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12/17/2009, 12:43 AM | #1 |
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Lighting time, 6x54watt T5
I have my lights setup for dusk/dawn, in three steps. What should the timing be on the timers? I have been battling algae and want a reduced period to help, also I only keep softies.
So how long should I have each light on for? |
12/17/2009, 12:51 AM | #2 |
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I also have a 6 bulb setup. I have 4 Atinic PLus and 2 Aquablue plus. My tank is still fairly new with a few LPS and a few softies. I run 2hours of 2 of the Atinics then 5 hours all lights then 2 hours atinics followed by 2 hours moonlight. Worked pretty good for me so far and everything is healthy.
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12/17/2009, 01:20 AM | #3 |
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I would stagger them 2hrs apart. 12pm 2 bulbs on, 2 pm 4 bulbs on, 4pm all 6 bulbs on and then in reverse.. I only have 2 switches so 2 4 bulbs on for 2 hours then all 8 for 6 and then just the 4 again for 1.5hrs
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12/17/2009, 02:02 AM | #4 |
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How long in total?
something like: 6 hrs full 8 hrs dimmer 10 hrs dusk/dawn ??????? |
12/17/2009, 12:57 PM | #5 |
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bump
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12/17/2009, 01:05 PM | #6 |
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Many maintenance people only allow 4 hours of daylight on customer tanks because of the algae issue. Then they use 4-8 of actnics to allow viewing, but cut down on the algal growth. Something to think about....
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12/17/2009, 01:09 PM | #7 |
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IMHO, Algae issues should be solved by combatting nutrient issues, especially in tanks like the OP's containing photosynthetic life (soft corals in this case.)
Arrowhead, the schedule you posted should be just fine.
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Inconveniencing marine life since 1992 "It is my personal belief that reef aquaria should be thriving communities of biodiversity, representative of their wild counterparts, and not merely collections of pretty specimens growing on tidy clean rock shelves covered in purple coralline algae." (Eric Borneman) |
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