AquaticLife T5 HO Light Question

[ddeans]

So, I went out last night and bought a better light for my aquarium. It had 2 plain white fluorescent tubes on it that were very faint to lighting up the tank. So I went to a pet store that is 60 miles away from my house because they sent me a 30% off coupon, and bought the AquaticLife T5 HO 72". It has three settings. The first 420/460, then 700 and finally LED. The fixture has a control panel built in that I can set all the lights to operate automatically, but the book doesn't say how long it recommends each type of light to run throughout the day. The LED one I have figured out, its for night time use. Does anyone else have this light, and can you please give me a rough idea how long each day to let them run? I read 12 hours of lighting per day, but I don't know that I should have all 3 lights on the same time for 12 consecutive hours. Thanks in advance!

 

[melosu58]

First I`m moving this to The General Hardware and Equipment Discussion forum.

As far as your lighting times I have my actinic lights come on at 9:00A and then the white lighting comes on at 10:00 A. Then the white lighting goes off at 8:00P and the actinic goes off at 9:00P. Not saying that`s the way it has to be but I just use that as an example. You mix it up what suits you.

 

[ddeans]

Mike,

Thanks for the response. But is there a certain amount of time that the lights should run each day? or just whatever looks best for me?

 

[mfdrookie516]

are you doing fw or sw?

 

[FishEggs]

it depends on what is in your tank and what they require. if you have fish only then it wont matter much but with corals they will require certain amounts of light. you will have to watch the tank and let it tell you how much light it needs. 12 hours isnt a bad start. right now daylight hours are from 6:30 am to almost 8:00 pm here in maryland. in the tropics it's probably more than that.

 

[melosu58]

8-12 hours will do fine

 

[ddeans]

are you doing fw or sw?

Saltwater