Light Cycle suggestions?

[StevenSeas]

I currently run my lights as follows:
2 50/50 PowerBrite LED strips on at 6:15am and off at midnite. HO T-5 on at 7:15am and off at 10:15pm. I know this is a long day and short night but I am up and less than 10 feet away for a large portion of this time and it looks better lit than off lol. I was wondering if this light cycle would have any adverse effects on livestock? I have no algae in the tank to speak of aside from 1 tiny patch of diatoms, nitrates stay constant and 0 ppm for weeks. Also I was wondering if anybody had any thoughts on a day night cycle where it is 7 hrs on 5 off 7 hrs on 5 off, or something similar. Would this cause coral to grow any better?

[justahobby]

How many T5's and what colors?

Can't say as I have heard of anyone trying 7 on 5 off. The first question I would raise is "how long does it take for the symbo algae to convert light into food?" I would assume the answer lies closely to natural sunrises and sunsets on the reefs.

[StevenSeas]

I just have 2 right now, have to add 2 more when this round of exams ends. But as of now i have 1 actinic and 1 6700K, the other 2 are of the same spectrum. and then 4x1watt 65 lumen 10,000K LED and 4x1 watt 55 lumen actinic LED.

[StevenSeas]

Also I do feed my red open brain and my trumpet coral mysis daily multiple times. I know most people only do couple times a week, but as my nitrates stay steady at 0 ppm it doesnt seem to contaminate the water. So would the 2 tank days in the 1 earth day with 2 feedings give it enough nutrients to increase growth??

[justahobby]

With good filtration (LR, skimmer) you will see phosphates more that nitrates. Controlling phosphates is where a good refugium and rinsing food comes into play. I expect you would see color fading on your corals with the lighting schedule you mentioned or even with the schedule you now run. I guess my last question would be what size tank are you running?

[StevenSeas]

lol its a 30 gallon tank w/ a 20 gallon display. its a diy all in one tank i made that has a skimmer rated to 100 gallons, and a fuge in it, on top of mech and chem filtration, i run phosguard. the display is the dimensions of a standard 20 gallon tank, thats all im allowed in my dorm and this is my way of gettin around the rules ;) So would you suggest shortening the photoperiod? if so what to? Corals are red trachy brain, trumpet coral, devils hand mother and frag, whatever the mystery zoas are, pulsing xenias, rock nem, hydnophora frag (stupid snails keep knockin it off its plug ugh)

[justahobby]

Not suggesting..... if its working, stick with it. I am not one to discredit an experiment before it begins. I'm just surprised is all. The anemone, leather, and trumpets will tolerate quite a bit of light. The great thing about T5's is you can add a bulb at a time to monitor your corals' response. Add the third, wait, then add the 4th after a couple weeks. But add the bulbs OR toy with the lighting schedule. Doing them simultaneously will make it hard to pin point what (if anything) went wrong.

[justahobby]

Oh yeah, and please post your findings here so others can learn from it.

[StevenSeas]

I might toy with the photoperiod, just looked it up and in winter on the great barrier reef the max daylight is 9 hrs (in the summer it gets up to 14) This would also allow me to maximize my viewing time without upsetting the corals from too long a day. I know I have seen somewhere people running their lights for only 8 hours maybe even 6 hours a day. Guess time will tell

[justahobby]

I'm running 7 hrs and thinking of lowering it. But I also have a 250W 10K over a 58 gallon plus 2X96W actinics. There was another thread today talking about matching your nutrient levels to your photo period. I may be posting a thread about it tomorrow when my brain is functioning. Be on the look out.

[Mr Cob]

-I'm also running 7 hours on my 2 x 250w MH....thinking of backing this to 6 hrs....
-I run the blue leds for 20 hours :hypnotyized:.....but, thinking of backing it to about 15 hrs....I've been getting some unwanted algae growing with this light cycle.

[txav8r]

I run 2 x 250w 14K MH for 7 hours over a 72 gallon tank and run the blue LED's 24/7.

[Mr Cob]

Jack did you get an initial algae bloom when you went 24/7 with the blue leds? I may wait it out a couple more weeks to see if it passes....I really like having them on 20hrs.

[StevenSeas]

How do you post an excel type file on here? so I can post my planned course of action for review

[Mr Cob]

When you post....Alllllllllllll the way at the bottom there is a section:

Attach Files
Valid file extensions: bmp doc gif jpe jpeg jpg pdf png psd txt xls zip

[StevenSeas]

Here is what I plan to do I plan with my lights, most likely I will add my additional lights before or after the end of the phases. I have yet to decide at what rate to change the light schedule, it will most likely be on weekly increments. Open to any suggestions.

[Mr Cob]

ohhhhh man that is so much easier to read and understand...I was begining to think you were a mad scientist with post above that you removed.....that was crazy looking. LOL!

[StevenSeas]

ya apparently copy and paste doesnt work for excel files . . . .

[txav8r]

Rob, I never got a bloom.

[Mr Cob]

Rob, I never got a bloom.

Ok. Just want to make sure it's not the lights. Probably the added feeding from the baby clowns....feeding 3 times a day versus the once a day small feedings.

Aggiereefer...the doc looks good.

[StevenSeas]

so does this plan pose any potential glaring problems that anybody can see? Should I just switch to the 7 hrs on 5 off and see how that works and let the corals and fish adapt.

[justahobby]

You will want to make the change gradually. For clarification: It looks like you are proposing 18 hrs then 24 off? Besides your bulbs not lasting very long, I don't expect your coral to go for it either. It is an interesting experiment though and you should gain a better understanding of what lighting schedule works best for you.

[StevenSeas]

sorry the times are on a 24 our clock(ie military time, only with midnite as 2400 instead of 0000), so for instance at the end of it the lights will be on from 0500-1100 and then off until 1700-2400. This breaks down into 5 AM (yes I really wake up then UGH) to 11 AM then off and turn back on at 5 PM and go untill midnite.

[Europhyllia]

From what I've been reading even really 'low' animals/living things respond better to a more natural light cycle (even simple stuff like phytoplankton!).
I just browsed through the new issue of Coral Magazine and as soon as I get off the computer I'll adjust my light cycle down.
They recommend 8-10 hours of main lights and a longer cycle (12-14) of actinics/blues to increase viewing time. Right now I have it at 12 hours for main lights and 14 hours for actinics.
Moonlights would give you more viewing time as well while still allowing your animals to rest.

You'll see stuff you'd rarely see with main lights on. :)