Photoperiod Poll

[BigJay]

Since we had a feeding poll, it's time to have one for photoperiod.

What is your light/timer schedule?

 

[BigJay]

A question too: Is there anything wrong with running my lights at night?

i.e.
8:00PM to 6:00 AM for VHO
10:00PM to 4:00AM for Halides

This way I could check on things before I leave in the morning and feed when I get home at night and watch the fish. It's no fun going to work in the morning when the lights are off, and coming home when they are off again. :?

Daytime is almost always ridiculously busy with work and kids. The only time I can sit down and enjoy my tank is late evenings. This will also make the house much cooler during the day when it hits over 100 outside.

 

[Guest]

my friends in cali run a nighttime photo period like what you plan to run with no problems.

 

[Rick]

I don't think there would be any harm in running your lights overnight like that. As long as the tank gets very little ambient light during the day. Corals and some of the other livestock do need a down time with very little light.

 

[MBZ]

I slowly change my lighting schedule in the summer time (bump the time an hour later a week) to ideally start at 2 am and go off at 10 am. I'm an early riser, so I enjoy the tank in the mornings. It sure helps keeping the tank and house cooler in the summer.

Mark

 

[DaveJ]

My SPS system....

VHO's 8:00am 7:00pm
20K 9:00am - 6:00pm
14K 10am-5pm.

My Frag Tank.....

4 ATI Blue Plus 8:00am-11am
2 Daylights 11am-1pm
4 ATI Blue Plus 1pm-7pm

LPS Tank

2 AT Blue Plus 8:00am-8pm
4 Mix T-5 10am-6pm

 

[Guest]

sps and lps tank 9 to 9 on blue plus and 10 to7 on 250 10k

 

[Misty]

I just changed mine (gradually) from noon-midnight to 3:30pm - 3am-ish...has helped keep the house cooler during the day since both my husband and I are home all day. I'm going to build a curtain to attach to the canopy to help keep it darker in the tank.

So far, it's cut my evaporation/top-off rate by 5-gallons/week!

 

[washingtond]

Lighting as follows:

Actinic on at 10:00 am
12K’s on at 11:00 am
10K’s on a 12:00 pm

Actinic off at 10:00 pm
12K’s off at 7:00 pm
10L’s off at 5:00 pm

Moon lights match the phase of the moon each month.

 

[Jeff]

My little tank is near an east facing window so I had the timer set for 2pm to 8:30pm but since I found the corals reaching toward the window in the morning I changed the timer to 10a.m. to 8p.m. and I think everything is looking better. As long as the house stays somewhat cool the tank will hover around 79 degrees.

 

[BigJay]

I notice most people have 8-12 hour photoperiods, what kind of reflectors are you running?

 

[melev]

My MH are on 6 hours per day, per bulb:

VHO actinic lighting - 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
10,000K ReefLux (right) - 1:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
20,000K Radium (center) - 2:15 p.m. to 8:15 p.m.
10,000K ReefLux (left) - 3:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

LumenBrights

 

[psteeleb]

VHO's = 10am - 10pm
250w 12k's = 1pm - 9pm
400w 10k's = random now while I've been reaquascaping but will be 1-2 hours each staggered


And heard from my sister’s friend’s cousin; that if you run your lights at night, fish tend to swim upside-down, as they think they are on the other side of the world..

 

[derek4real]

@psteeleb wrote:

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^i would like to confirm that, that sounds funny to see in person.

 

[chrissreef]

4pm-12pm or 5pm-1am - might increase to 9 hrs

400w reeflux 12k

I have during this period so I can enjoy the tank in the evenings, avoid summer heat and incase breaker pop/fire/heat or other issues occur, i'll likely be home during the highest power consumption period.

 

[BigJay]

@chrissreef wrote:

That's exactly what I'm talking about. ^^^^

 

[kwl1763]

@BigJay wrote:

That's exactly what I'm talking about. ^^^^"]

Ya I run my halides from 4pm to 11pm ish (they come on/off in 15 minute increments) and my VHO actinics from 3-12. The reason is purely so I can enjoy my tank after work. If they came on earlier they would be going off before I got a chance to feed, etc.