Actinics on at 9:30am off at 10:30pm
Halides on at 10am off at 10pm

MH's on at 4pm off at 11pm

T5's 10am to 10pm
MH noon to 9pm
Moonlights on 1 hr before and 1 hour after T5's

vhos 9am to 9pm
metal halides 11am to 9pm

T5's from 1000-2200 (12 hours)
MH from 1100-2100 (10 hours)

Reviving this post.


Ive been playing a little with my lights lately, Adjusting a little here/there. I like seeing my fish, but having a battle with Cyano. One thing I just noticed tonight, the fish seem to not like the Midday bulbs.?! When they go out, then the fish seem more active. My light is about 6" above the water. It's a T5 4 bulb 24" TEK light. maybe a higher K rating?? WHat K rating before the bulbs noticably shift to blue? I have Geismann Actinic +(22000K) and Midday's (6000K)

I used to run the exact same bulbs as you. Giesemann True Actinic (420nm, not measured in K), and Giesemann Midday. I recently switched to Korallen-Zucht Fiji Purple and AquaScience 17500K, and am waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaay happier with the color, and it's very obvious the bulbs are much brighter. It's too early to tell if there is a difference in coral growth though as I've only had the new bulbs for a few weeks. This combination is barely bluish. Without the Fiji Purple though, the AS 17500K is very blue, but the Fiji Purple pulls it back whiter, and really makes the colors pop. You should start to see with light bluing at about 13000K, but it really depends on the brand, and even on the ballast that is running it. 10000K is supposed to be "pure white".

T5s - on at 10am, off at 9 pm.

Where did you get your bulbs, Myka? Im due for a change here soon, so Maybe I'll try your setup. Sounds like it may be the ticket :D

I run my t5's 1 pm to 10 pm. I have never found any probs with my fish with any bulb color combination I've used.

Currently only have MH on both my 20 and 75.

They are running 3-10pm on my 75G right now.. will probably but that up by 1 hr in the coming weeks.

My 20G is running 12-10:30 (175W MH)