Lighting Sequence... will this work??

sellout007 · 03/24/2006, 11:32 PM

I want to try and avoid putting any fans on my tank to keep the temps down so I was thinking about putting my MH on for 3 hour intervals.

The intervals would be...

10:00am -- Actinic turns on

12:00pm - 3:00pm -- MH's turn on

3:01 - 5:00pm -- MH turn off

5:01pm - 8:00pm -- MH turn on.

8:01pm -- MH turn off.

10:00pm - Actinics turn off.

That gives me 6 hours of MH lighting spaced throught the day for my corals and a constant 12 hours of light for viewing and the fish. Hopefully this will help keep the heat down.

jumpincactus · 03/24/2006, 11:54 PM

I cannot say if this will work or not. Although it sounds fine to me. Think about it, does the sun shine constantly in the tropics. No it periodically goes behind the clouds. Also there are rainy seasons in the tropics too. So in real life keeping a reef tank with lights on 12-14 hrs a day is not a true represenation of life in the ocean.

I personally believe that you can keep a reef with less lighting times than a lot of us use. Just as long as what lighting it is getting is good high intensity lighting. And with your MH you are getting the right intensity

ItsMee · 03/24/2006, 11:54 PM

I think the more the MH bulbs have to fire, the less life they will have...but I could be wrong.

sellout007 · 03/25/2006, 12:18 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by jumpincactus
I cannot say if this will work or not. Although it sounds fine to me. Think about it, does the sun shine constantly in the tropics. No it periodically goes behind the clouds. Also there are rainy seasons in the tropics too. So in real life keeping a reef tank with lights on 12-14 hrs a day is not a true represenation of life in the ocean.

I personally believe that you can keep a reef with less lighting times than a lot of us use. Just as long as what lighting it is getting is good high intensity lighting. And with your MH you are getting the right intensity

This was exactly my line of thinking as well. Ive read several articles that say that reefs really only get 4 hours of intense lighting throught a given day. Or something along those lines. And anything drastically over that is a waste of lighting. Which is also right up my alley as I love how the tank looks with just the actinic on.

Quote:

Originally posted by ItsMee
I think the more the MH bulbs have to fire, the less life they will have...but I could be wrong.

This was one of my concerns. That the bulb or ballast might get worn out. But I figured 2 hours inbetween would give the ballast enough time to recoup and what not. I wasnt so sure how much the bulbs would be affected.

03/24/2006, 11:32 PM	#1
sellout007 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Plainfield, IL Posts: 4,402	Lighting Sequence... will this work?? I want to try and avoid putting any fans on my tank to keep the temps down so I was thinking about putting my MH on for 3 hour intervals. The intervals would be... 10:00am -- Actinic turns on 12:00pm - 3:00pm -- MH's turn on 3:01 - 5:00pm -- MH turn off 5:01pm - 8:00pm -- MH turn on. 8:01pm -- MH turn off. 10:00pm - Actinics turn off. That gives me 6 hours of MH lighting spaced throught the day for my corals and a constant 12 hours of light for viewing and the fish. Hopefully this will help keep the heat down.

03/24/2006, 11:54 PM	#2
jumpincactus Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Seattle Posts: 237	I cannot say if this will work or not. Although it sounds fine to me. Think about it, does the sun shine constantly in the tropics. No it periodically goes behind the clouds. Also there are rainy seasons in the tropics too. So in real life keeping a reef tank with lights on 12-14 hrs a day is not a true represenation of life in the ocean. I personally believe that you can keep a reef with less lighting times than a lot of us use. Just as long as what lighting it is getting is good high intensity lighting. And with your MH you are getting the right intensity __________________ And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." Current Tank Info: 110 gal Acrylic 44 x 24 x 24 Cherry stand/canopy Sequence Dart running closed loop Ampmaster2100 running 30 gal fuge/sump. Lights 2- 250 watt Ushio 14,000k and 4 -96 watt True actinics.

03/24/2006, 11:54 PM	#3
ItsMee Premium Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Los Angeles CA Posts: 1,861	I think the more the MH bulbs have to fire, the less life they will have...but I could be wrong. __________________ There are 10 kinds of people who understand binary, those who do, and those who don't. Current Tank Info: Cadlight 39G pro system!