Canreef Aquatics Bulletin Board - How long is to long

Quote:

Originally Posted by cygmark (Post 487585)

Hey guys i just wanted everyones opinion on how i should run my lighting setup as in how long the lights should be on and such.

I have a 72" coralife fixture, 3-250 wattMH, and 4 36 power compacts(atinics)

What should my lighting schedual be.

I have 1 bubble tip anenome, and 3 turbo snails and 4 chromis,(starter crew)

The tank has been running for just over 2 weeks, i have started to get a layer of greenish brown slime on some of the rocks to.

Any help would be appericiated.

Thanks
Josh

I hate to pick on you, but I would be more concerned with having an anemone in a 2 week old tank, than I would about photoperiod.

Anemones can be picky and generally do best when added to an established tank, typically 6mos or longer. I realize others may disagree and have had success, but 2 weeks is definitely too early for an Anemone.

As for lighting, I'd recommend anything from 6-8hrs hours for MH. Most corals can only use so much photoperiod for useful growth from articles that I've read. There is a thread on RC with a lot of people who tested/testing the theory of shorter photoperiod to yeild greater results in growth.

I was even testing it out on my old 75G, but fell short of any useful data as I ended up shutting it down and selling.