What would you recommend for my photoperiod? What do Red Planets like?

[lorenz0]

My colony is 6" from the surface under my t5's which are 8" above the surface. My colony is mostly red with very pale green

Will be putting a chunk of it into my cube which will be 150watt MH and it will be the same distance as my T5's

probably will get alot more green

[ScubaSteve]

It sounds like I shouldn't be having too much trouble getting the red planet to colour up.. I guess I'll just have to wait until it figures itself out and decides that brown is last years black and changes into something more colourful.

As for the other colonies, I'll try bumping up the photoperiod by 15 mins each week and see if it makes a change.

[Hawkaholic]

I have two frags...one I keep about 6 inches from the top under 250W 14000K Phoenix halides. Its mostly pinkish red color with pale green. The other one I keep about 8 inches from the bottom(24H tank). It is turning mostly a pale green. My light strip is nine inches above my tank. The halides are on from 12:30 to 8:30.

[Reefer Rob]

I stand corrected on these 150w bulbs. The JBJ bulbs that came with the fixture did nothing, but since switching to the Phoenix bulbs the light packs more punch than I had anticipated. I've cut back to 9 hours and raised the light for now, corals are lightening a little too quick... good thing you're going slow.

[ScubaSteve]

They are definitely deceptive. This is why i've always wondered why people consider them insufficient, especially over a small tank. While I agree I could do with a big kid lighting setup I feel that a 150 should be sufficient in most cases. (and yes I do understand it has to do with how far he light can penetrate through the water column)

I'm planning on upping my light by 15 minutes a week. Am I being too anal about this or can/should I go faster?

[Reefer Rob]

I've never had a problem with 30 min increments, but then this little tank thing is totally new to me... and quite surprising!