Light schedule

rad1687 · 04/04/2012, 05:57 PM

I have a mixed reef 90 gallon will an 8 bulb T5 fixture that is putting out 350- 190 par in the top half of the tank (where all of the high demand species are located). How many hours should I be running all 8 bulbs and how long should I run just the blues? Thanks!

huseman808 · 04/04/2012, 06:59 PM

I run

9am-10am: Blues
10am-7pm: Blues and Whites
7pm-8pm: Blues
8pm-10am: LED moonlights.

thegrun · 04/04/2012, 07:15 PM

I would go 10 - 12 hours on the actinics, 6 hours on the main lights.

rad1687 · 04/05/2012, 09:49 AM

Any other input?!

cody6766 · 04/05/2012, 11:06 AM

You'll get a lot of opinions with slightly different lighting schedules. It's more technique than procedure. Here's my take on lighting schedules:

First, when are you near the tank? I'm home in the evenings and nights, so I run my lights on a later schedule. When I was running T5s, the blues fired at 1130 and went off 1130pm. My day lights came on at noon and went out at 1100pm. Now that I'm running MH, it's the same 12hrs without the actinics. Some do a little more, some a little less. Some run long actinic-only times, some shorter.

Based on others' experiences with 6hr daylight cycles, it seems that you can run your lights anywhere from 6-12hrs and keep your corals happy. I like the tank lit when I'm home and around it, so I run mine longer. My schedule accomodates my weekend and weekday goings on. When I was waiting tables and not getting home until 1100 or later, I had my lights run from noon until 1230 and everything behaved just as it does now. The key is to have adequate lighting while it's on and not to really short change the corals.

ldallen95219 · 04/05/2012, 12:53 PM

I run mine similar to Huseman. I have a 75 gal with 6 T5s, have 90% LFS corals and 2 hard corals. My schedule is as follows:

6:30 a.m. - 7:00 a.m. - blue lights
7:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. - blue and white lights
5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. - blue lights
6:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. - blue moonlights

Seems to work fine and corals are all looking good.

04/04/2012, 05:57 PM	#1
rad1687 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 622	Light schedule I have a mixed reef 90 gallon will an 8 bulb T5 fixture that is putting out 350- 190 par in the top half of the tank (where all of the high demand species are located). How many hours should I be running all 8 bulbs and how long should I run just the blues? Thanks!

04/04/2012, 06:59 PM	#2
huseman808 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Dubuque Iowa Posts: 279	I run 9am-10am: Blues 10am-7pm: Blues and Whites 7pm-8pm: Blues 8pm-10am: LED moonlights. __________________ I'm busy treating objects like women, man. 26 Gallon bowfront Reef

04/05/2012, 11:06 AM	#5
cody6766 Super Best Friends! Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: OKC, OK Posts: 3,772	You'll get a lot of opinions with slightly different lighting schedules. It's more technique than procedure. Here's my take on lighting schedules: First, when are you near the tank? I'm home in the evenings and nights, so I run my lights on a later schedule. When I was running T5s, the blues fired at 1130 and went off 1130pm. My day lights came on at noon and went out at 1100pm. Now that I'm running MH, it's the same 12hrs without the actinics. Some do a little more, some a little less. Some run long actinic-only times, some shorter. Based on others' experiences with 6hr daylight cycles, it seems that you can run your lights anywhere from 6-12hrs and keep your corals happy. I like the tank lit when I'm home and around it, so I run mine longer. My schedule accomodates my weekend and weekday goings on. When I was waiting tables and not getting home until 1100 or later, I had my lights run from noon until 1230 and everything behaved just as it does now. The key is to have adequate lighting while it's on and not to really short change the corals. __________________ "The moral is the chosen, not the forced; the understood, not the obeyed. The moral is the rational, and reason accepts no commandments." - John Galt Current Tank Info: Cadlights 60G Arisan II mixed reef with 2x MP40s and 24" ATI

04/04/2012, 07:15 PM	#3
thegrun Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Garden Grove, Ca Posts: 17,023	I would go 10 - 12 hours on the actinics, 6 hours on the main lights.

04/05/2012, 09:49 AM	#4
rad1687 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 622	Any other input?!

04/05/2012, 12:53 PM	#6
ldallen95219 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: stockton, ca Posts: 94	I run mine similar to Huseman. I have a 75 gal with 6 T5s, have 90% LFS corals and 2 hard corals. My schedule is as follows: 6:30 a.m. - 7:00 a.m. - blue lights 7:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. - blue and white lights 5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. - blue lights 6:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. - blue moonlights Seems to work fine and corals are all looking good.