Light on/off times Whats yours set at?
 

OK, Just want to get a feel for how long and when people turn their lights on/off
I know Im screwy, thats why Im makin this post. Not sure if I want them on earlier off earlier, I'm usually up 6am till 11PM, like seeing my fishies, but dont want to stress them/cause any more algae. Plus, been thinking about shutting off sooner, then can feed some at dark???

Mine

Actinics on 10AM Off 11PM
Midday on 12AM Off 7PM

T5s On 8am- 10pm
MHs On 12pm-8pm

It does add some extra algae on the glass everyday in comparison to when I was just running my MHs.

T5's on at 8am and off at midnight and MH on at noon and off at 8pm...it fits my lifestyle that way and I don't seem to have any trouble....

WOW Sarah, thats a long on time with the T5's Interesting.

Probably is....but I want to see them when I get up and when I go to bed they turn off.....I have all my tanks set this way and have no ill effects....everyone seems happy and healthy...

VHO on at 10 - Off at 11
MH on at 10:50 off at 8:00
VHO on at 7:50 off at 8:50

I just have T5s. On at 10am and off at 9pm.

I have my ProfiLux controller running my lights.

Moon lights on 8:30 AM off 12:30 PM
Sun Rise 10:00 AM 12:45 PM
Actinics 11:30 AM 9:30 PM
MH 12:30 PM 9:00 PM
Sun Set 8:30 PM 11:45 PM
Moon Lights 9:05 PM 12:00 AM

I also run Thunder storms 4 times daily from 9:15 PM to 10:30 PM for 5 minute durations. I do not have dimmable ballasts on my MH or VHO Actinics so they are on at 100% while all the other lights are dimmable and come on and off from 0% to 100% to 0% over the duration of their lighting period. The moon lights are also influenced by the phases of the moon.

Tom R

I have high output T5s. I have them on from 5pm - 11pm. I have my tank in my living room that receives a lot of natural light during the day. The sun does not hit the tank directly but there's enough light that everything comes out.

my lights come on at 9pm and go off at 6am

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)