# [Wet Thumb Forum]-Night Light and plant health



## docjosh (May 12, 2004)

I am a total newbie here and new to the plant aquarium so i apologize if i get this post wrong somehow...
I have always wanted to watch night life in my tank so i installed a very small blue flourecent light (bulb is not much larger than a string of spaghetti)which throws off a pale but still somewhat bright light at night. My question is do you think that small amounts of light at night might throw off the photosynthesis cycles of the plants and not allow night time reverse synthesis? Does anyone else have experience with night time lighting?
Thanks! ~Josh


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## docjosh (May 12, 2004)

I am a total newbie here and new to the plant aquarium so i apologize if i get this post wrong somehow...
I have always wanted to watch night life in my tank so i installed a very small blue flourecent light (bulb is not much larger than a string of spaghetti)which throws off a pale but still somewhat bright light at night. My question is do you think that small amounts of light at night might throw off the photosynthesis cycles of the plants and not allow night time reverse synthesis? Does anyone else have experience with night time lighting?
Thanks! ~Josh


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## bebop (Jul 8, 2003)

I dont call it night light most people will call it moon light, from what I heard is that they encourage spawning and nothing to do with the plants, this is just to have the effects of the light of full moon over the tank. I have 2 in my 29 tank which the bulb is something like they use on laser pointers but white not blue.


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## alexperez (Oct 8, 2004)

I had 16 blue LEDs over my 55 gallon and
had to cut it down to 6. I noticed the fish where still active at night under the 16 LEDs.
And from what I have read, folks recomend that the you keep the watts of the lights low. Plants do need a period of no light, So I have my DIY moon light on a timer to come on 2 hours before the main lights and go off 2 hours after.


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## Paul Higashikawa (Mar 18, 2004)

Just outta curiosity, did all your plants grow differently, perhaps better, when you added moon lights at night? 



Paul


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## gsmollin (Feb 3, 2003)

> quote:
> 
> Originally posted by AlexPerez:
> I had 16 blue LEDs over my 55 gallon and
> ...


I noticed a similar result, using 10 white LEDs for moonlighting. The Oscar was actively hunting, to the discomfort of the platies. Moonlight really seemed to turn him on! Even with the dimmer turned all the way down, he was busy lunging at things. When I let the tank go dark, he goes to sleep.


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## countrymouse (Jul 6, 2003)

How long are you planning to leave the Oscar in with the platies?


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## jpmtotoro (Feb 13, 2003)

LOL sounds like he is planning on leaving the oscar in with the platies until there are no more platies!


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## gsmollin (Feb 3, 2003)

When I put the Oscar in there, with the platies, there were about 60 platies in the tank. Now the Oscar is much bigger, and there are about 25 platies. This is the prey : predator ratio one finds in the wild. The platies are still reproducing, and the young can still find shelter in all the plants, so they grow to adulthood.

I don't use the nightlight too much because it seems to instill night-hunting in the Oscar. The platies are trying to get their sleep, so they can give him a run for his money during the day.


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## countrymouse (Jul 6, 2003)

Well, that's interesting to say the least!

Unless I'm mistaken, when the Oscar gets fairly large, it will uproot everything. They tend to arrange their tanks to suit themselves. 

Interesting.


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## gsmollin (Feb 3, 2003)

I haven't noticed that, but that may be because the pl*co was already uprooting everything. I have two kinds of plants: strong rooters, and floating.


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