How longs should lights stay on?

[chaplain]

I have a 75 gal tank with LR/DSB, cleaner crew, SFE, tang, clown, goby, starfish, mushrooms, and xenia. My question is how long is to long for my lights to stay on. I have them set on a timer so that my actenic comes on about 930, my MH about 1000, and then the MH goes off at 2200, and the actenic goes off at 2230. My wife wants me to set the lights to come on earlier in the day so my boys can see the fish in the morning. If I start the light cycle at 830, then should it end at about 2130 (930 pm)? Or, can I leave them on till 2230? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[reef master]

Chaplain
You should try to set your timers to be just like what a reef would see for daylight in the wild. Aprox 12 hours of total light but not all that time is full intensity. I have my setup with 8 hours of full intense light and the other 4 are turning on lights and shutting them down. This works great for my tank but keep in mind that all tanks are differnt.. Hope this helps.

 

[up north hermit]

I totally agree with Reef Master.
I am going to assume that your given times are in military time, so your MH's are on for 12 hours, correct? IMHO that is a bit too long. It is not always high noon on the reef.
I run mine for 7.5 hours, and then the 03's for 2.5 hours before and after they are on. I have experimented with this and actually have seen my corals improve with this lighting schedule, especially my leathers. And reduced algae problems as well.
It matters not at all when you choose to turn the system on, as long as it is done on schedule every day. My system is completely shut down by 8 o'clock at night, we go to bed early to read. But then the system is fully operational by 8 a.m., as we are early risers.
HTH
Hermit