running atinic 24-7

[reefboy]

whats your thoughts good or bad?

[madmike]

Bad... Corals need some time to rest just like any other creature.

[NoobtoSalt]

Not only what mike said but the cost of replacing the bulbs every 4-6 months wouldn't be fun either..

[ReefSafari]

It seems like alot of the newer fixtures come standard now with "moonlight" lighting....I am curious how that effects corals? I know on my 36" sunpod there are 9 blue LED lights that basically make everything pop like they are under actinic bulbs, they also have white ones too...so thats 18 LED lights as "moonlighting"....I only use the blue ones at night though...I wonder how all of these "Moonlights" effect corals...they probably aren't as bright as say a true actinic bulb...so I would guess that its probably not all that bad for them...

 

You might look into some blue led as nighttime accents or "moonlighting" that would give you somewhat of the same effect of having actinic on, but maybe not as bright or hard on the corals??? Just a suggestion...

[Mandinga]

I was talking to Patrick from SWF and he told me what caused his show tank some serious trouble recently...his lights were off the timer, and running 24/7. Of course the halides were the culprit, but it still is a clue. There must be some growth mechanisms that take place at night, but if you can't get any concrete info, give it a shot and keep us posted.

[jadams7]

I run some pretty bright blue LED's at night for 'moonlights', enough to keep most of the corals open. Anyone think I should turn those off as well?

[rgrcrain]

Yeah give it a shot, just not over any prize chalices.

 

Why is it OK over caulerpa but not coral?

[Michael7979]

I believe that every organisim needs rest/sleep. I believe that lights should be shut offfor a rest period. And if moonlights are used there should only be enough to barely light enough to see in the tank bottom. JMO

[reefboy]

thanks for the replys somthing I was just thinking about may have to setup a experimental area and try it.

[ReeFit]

I run some pretty bright blue LED's at night for 'moonlights'' date=' enough to keep most of the corals open. Anyone think I should turn those off as well?[/quote']

 

i have the same thing, i turn my led's off at around 4am for a few hours before sunrise.

[lewisriverfisherman]

i think if you run your actinic lights 24/7 you will be prone to algae growth.

[reefnjunkie]

i have the same thing' date=' i turn my led's off at around 4am for a few hours before sunrise.[/quote']

 

Same,my moonlights are also on a timer-I feed when its all dark-much more feeders out at that time

[coralreefer]

Our job is to replicate the most important factors...light and water....

 

Corals as well as fish need dark cycles...why? Cause it happens everyday at night...

 

I recommend at least 6 hours of complete darkness every night...I've got moonlights but they shutoff@ midnight...

 

DrMerle

[JimmyK]

I was runing 4 ice cap led moonlights. Cut it back to 1 as they were causing a slime algae in the tank. Problem was solved as soon as I turned off moonlights. I agree with what has been stated above thatthe corals need time to rest.

[reefboy]

My thought on this would be on a system without fish and just corals in a grow out system just to see if you could get more growth and I know our jobs as normal hobbyists is to replicate mother nature as much as we can but when it comes to aquaculture you need to test the boundary's sometime just like folks in horticulture growing plants out of dirt and so on.

[Michael7979]

My thought on this would be on a system without fish and just corals in a grow out system just to see if you could get more growth and I know our jobs as normal hobbyists is to replicate mother nature as much as we can but when it comes to aquaculture you need to test the boundary's sometime just like folks in horticulture growing plants out of dirt and so on.

 

I have heard of people doing something similar -running their lights for 6hrs and then off for 6 hrs and then repeat. So they would basically get 2 days worth of light in a 24 hr period.

 

If I remember right I saw the thread on RC.

[Mr S]

I would think that trying to stay as close to nature would be the ticket. However you could always put them on the summer cycle they are used to. I don't know about corals but most organisms seem to do their best growing in longer light periods. I think it is just a matter of finding the perfect amount of time. Which leads to the problem that since most of us have varied organisms in our tanks, what is good for one is probably too much for another. Just my rants!

[Rick]

I have heard of people doing something similar -running their lights for 6hrs and then off for 6 hrs and then repeat. So they would basically get 2 days worth of light in a 24 hr period.

 

If I remember right I saw the thread on RC.

 

I have reason to believe this may work. Through the summer I've had my lights coming on early morning and back off around 10 AM. Because of this several times I've turned them on in the evening for a few hours and I seem to be getting a bit more growth than I was before I switched it to early morning.