whats the best amount of time to leave on halides right now they come on at 10am off at 2pm onat 6pm off at8
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mh
- Thread starter reeferwanabe
- Start date
The best way to simulate "reef conditions" is to have one photo period a day. I would recommend one continuous time period. 6-8 hrs total would be fine for your halides to be on. You could add an actinic period on the ends if you wanted to extend that some. We do a 10hr light cycle with the actinics coming on at 2, halides at 5 which go off at 11, actinics go off at 12.
Subliminal
NJRC Member
Wow. I leave my tank on from 11am to 9pm. But, I've only had the halides for a week or so. Right now, though, my corals look great!
i left mine on that long when I first purchased them but after about 3-4 weeks algae was a problem.
Hey reefer, algae could be caused by combinations of things too.
I'd have to agree on the one photo period.
When I upgraded from NO flur to T5HO, I had a HUGE algae bloom. You name it, I had it, all at once! I found high nitrates, phosphates AND the sudden onset of extreme lighting were my problem. I won't bore you with the long process I took to get rid of it.
I'd say test your params (nitrates and phosphates to be specific) and start your photo period short and bring it up slowly over a period of time. Splitting the photo period could cause some confusion in your photosynthetic critters.
I'd go with Phyl's 6-8 hours. Start on the low side, and bring it up slowly.
As a side note, I don't think there is really anything specific about times, so you can adjust your photo period to coincide with when you are home and most active so you can enjoy the tank under light. Mine is set for actinics at 10am, daylights at 12pm, daylights out at 8pm, actinics out at 10pm. That lets me enjoy the tank while I am home, and it also doesn't bother anyone in the morning for all of us that have to wonder around the house in the dark at 5am.
I'd have to agree on the one photo period.
When I upgraded from NO flur to T5HO, I had a HUGE algae bloom. You name it, I had it, all at once! I found high nitrates, phosphates AND the sudden onset of extreme lighting were my problem. I won't bore you with the long process I took to get rid of it.
I'd say test your params (nitrates and phosphates to be specific) and start your photo period short and bring it up slowly over a period of time. Splitting the photo period could cause some confusion in your photosynthetic critters.
I'd go with Phyl's 6-8 hours. Start on the low side, and bring it up slowly.
As a side note, I don't think there is really anything specific about times, so you can adjust your photo period to coincide with when you are home and most active so you can enjoy the tank under light. Mine is set for actinics at 10am, daylights at 12pm, daylights out at 8pm, actinics out at 10pm. That lets me enjoy the tank while I am home, and it also doesn't bother anyone in the morning for all of us that have to wonder around the house in the dark at 5am.
thank you all for the info. my big problem in the beginning was my water. since then everything is great I guess I'm a little algae shy from my original set up thanks again.
reeferwanabe said:
Glad to help! Let us know how your progress is with the change in photo period.
Phyl said:mookie said:
Not necessarily. There's a point of diminishing return somewhere. Your mission, as you strive to recreate the reef, is to find out where that point is for you and your system.
Exactly. The whole thing is further complicated by the intensity and the spectrum of the lights, types of corals and water clarity. While it is safe to assume that big plating corals in the nature will be exposed to the full Sun light during the whole day, for branching corals you will have individual branches shading each other as the Sun moves around, and the parts of the coral will be only partially exposed and only for limited time. With our MH or other lights they are exposed to the full merciless NOON light the whole time. No mornings and afternoons, no seasons, no clouds. :'(
mladencovic said:Phyl said:mookie said:
Not necessarily. There's a point of diminishing return somewhere. Your mission, as you strive to recreate the reef, is to find out where that point is for you and your system.
Exactly. The whole thing is further complicated by the intensity and the spectrum of the lights, types of corals and water clarity. While it is safe to assume that big plating corals in the nature will be exposed to the full Sun light during the whole day, for branching corals you will have individual branches shading each other as the Sun moves around, and the parts of the coral will be only partially exposed and only for limited time. With our MH or other lights they are exposed to the full merciless NOON light the whole time. No mornings and afternoons, no seasons, no clouds. :'(
thats what seems so cool about the solaris lights. that you can increase intesity slowly until it peaks and bring it back down.