Lighting Question?

ilikethesea · 04/22/2009, 07:11 AM

How long should I leave my lights on in one day?

Will

Uncle Salty 05 · 04/22/2009, 07:19 AM

Kind of depends on your lighting and what is being kept.
10-12 hours is pretty standard.

chimmike · 04/22/2009, 07:21 AM

I keep mine on about 8hrs.

fufu · 04/22/2009, 09:42 AM

If you are planning to keep coral, there is a thread floating around reef central that talk about a shorten light period is better for your coral. About 5-6 hours a day to stimulate the how the Sun is intense only for a few hours and gradually decline.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...readid=1582958

1DeR9_3Hy · 04/22/2009, 09:48 AM

^^^ This is assuming of course you can match the intensity of natural sunlight, with the same spectrum for which each coral is found in the wild.

Its a cool idea, but almost impossible to do because most of the corals we keep come from very different regions of the reef zone. Some see more blue light, some see more daylight, and some are in between. Unless you can recreate all those spectrums with the same intensity of the sun, i say 8-12 hours a day is a good guess.

I keep mine on 8 hours a day and i see great growth with my softies/lps. 6 bulb T5 fixture.

GW81 · 04/22/2009, 10:03 AM

main lights 8 hours, actinics come on an hour before and go off an hour afterwards.

04/22/2009, 07:11 AM	#1
ilikethesea Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico Posts: 19	Lighting Question? How long should I leave my lights on in one day? Will __________________ Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is something, wearing stripes with plaid comes easy. Albert Einstein

04/22/2009, 07:19 AM	#2
Uncle Salty 05 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: South Florida Posts: 3,799	Kind of depends on your lighting and what is being kept. 10-12 hours is pretty standard. __________________ In all that I endure, of one thing I am sure. Knowledge and reason, change like the season. A jester's promenade. - Kerry Livgren Current Tank Info: 180 gal reef tank with dual attached refugiums 20 long and 10 gallon. Plus 55 gallon True Percula breeding tank.

04/22/2009, 07:21 AM	#3
chimmike oxygen abuser Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Parrish, FL Posts: 5,089 Blog Entries: 2	I keep mine on about 8hrs. __________________ -Mike Tankless wonder Geaux Noles!

04/22/2009, 09:42 AM	#4
fufu Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Houston Posts: 432	If you are planning to keep coral, there is a thread floating around reef central that talk about a shorten light period is better for your coral. About 5-6 hours a day to stimulate the how the Sun is intense only for a few hours and gradually decline. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...readid=1582958 Last edited by fufu; 04/22/2009 at 09:49 AM.

04/22/2009, 09:48 AM	#5
1DeR9_3Hy Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 2,575	^^^ This is assuming of course you can match the intensity of natural sunlight, with the same spectrum for which each coral is found in the wild. Its a cool idea, but almost impossible to do because most of the corals we keep come from very different regions of the reef zone. Some see more blue light, some see more daylight, and some are in between. Unless you can recreate all those spectrums with the same intensity of the sun, i say 8-12 hours a day is a good guess. I keep mine on 8 hours a day and i see great growth with my softies/lps. 6 bulb T5 fixture. __________________ I hope it never catches on, I like having the oldest tank on here and I don't have to worry about calcification, bio pellets, Vodka dosing, DSBs, Chaetomorpha (I don't even know what that is) Carbonite hardness and all of these other things many people worry about. If I had to think about all of that stuff I would get a stroke. My test kit came in a wooden box and the directions say to keep in a cool chariott. I throw some food in the tank, wave hello to the fish and go out with my wife and have a nice glass of merlot with dinner. Have a great day but most of all, have fun. -PaulB Current Tank Info: 27 Gallon DAS softy/fish reef

04/22/2009, 10:03 AM	#6
GW81 Moved On Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Central Ohio Posts: 79	main lights 8 hours, actinics come on an hour before and go off an hour afterwards.