Lighting and timers

[bckane]

Ok here the lighting I have, it may not be the best but the price was right brand new:
2x 65W Coralife 50/50 (Actinic/10,000K)Compact Fluorescent Lamps
I have two power cords for timers, how long should I run the lamps.???
This is a "New tank setup" 3" DSB and LR.........No Fish yet.....setting up this weekend

[loganj]

I would run the lights for 12hrs a day. You can get a good digital timer from Home Depot for about $17.00. Just get a splitter so you can plug both cords into it.
I'm not sure how a DSB of 3" is going to perform...typical depth is at least 4" and 6" is about average. Your lighting will be fine for the LR...you can add some more light later for corals.

[bckane]

Should I run both lights for 12 hours.?

[jackdp]

A lot of people do the simulated dawn/dusk thing by having actinics come on earlier than the 10K's and stay on an hour longer. You could do that, not sure how it would look with 50/50 lamps, just dimmer rather than more blue. Either way, it would allow the critters to have an hour of dimmer lighting rather than BAM! all at once. HTH

[24 hours? NE!]

My living room gets light into it early, so I allow that to be the buffer for the lights coming on. I usually have a lamp in my living room on until we go to bed, so that is my buffer at night to avoid the "BAM!" as much as I can.

[bckane]

The only thing on the 50/50 (50% natural Daylight10,000K / 50% Actinic 03 Blue) I can't run the Actinic by themselves....each blub has a 10,000K and a Actinic, so I can run set of blubs or 2 sets of blubs

[loganj]

You could start one set of bulbs and have the other set come on a little later. I'm not sure it makes all that much difference to the fish. I have never noticed mine acting spooked when the lights come on...all my lights come on at the same time. IMO, it's a matter of personal preference.

[bckane]

Im going to try one set for 4 hours the have the other set come on for 8 hours.......would be a total of 12 hours per day

[24 hours? NE!]

If you don't have corals and others that need lights, your schedule should work for now. If you want them, you'll want the benefit of both lights on at the same time during most of your scheduled time on. Fish need acclimation, but will get used to the schedule.