Hello all...This is my first question/post since I have joined...I have a 55 gallon tank with about 14 small fish and many corals. I have a 48" 4 tube T5 HO light,giving out 216 watts. There are 2 10K and 2 atinic tubes. I would like to know what are the best settings for the lights? I mean how many hours should I keep the atinics on and the daylights? Right now I am keeping the attinics on for about 12 hours and the daylights on about 9 hours. I would like to hear what you think about this? Thank You....Mike
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Lighting for my 55 gallon
- Thread starter mike07083
- Start date
Welcome to the club.I agree if the corals are liking the times you've chosen I wouldnt chnge a thing.Sounds like yr on track with the lighting
The reason I ask people is that most of the fish stores I go to seam to run their atinic lights LONGER than their daylight lights....I was wondering if this is better for the corals or just to cut down on the alge. This is for now the only tank that I have T5HO lights on where I can regulate the atinic and daylight lites. My other 55 has power compact lights and they are the 50/50 tubes,so when they go on the tanks gets both the atinic and the daylight. Also my 29 gallon biocube has power compact lights run the same as my 55. Any words of advise or thoughts will be helpful. Thank You in advance...Mike
Hi Mike, welcome to NJRC!
We have our a T5 fixture over our 45g tank. Because the fixture has one power cord, we run actinics and day lights for 11 hours a day. In our 12g, which has power compacts, we do the same. I do think it is nice to have the lights come on and go off a bit more slowly if possible, with actinics on first and off last, so that thereis a "dawn" and "dusk" period, but it is not essential.
We do ramp the lights up and down for our 47g, for a 1 hour period when they come on and for one hour beforer they go off, but that is the only tank where the lighting fixture (ai led) enables us to do so.
We have our a T5 fixture over our 45g tank. Because the fixture has one power cord, we run actinics and day lights for 11 hours a day. In our 12g, which has power compacts, we do the same. I do think it is nice to have the lights come on and go off a bit more slowly if possible, with actinics on first and off last, so that thereis a "dawn" and "dusk" period, but it is not essential.
We do ramp the lights up and down for our 47g, for a 1 hour period when they come on and for one hour beforer they go off, but that is the only tank where the lighting fixture (ai led) enables us to do so.