how long should they be on?

[richfish]

i have 55 gal with a 260 watt light on it
2 blue 2 white and 2 built in moonlights
how long should i run the light each day.....i really dont want algea biuld up/???????????
someone told me to turn the blue ones on at ten then turn the blue ones off at eleven and use only the 2 white lights,then to turn the white ones off at 9 and turn the blue on till 10.....then at ten turn the moonlights on??????????????good?????????/

 

[effloresce]

they want you to creat a dusk.dawn effect, when the blues are on to simulate morning, and the whites and blues are on for bright day light, and the blues at night for evening sunset, then the moonlights for spawning and nigh looking..
you can have the blues turn on an hour before and turn off an hour after the whites, that works well, you want the moonlgiths at night though.

 

[richfish]

the only prob is when i leave my lights on too long cyano starts to get on the sand and stuff

 

[effloresce]

not if you ahve proper water quality, that only happnes to you if you dont have an ro/di unti up to date (i mean with changed filters for maximal filtration)
i have 2 250w MH, 2 110w VHOs, on 12 hours a day, with a tiny bit of cyano because my TDS reading on my ro/di water is 4 (need to change filters)

 

[richfish]

could you please tell me how to use a R/O and how to hook it up????????????/

 

[effloresce]

in one end they have the "enter" you hook up an adapter (included) to the cold water line, trun this to the top(usualy) it does through alot of filters (carbon, DI, coconut ec etc) then it comes out of 2 areas, one is the wast water and the other is the clean water, you cna chose to do what you want with the waste (its still good, but not good for you tank, you can use it as drinking, watering, laundry) etc

 

[richfish]

so your saying the R/O only runs when you do water changes?

 

[oscardeuce]

Here is how I have my R/O set up. RO unit in basement fills 40G ttank. Plumed into sink, fridge and tank upstairs. Tank extention goes into sump with float valve. I clean and exercise the float valve every week to keep it from sticking open and flooding. I have a T valve and 6 foot line to fill my rubbermaid 25 gallon tote for waterchanges. I had a pro install everything. I'm not a plumber.

 

[effloresce]

no no no no, you can run ro/di water anytime, it works when you run water through it, it just super pruifies water, and then you have the good water line go into a tank or container for useage, either to drink, top off, WC, etc etc.

 

[effloresce]

here is the one i got
http://cgi.----.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...336689412&rd=1

 

[richfish]

im sorry,i still dont get it
i put the water from like a faucet or something..the water goes through its process and the good water could go in like a barrel?

 

[effloresce]

yes, and the waste water down the drain

 

[richfish]

after i get the water i needed i could just put the R/O away?

 

[effloresce]

idk what you mean, but you can turn it on/off anytime, it has a valve, and just turn it and its on, thne turn it the other way and its off, it takes me about 4 hours to get 5 gallons, its slow but well worth it.

 

[plyah8a]

How much water is actually wasted? Lets say in want to replace 15 gallons of water in my tank.