can you run lights too long?

[jacksonpt]

I'm thinking about running my moonlights (2 LEDs) from 6am - 10pm, and my 10k/actinic bulbs (1 27w actinic, 1 27w 10k) from 8am - 8pm. This is over my 12g nano.
Any reason why I shouldn't do this? Algae is not a problem for me. I just want to get more light to my corals.

 

[hagfish]

Just don't go over normal daylight hours (no more than maybe 12 hours).
I'm curious why you are running the moonlights at the same time as your regular lights. I would imagine they wouldn't be visible to the human eye at that time. And there is no real photosynthetic benefit to having them on. So why not run them exactly opposite your other lights?

 

[jacksonpt]

You're right - I wouldn't be running them while the other lights are on. I'd run them from 6am - 8am, when the "big" lights kick on, then from 8pm until 10pm, after the "big" lights go off.

 

[xdave]

That's fine. In fact there's no reason you couldn't leave the moonlights on overnight.

 

[bonebrake]

I run my 36 watt 10,000 K and 7100 K blue 50/50 and my 36 watt true actinic 03 together for 12 hours a day. My moonlights are on 24/7 and you cannot see them when the main lights are on. I didn't feel like buying another timer and I figured due to the life of LED's the moonlights would be ok. They have been on for 24/7 for nearly three months now and none of the 18 diodes have burned out.
:joy: