Yet another lighting question

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tmcpeek

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
May 7, 2003
Messages
414
Location
California
I have 4 72" vho bulbs. 2 blue and 2 white. How should I arrange them in my hood. should I go blue white blue white? or blues in the center and whites on the outside or vice versa?

Also should one ballast power the blue bulbs and one power the whites? I have 2 icecap 660 ballasts.

Last thing should I have the blue bulbs come on first for 30 minutes and then the white bulbs and have them turn off at different times as well? This is for a 225FOWLR.

Thanks.
 
I have the same setup on a 180 and here is how I set it up. The bulbs are blue/white/blue/white. One ballast powers the actinics (blue) and the other powers the white bulbs. The actinics come on 30min before the white and stay on 30 min longer. The actinics burn a total of 12.5 hrs and the whites burn a total of 11.5 hrs.
 
Awesome thanks. I powered the blues up last night by themselves and they almost looked like blacklights. Once I added a white bulb though the blue was gone. Can't wait for my live rock. It should be here monday and I will be ready for it. How long should I have my lights on for live rock while the tank cycles. I don't expect a large cycle as I have shrimp in it and my nitrites and ammonia are on the way down and I am getting the live rock from a friend and hour away and his tank is well established. Might ask for a cup of his sand too. :roll:
 
If your friend has more intense (or the same) lighting that you do, I'd run all 4 bulbs 12 hrs a day. If he has less lighting, I'd bring my lights up to 12 hrs over a period of about a week to lessen the shock to the life on the rock...let it get acclimated to the brighter lights.
 
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