Lighting regiment.

[angler man]

Okay, so what's your opinion on how long my lights should be on. I have a halide, vho's, night light, cooling fan and a sump light.
How long would you run these and how would you time them in conjunction with each other?
Also, is there some kick butt power strip that exists that has timers on each plug in? 5 timers eats up a lot of space.

 

[rcoultas]

You could order a time clock that has DPST switching with one normally open and one normally closed switch - wire that to an outlet into which you plug the lights (or you can hardwire into a box). These time clocks are made by Intermatic, Tork and several mfg's. By having the opposing switching one clock can control both day and night (for simple time schedule - when day lighting goes off night lighting goes on)

 

[swalchemist]

Get a Reefkeeper or ACJr controller and kiss the timers goodbye as well as added safety of temp control. My next control unit will be A Profilux controller though.
Light time is dependant upon what you have in the tank. I run my halides at about 10 hours, my buddy runs his for 12, what ever works for your coral.

 

[yosemite sam]

A controller would be helpful (but spendy!) to coordinate all of these, but you can simplify, too. I run my VHO atinics 9 hours and my MH bulbs 7 hours (the atinics are on one hour before and after the halides). The fans in my hood are always on, since I think it's good to keep fresh air flowing. Do you have a refugium or something that needs light in your sump area? My sump/refugium light comes on with the halides, and is on the same timer.

 

[angler man]

Thanks guys!
BTW, how often are you guys replacing your halides? 10-12 hours seems like you would be going through them pretty fast.
At 7 hours I assume that your are getting 9 months out of them.
Also, what kelvin are you using and is there a "best" brand on halides? I'm running a 14K SPS.

 

[swalchemist]

14 K Phoenix 250s
I still use 10K current or Coralife 150s on the other tank
Change bulbs about every 7-8 months.

 

[snakeblitz33]

8 months. MH's usually start to "cycle" when they start to go out. This means that they will come on, and then turn off on their own and then start again. That's when you need to replace them.
MH's do NOT loose their light spectrum, they only start to "cycle."

 

[angler man]

Originally Posted by SnakeBlitz33
8 months. MH's usually start to "cycle" when they start to go out. This means that they will come on, and then turn off on their own and then start again. That's when you need to replace them.
MH's do NOT loose their light spectrum, they only start to "cycle."
I did not know that. I thought they lost their spectrum. Learn something new everyday here!
What brand do you like?

 

[swalchemist]

Use a photometer, or if you are observant you can use your coral as indicators. And yes they do loose there spectrum a 14 K bulb starts to burn at a different temperature so the rating and (PAR) will change with age. Keep in mind I have many Limited edition and rare corals so I change my bulbs before the PAR decreases to where the coral color and or health are affected.

 

[lexluethar]

Originally Posted by SnakeBlitz33
8 months. MH's usually start to "cycle" when they start to go out. This means that they will come on, and then turn off on their own and then start again. That's when you need to replace them.
MH's do NOT loose their light spectrum, they only start to "cycle."
This can't be true - I don't know for a fact but that just seems kinda "fishy" (pun intended) to me. If MH did not lose their PAR value or their light spectrum, then why the hell would you ever replace them? People replace them every 6-8 months becaues they lose there quality of light (PAR/spectrum). If they did not lose this and just "cycled" once they were bad why would people spend 50 bucks to replace them? I sure as heck wouldn't, especially if the downside would be them just turning themselves off then back on.
That just doesn't make sense.