lighting schedule

[the grim reefer]

Well I got my light today..bought a 250w MH...bright to say the least. I was just wondering how long you guys have your lights on for..I am trying to figure out how I will get this to work because I want the lights on in the eve....but leave the house by 7:30 am so I will be putting them on a timer..do you guys feed with the lights out? I am going to have to if I am going to have the lights on in the eve. Anyone use moonlights for nightime..I say some of those at the LFS and just about bought them...

Thanks again

 

[melosu58]

I would only run them 4 hours a day to start and add hrs slowly as the weeks go on. Too much light difference to start off with 8-12 hrs at the start. You`ll need to acclimate your tank to your new lights.

 

[Ziggy953]

I agree with Melosu58. If you jump to 8 or more hours with that new light you will likely see algae blooms and could cause problems with your corals. I have my MH come on at 10 and 10:30am and they go off at 9 and 9:30pm I have VHO actinics that are on from 9am to 11pm. I also have 2 fans in my hood to cool the tank that have built in LEDs and they serve as moonlights. HTHs Timers are the way to go!!!!

 

[the grim reefer]

Thanks for the heads up I never even thought of the algae blooms...thank you...prevented a disaster I am sure...so what I am now wondering is if I run the MH let say 8 - 9 hrs aday after we get acclimatized could I be running straight actinics for the rest of the time...when I bought the tank it came with a flourescent fixture and I was wondering if I could put an actinic bulb in there and run that one for when the MH or off and then have the moon lights at night? Would this be feasible? Now this is really stupid but what is the purpose of the actinics? We put in a 20K??? bulb in my MH..that is what my LFS guy has in his and I love the color of his corals? Any feedback on that? Also how much power does the MH and balast use any ideas? Are we talking lots? I think I will just put extra on my power bill every month so I dont get nailed at the end of the year...

 

[Ziggy953]

20k will suffice with or without actinics. I ran 20k on my tank with actinic. I've switched to 10k with actinics for coral growth. Personal preference...

 

[the grim reefer]

Good to know...maybe then I will just use my MH with a moonlight running the rest of the time.

Thanks again.