how long do you leave the lights on?

[cabin7882]

Just wondering what is a good amount of time to leave the light on in my 46 gal. I usually turn on at 5pm and turn off at 11pm is that not long enough?

 

[stanlalee]

if its not a reef its enough. The important thing is they are off at night. If it is a reef depends on the lighting/livestock.

 

[seannmelly]

we have a reef here's the lighting schedule:
moonlights on 24/7(thats the design of the lights)
actinics on at 10am
halides on at 11am
halides off at 8pm
actinics off at 9 pm

 

[cgrant]

normally i leave mine on about 8-9 hrs a day but I have a fowlr.
My 210 just finshed cycling and I have some brown algae on the sand bed so I am keeping them off for a couple of days to kill it off, so far seems to be working.

 

[cabin7882]

I see thanks I have a fish only tank so from 5-11 is ok? My Lfs says he keeps his on all day and doesn't see why I can't leave mine on all day. I disagree but I wanted to get other opinions thanks! My tank is very cloudy that's why I'm asking.

 

[cgrant]

That's 6 hours so that should be fine.
Cloudy water could be alot of things.
make sure you have a good filter pad in your wet/dry if you have one.
Your pump should be rated at about 10x you tank.
My main pump on my 55 is 600gph, and my 210 is 2400gph.
How do your levels look?
What type of system components do you have?
Thats a starting point anyway.

 

[vanos]

6-8 hours but algae starts to accumulate if I leave on any further.

 

[dogstar]

I run the MHs on my reef 11 hours.

 

[cabin7882]

I have a bak pak 2 skimmer/biological filter is that ok? Also I have only 1 powerhead that should do a 100 gal tank. No LR but I have live sand and dead coral or base rock I will eventually add some LR but not till I get this tank right. It's been set up since january so I don't know what the problem is. Any input would be great thanks

 

[lazarus]

i just set up my reef tank and wonder if others would share their lighting schedule? i have a 100g with 312w T5 that is split 50/50 w. actinics and 10K. it also has moonlights.
how should i set my timers?

 

[anthony416]

I leave my lights on from when the sun rises until it goes down. And then i would turn on the moonlights at night.

 

[anthony416]

Originally Posted by LAZARUS
i just set up my reef tank and wonder if others would share their lighting schedule? i have a 100g with 312w T5 that is split 50/50 w. actinics and 10K. it also has moonlights.
how should i set my timers?
Do you have a clean up crew for your reef?

 

[lazarus]

still gearing up...i have a CB shrimp, 6 hermits, emerald crab and 2 turbo snails...i only have 4 fish so far...do i need more and what does this have to do w. lights?
o btw i have a refugium as well underneath, with LR, chaeto, lettuce, mangrove and mineral mud. i have been putting their lights on to run all night long...

 

[anthony416]

Not sure about the fish Q, i'm no expert at reef tanks, but i heard some experts say they leave their lights on morning-until the sun goes down, and turn on their moonlights at night. Sometimes algae starts to grow thats why i asked about the clean up crew. i think you need a bigger clean up crew.

 

[lazarus]

i am still not clear after re-reading all what is an ideal schedule. i have some soft corals and my lighting is T5 with 50/50 actninics. I also have a refugium underneath. Does this schedule make sense or not enough? I want to avoid excess heat, algae and electricity bills!
Actinics on at 2 p
Lights on at 3 p
Lights off at 9:30 p
Actinics off at 10p
Refugium on at 11P
Refugium off at 4 A
Moonlights on DT from 10 - 3 A
Thanks for feedback on this!

 

[glowplug]

i have t-5, 10k and actinic, on at 2pm and off at 12am, work the lights around your schedule if you need to, you just want the same thing to happen everyday---stability

 

[travis89]

I have a 46 gal reef also with PC lighting and leave 10000K on for 9 hours and actnic for 11 hours. But I also have a lot of algae so i might shorten that.

 

[lazarus]

last two posts show lights on for 10-11 hrs! For coral growth is that kind of exposure necessary? right now mine get 7.5 hrs plus alot of ambient light.

 

[connor]

i run mine MH for 9 hours