Lighting times

[cjbaker]

Hi All, I've just upgraded my lighting to 2 x 150w halide, 2 x 39w T5's and 2 x clusters of 20 LEDs (blue)

I have the LEDs come on first 8am - 9am then they turn of and the T5's come on from 9 -10, then they turn off and both halide's come on from 10 - 6pm, T5's from 6 - 7pm and LEDs 7 - 9pm then lights out.

I have a finger coral and a tree sponge so far and hoping to buy a few more corals in the near future. Does my lighting times seem OK ? Is there any room for improvement ?

Thanks

 

[melosu58]

Are the LED`s blue lights? If so you can have them on at night time. I really dont see any problem with your schedule. I`ve just never seen someone with all those types of lighting at the same time. Usually someone will have one or two of those. Nevermind about the LED`s as I see my answer.

 

[cjbaker]

Yes they are blue LEDs. All the lights are built into a single unit. Many thanks for your reply.

 

[cjbaker]

I'm getting a lot of hair algae now the new lights on. Could this be because I have it too low? Does anyone know a good height to have it set too.

 

[mr_X]

Cut back on feeding a bit and up the water changes. Is this a new fixture, or did you purchase it from another reef keeper? How old and what are the spectrum of the halides?

 

[cjbaker]

Hi X, yes it's a new fixture. I have it suspended from the ceiling about 4" from the tank. Do you think that's too low.

 

[mr_X]

No. it's not too low. What lamps do you have in it?

 

[cjbaker]

HQI-36A - light - Products - GUANGDONG BOYU GROUP CO.,LTD.

I'm not sure what it came with. Not sure if the above link will work as I'm on my phone but that's the unit I have. Starting to think I should of looked into this a little more before buying.

 

[mr_X]

It doesn't tell you what color temperature or "kelvin" the lamps are. Some of the lower K lamps promote algae better than the higher. The same is said for lower quality lamps. You should see the k rating written right on the bulb.
I would go with something 14k or higher. Also, higher quality lamps tend to put our more usable light than stock lamps do. Just a FYI.

 

[cjbaker]

Just had a look and they are 14k.

I'll do a few large water changes and hope that gets back on top of the algae issue.