My ebbs and flows

Mg4life0331 · 02/23/2014, 05:16 PM

So when I finally got cycled, I used to have 10 hours of full lights and 2 hours each of sunlight and sunset. I had a pretty good amount of film algae going on, none of the nuisance algae such as hair etc. At the time, my nitrates were fairly high getting close to 20 ppm.

I've went to 8 hours of daytime and still at 2 hours each of sunrise and sunset. My nitrates are way down to the point of non existent. However, it seems my pod population has dwindled some as they used to hang out on the glass eating away. You could see lots of them on the rocks.

Should I go back to a longer light cycle? Am I doing it wrong now? I do have a tail spot blenny, seems happy picking at algae on the rocks. I don't want to starve him, and I wonder what it could do for my corals with more light.

I have a 48" 4 bulb t5 setup. All ATI bulbs, 2 blue plus, a purple plus and a coral plus.

julie180 · 02/24/2014, 07:53 AM

8 hours is probably fine. If you want to see what would happen with more light, do it. Might keep a journal to see what differences in growth and algae happen.

Mg4life0331 · 02/24/2014, 01:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by julie180

8 hours is probably fine. If you want to see what would happen with more light, do it. Might keep a journal to see what differences in growth and algae happen.

I guess I need to search what people do with their own lights. Not many wanting to chime in right now.

julie180 · 02/24/2014, 08:33 PM

There is no one answer. You have to find out what works for your tank. What works for me might not work for the next guy. That's one of the challenges of this hobby, so many variables and opinions

FWIW, I have a 180 tank full of softies, frogspawns, mushrooms, a rock anemone and a bunch of frilly anemones and I run 4 t-5 bulbs that are over a year old for 9 hours. Most would say the bulbs need to be replaced and I need more light, but it works for me.

02/23/2014, 05:16 PM	#1
Mg4life0331 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: Tallahassee Posts: 353	My ebbs and flows So when I finally got cycled, I used to have 10 hours of full lights and 2 hours each of sunlight and sunset. I had a pretty good amount of film algae going on, none of the nuisance algae such as hair etc. At the time, my nitrates were fairly high getting close to 20 ppm. I've went to 8 hours of daytime and still at 2 hours each of sunrise and sunset. My nitrates are way down to the point of non existent. However, it seems my pod population has dwindled some as they used to hang out on the glass eating away. You could see lots of them on the rocks. Should I go back to a longer light cycle? Am I doing it wrong now? I do have a tail spot blenny, seems happy picking at algae on the rocks. I don't want to starve him, and I wonder what it could do for my corals with more light. I have a 48" 4 bulb t5 setup. All ATI bulbs, 2 blue plus, a purple plus and a coral plus.

02/24/2014, 07:53 AM	#2
julie180 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Raymore, MO Posts: 2,556	8 hours is probably fine. If you want to see what would happen with more light, do it. Might keep a journal to see what differences in growth and algae happen.

02/24/2014, 08:33 PM	#4
julie180 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Raymore, MO Posts: 2,556	There is no one answer. You have to find out what works for your tank. What works for me might not work for the next guy. That's one of the challenges of this hobby, so many variables and opinions FWIW, I have a 180 tank full of softies, frogspawns, mushrooms, a rock anemone and a bunch of frilly anemones and I run 4 t-5 bulbs that are over a year old for 9 hours. Most would say the bulbs need to be replaced and I need more light, but it works for me.