Changing photo period during weekends?

[MarkoD]

one of my pet peeves is looking at a dark tank.

i have my timers set to start turning on at noon on weekdays and be fully on by the time i get home at 4pm.

but on weekends i still wake up at 7 or 8a.m. and am home most of the day.

would it be ok to have the lights on longer during weekends and then back to normal on weekdays?

[Proteus]

I turn on lights on weekends for same reason. Had
No issues

[MarkoD]

I turn on lights on weekends for same reason. Had
No issues

I've tried it before with my metal halides and it seemed like the corals all got tired of the light and shrunk up by the end of the day

havent done it again

[carnut]

if i change my lighting pattern it seems to confuse the fish. I feed the same time everyday and they relate it to the lights comming on. If they go on too early they won't eat.

[mike31154]

Depending on the livestock you keep (& you do mention you had issues with coral when doing this with your halides), an hour or so might work fine, but a huge shift is probably a bit much to expect your critters to get accustomed to. Eons of regular lighting periods in the tropics have no doubt conditioned the livestock we keep to do best with regular photo periods. I guess you could simply give it a try again with your current lighting & see how it goes.

The current photo period for my system is about 11-12 hours, from 07:30 to 19:00 (daylight savings) and I often wish I could enjoy the tank later into the evening as well. This has me thinking I might set up a nano in the living room & run that from noon to midnight.

[MarkoD]

Depending on the livestock you keep (& you do mention you had issues with coral when doing this with your halides), an hour or so might work fine, but a huge shift is probably a bit much to expect your critters to get accustomed to. Eons of regular lighting periods in the tropics have no doubt conditioned the livestock we keep to do best with regular photo periods. I guess you could simply give it a try again with your current lighting & see how it goes.

The current photo period for my system is about 11-12 hours, from 07:30 to 19:00 (daylight savings) and I often wish I could enjoy the tank later into the evening as well. This has me thinking I might set up a nano in the living room & run that from noon to midnight.

hmmm maybe ill try that. my current lighting with the main white lights is only about 8 hours. maybe ill extend it

[mike31154]

With a dimmable fixture you can have the longer photo period & simply dim for dusk/dawn. That way there's less impact on the livestock & you get to enjoy the display a little longer.