that yes generally all you get is free fish/coral food. Saying that though I seem to be gaining what I assume are Mysis shrimp in my sump. I brought a few live packs a while ago and I've had one swimming around my mangrove roots for a while now, yesterday I noticed 2 more in there. Link to comment
jamescstein Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 Is a spawn really worth promoting in a typical reef tank though? It seems like any potential for offspring would quickly be taken care of by filtration, corals, & CUC... Note that I'm not at all familiar with the procedure for raising RFA spawn, just an observation... It sounds like something I would also try to do - but without thinking of what I would do if they actually did spawn Good luck! With RFA's the male spawns and the female takes in the sperm for lack of a better word. The 'babies' grow inside the female nem and she will eventually eject them. They are tiny but not pelagic at that stage. Link to comment
ETCs_Lady Posted July 1, 2015 Author Share Posted July 1, 2015 Thanks everyone! I looked last night at almost full moon light. The ones that needed to were closing up shop still. So, I think I am good. Your help has been very appreciated! Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 I have no lights on at all at night and they spawn regularly and they've done so at all cycles of the moon, 3 rfas here, another 3 there. Don't need to do anything fancy. Link to comment
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