Light cycle in reef aqurium

phantomg23 · 07/20/2011, 06:35 AM

Hey im new here

! Anyways do u think this light cycle would be ok for corals and such. (its T5 if that matters) It starts at am and goes to pm

7:00-8:00=actinic
8-11:30=actinic and day lights
11:30-3:30=daylight bulbs
3:30-8:30=actinic and day lights
8:30-10:00=actinic
10:00-7:00= leds

jefft72 · 07/20/2011, 08:01 AM

I think that having your day lights on for 12hrs is unnecessary and will likely lead to algae problems.

I use between and 6-8hrs for my full day lights.

The actinic and led timings shouldn't be an issue though.

Gamepro_inc · 07/20/2011, 08:11 AM

agreed the day lights should be around 7-8 hours top some even do less. Check out any of the tank of the month threads and most of these guys do 6.5-7hours daylight and 8-10h actinic.

phantomg23 · 07/20/2011, 09:28 AM

so how about this

7-9- actinics
9-7 all lights
7-9 actinic
9-7 leds

jefft72 · 07/20/2011, 09:37 AM

What coral are you keeping, or planning to keep?

If I were you I would certainly do plenty of research on light schedules and then take the average that you find and see how it works for your system. You will likely need to tailor the cycle times once you get it going to find out what works best for your system. ie algae bloom could be the result of the lights staying on for too much time.

Here is my lighting schedule for an example. I have a 55g tall mixed reef. Light fixture is a Coralife 2x65w CF fixture with 1x 10K bulb and 1x dual actinic, plus 2 led moon lights.
24hr/7 - LED moon lights
noon-10pm Actinic
1pm-8pm day lights

Hope this helps.

Gamepro_inc · 07/20/2011, 09:48 AM

My light schedule is very similar to Jeff

07/20/2011, 06:35 AM	#1
phantomg23 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 624	Light cycle in reef aqurium Hey im new here ! Anyways do u think this light cycle would be ok for corals and such. (its T5 if that matters) It starts at am and goes to pm 7:00-8:00=actinic 8-11:30=actinic and day lights 11:30-3:30=daylight bulbs 3:30-8:30=actinic and day lights 8:30-10:00=actinic 10:00-7:00= leds

07/20/2011, 08:11 AM	#3
Gamepro_inc Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Gainesville, FL Posts: 425	agreed the day lights should be around 7-8 hours top some even do less. Check out any of the tank of the month threads and most of these guys do 6.5-7hours daylight and 8-10h actinic. __________________ -Paul Current Tank Info: 65g rimless, and 34g starfire rimless Solana

07/20/2011, 09:48 AM	#6
Gamepro_inc Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Gainesville, FL Posts: 425	My light schedule is very similar to Jeff __________________ -Paul Current Tank Info: 65g rimless, and 34g starfire rimless Solana

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07/20/2011, 08:01 AM	#2
jefft72 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: League City,TX Posts: 92	I think that having your day lights on for 12hrs is unnecessary and will likely lead to algae problems. I use between and 6-8hrs for my full day lights. The actinic and led timings shouldn't be an issue though.

07/20/2011, 09:28 AM	#4
phantomg23 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 624	so how about this 7-9- actinics 9-7 all lights 7-9 actinic 9-7 leds

07/20/2011, 09:37 AM	#5
jefft72 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: League City,TX Posts: 92	What coral are you keeping, or planning to keep? If I were you I would certainly do plenty of research on light schedules and then take the average that you find and see how it works for your system. You will likely need to tailor the cycle times once you get it going to find out what works best for your system. ie algae bloom could be the result of the lights staying on for too much time. Here is my lighting schedule for an example. I have a 55g tall mixed reef. Light fixture is a Coralife 2x65w CF fixture with 1x 10K bulb and 1x dual actinic, plus 2 led moon lights. 24hr/7 - LED moon lights noon-10pm Actinic 1pm-8pm day lights Hope this helps.