Lighting periods

[DaveMorris1]

I'm looking for recommendations for lighting times. I have a 65w actinic PC, a 65w 10K PC, and two 400w MH. Right now I am running the actinic from 9:00am 9:00pm. The 10K runs from 10:00am to 8:00pm. And the MH's run from 1:00pm to 5:00pm. Should the halides be on longer? What are some opinions on lighting periods? What about moon LED's?

 

[kennyfish]

I run moonlights 9pm-8am / actinic 8am-9pm / daylight 9am-8pm

I do not have any MH so I cant help with that but I thought it was pretty cool that the other hours were the same :lol: My moonlight and actinic run off a coralife timer so they switch together. And the daylight runs on a seperate timer so that I can adjust it to help with any algae troubles.

I have been thinking of asking about the duration of moonlight. Hopefully when people answer your question I will find my answer in there too.

[edit] I just read your other thread. This is a new tank right? If it is still cycling I'd leave the MH off to reduce algae untill it you need them for light demanding corals.

 

[S!mon]

I run my MH for 8 hours daily. I've got my atinics running in the same manner you do with the sunrise/suset period.

 

[trido]

I run my VHOs ( 2- actinic 1-10k) from 8A.M. till 9P.M. My two 250 MH from 9:30 A.M. till 7:30 P.M.
Studies have shown that corals only photosynsthesise light during a few hours of the day so my running my MH 10 hours a day is likely a waste of electricity. Some experienced reefers have cut their MH back to about six hours a day without noticable effects on the corals.

I would recommend that you up your MH lighting period by two hours minimum.

 

[DaveMorris1]

Thanks...I will do that.

 

[Anonymous]

I run my actinics for 12 hours (11 am-11pm) and the MH for 6 hours each with a about a 4 hour over lap (MH1 2pm-8pm MH2 4pm-10pm). Having them staggered maens I only have to fight the massive heat input from having them both on for a few hours. So far I have not needed a chiller. Temp runs between 77.5F and 79.0F.