Black Light versus Lunar Light

[Teelie]

I got a pair of lunar lights for my 10 gallon Kuhli tank today and wasn't impressed with the brightness. To be fair, it's still late afternooon/early evening but there is no sun, it's raining here and with all the lights out I can barely see the bottom of the 10. I tried a black light strip I have and it was worse. Just the very top of the tank was seeing the light.

That is until I tried the lunar light on my other 10 (still being set up). It's empty of fish but has water and in another room with a light fixture that only half works. The light was still dim but there was interference from a window next to it so I can't see how well it'll light up yet. So far though, it looks to be promising. I think with a fully working light fixture (ie; both bulbs) and proper darkness, it will be sufficient to compete with the black light.

And now the black light test on my 30 Cory tank. It was dim and half the size needed for the tank but it looked nice as well. The difference is I suspect the tannins in the 10 which are absent in the 30. I have a piece of wood still leeching tannins in my 10g Kuhli but none in the 30. So I went and bought a proper sized black light bulb for my 30 and did the comparison test. I have another identical 30 with tannins from wood leeching and it did the same as my 10, barely any light hitting more than a third of the way down. The "clear" 30 on the other hand did nicely. The light reached the bottom but didn't startle or bother the fish either.

So the ultimate test will be tomorrow night when I do a water change on the 10 and the 30 with tannins and switch the lights on later at night when it'll be totally dark. So far it appears to be regardless of the type of bulb, black or lunar, having tannins greatly reduces the effect.

 

[Teelie]

These aren't great. They're taken in pitch black and with me holding the camera, I haven't got a tripod and it's a pain to get good pictures without the flash, which defeats the purpose of taking them in their natural lighting but it gives you an idea of what black light looks like and lunar light. Unfortunately the lunar one comes out much poorer than it really is. The lighting is dim but viewable. I'll try again tomorrow night to get some better pictures of the lunar lighting.

 

[daniel.voyce]

I had the same problem, i dont have a strip light for my tank because I dont have a lid for it, so I have a fluorescent lamp against one side of it, I bought a black light fluorescent bulb for it and it wont even light up one side of it - im not sure whether its the bulb or just the light.

My mom used to have a blue light and a black light in her tank - it really accentuated the colours - especially on the neons

 

[Teelie]

The black light actually lights up rather nicely from the top. I just tried the lunar lights with the lid off the 10 and it did a surprisingly good job lighting up the 30 where ever I put it. I'm thinking a dual pair of 10 gallon hoods with lunar lights or four lunar tube lights in a DIY lighting set up would do the trick.

I'm kind of impressed with how much better the lunar lights show up in a larger tank with clear water compared to slightly tan water with a wider spread and shorter distance to the bottom.

They do both give off different colorations and are able to light up the bottom of the tank yet are still quite soft. The black light comes out more a blue color obviously from the pictures but the lunar lights are more of a dim lighting like you would expect though not quite the whitish-blue of true moonlight.

Personally, I am somewhat torn over which does the job better.

 

[OohFeeshy]

Do the khulis seem to come out more? When I actually get a proper hood for the 15g (mumble mumble, yes I'll get round to it...) I'd want some lighting for the khulis to be seen more in. Lets face it, they're cute as hell, I can get a discount at about the only shop that sells them, I see rather more going into there in the future.

 

[Teelie]

One of them definitely came out, the others weren't so noticable but I still need to do another water change to clear the water up even more. I think it will improve the chances of seeing them as they are mostly nocturnal.