Are my lights on too long?

[ToxicPoison]

My corals seem to have decent growth but the colors are kinda blah...

I'm wondering if my lights may be on too long...I can't recall why I did this initially and after writing it down I think it may be extreme.

I have 2x250 MH 14500k bulbs and 4x54w Pure Actinic bulbs. My light also has a dimming function.

The actinic come on at 5:00am at 5% power and increase to 100% power at 7am. From 7am to 730am, it is 100% actinic. At 730am the Halides also kick in and stay on until 630pm. The Actinics stay at 100% from 630pm to 700pm. They then dim to 5% power at 9pm and then turn off.

Should I cut back on my MH? I'm not so worried about the actinic due to the dimming.

 

So for easier reading:

5:00am : Actinic 5%

7:00am : Actinic 100%

7:00am - 7:30am : Actinic Only

7:30am : MH turn on

7:30am - 6:30pm : MH + Actnic

6:30pm : MH turn off

6:30pm - 7:00pm : Actnic Only

9:00pm - Actinic 5%

 

 

My bulbs are also due for replacement so...suggestions on that would be nice as well. I'm thinking of switching 2xActinic+ and 2xPure Actinic...and maybe a lower K rating on my MH?

 

Lights are complicated...(nutty)

[CA2OR]

Re: Are my lights on too long?

 

My my runs for 12 and actinics for 14....250w hqi

 

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

[rgrcrain]

Here's mine

 

Noon - T5's on

1:30 - Halides on

10:30 - Halides off

Midnight - T5's off

 

Having it on later gives me a chance to look at my tank when I get home late.

 

If by lower K rating you mean 10k that probably wont help your color, but its supposed to help growth.

[kilmca]

IMO it seems a little long to run MH for 11 hours. that's really nice to have the dimming function on the actinics. I run MH for 7 hours and actinics before and after the MH. I do not run the MH and actinics together cause I think the MH bulbs I use are blue enough. I run 250w 14k phoenix DE bulbs. my lighting schedule is below. i might increase my MH to be on for 8 hours depending how people respond to this thread but i probably won't go over that.

 

12:30 - 1st set of actinic vho's come on

1:00 - 2nd set of actinic vho's come on

1:30 - 10k vho's come on

2:00 - MH come on and all vho's go off

9:00 - MH go off and all vho's come on

9:30 - 10k vho's go off

10:00 - 2nd set of actinic vho's go off

10:30 - 1st set of actinic vho's go off

[Mandinga]

IMO it seems a little long to run MH for 11 hours.

 

agreed.

 

Here is my light schedule for the summer:

 

6am - t5 actinics on

7am - mh on

3pm - mh off

9pm - actinics off

[ReeFit]

either your eyes are getting used to the color, your bulbs are old or your phosphates are high.

[ToxicPoison]

either your eyes are getting used to the color' date=' [/quote']

Not likely. I compared some corals to a picture and the colors are definitely a bit lighter.

your bulbs are old

My T-5s are definitely due for a replacement. The MH are only 3 months old or so..

or your phosphates are high.

Nope. Undetectable with my Salifert kit. I tested everything before I posted, since I knew someone would bring it up. Neglected to post it though...All parameters normal.

 

So I think I'm going to cut my MH down to 8 hours and replace my T-5s.

Any place around here carry 48" T5 Actinic?

 

Thanks for the response all!

[Smann]

[

So I think I'm going to cut my MH down to 8 hours and replace my T-5s.

Any place around here carry 48" T5 Actinic?

 

Upscales uasually has a few in stock

 

T5's cycle thru colors 11am-11:30 pm

400w mh 4-5 hrs

250w mh 8-9 hrs

[reefnjunkie]

Saltwater Fantaseas also stocks 48" T5s

 

FWIW

I run my actinics 12 hours and the dual 250DE MH run 10 hours

[Michael7979]

 

12:30 - 1st set of actinic vho's come on

1:00 - 2nd set of actinic vho's come on

1:30 - 10k vho's come on

2:00 - MH come on and all vho's go off

9:00 - MH go off and all vho's come on

9:30 - 10k vho's go off

10:00 - 2nd set of actinic vho's go off

10:30 - 1st set of actinic vho's go off

 

I run mine similar to this except that I stagger when my MHs go on and go off. None of my MHs run for more then 6 hrs. But a MH is on for a total length of about 8-9 hrs.

[Harold B]

my lighting schedule

 

maybe i am not leaving my MH's on long enough 135 g 6ft tank at 6:30 2 80 watt actinic t5's on then at 8:30 2 daylight t5's 4ft watts ? ( can't remember) i think 59 any ways at 10:30 2 MH 400w 20,000 k on at 3:30 MH's off then at 5:30 daylight t5's off and at 7:00 Actinic t5's off TOXICPOISON your MH"s seem like thier on a little long to me but if you are not having any negative results from it ...... does anyone have a comment on my lighting schedule

[markdadof2]

My T5's come on at 11:30am - halide on at Noon - halide off at 8:30pm and T5's off at 9:30.

[finch6013]

I feel I have had better than average success with some sps corals and I was using a 6 hr on time for my MH with actinics on an hour before and after. total 8hrs. I tried going more for a few months and all that happened was my electric bill went up. If you think about it, in nature the reef doesn't get full light for more than a few hours a day and the rest of the time its actually kinda dark on the reefs.