This is my lighting schedule which works for me.
300 gal 72L x 32W x 30H
5 x 36 watt T-5 actinic
4 x 36 watt T-5 10K
1 x 250 MH 14K
2 x 400 MH 14K
All the T-5s are 48" @ 36? watts total watts on
act 10K 14MH
8:30 single T-5 actinic............................ 36
8:45 add one T-5 act and one T-5 10K..... 72 36
9:00 add two T-5 act and one T-5 10K..... 144 72
9:15 add two T-5 act and two T-5 10K...... 216 144 fans start
9:30 get out the check book 250 MH......... 216 144 250
9:45 chain the electric meter to the wall ... 216 144 1050
7:00 shut down one 400
7:30 shut down next 400
7:45 shut down 250
8:00 shut down 9:15am T-5s
8:15 shut down 9:00 am T-5s
8:30 shut down 8:45 am T-5s
9:00 shut down last T-5 actinic - fans shut down
10:00 the moon comes up
Moon light is 5 hi blue leds and 5 hi white leds paired which come up "east to west" During a 'full moon" every 29 days, all 5 pairs come up 30 minutes apart, until all 5 pairs are on at midnite, then off starting at 5 AM one pair at a time "east to west" until the last pair goes off at 7AM. I use a moon cycle subroutine which divides the 29 day moon cycle into 6 cycles
Full moon 7 nights 5 pairs
3/4 moon 6 nights 4 pairs no center (#3)
1/2 moon 5 nights 3 pairs 1, 3, & 5
1/4 moon 4 nights 2 pairs 2 & 4
almost new moon 4 nights center only
new moon 3 nights no lights
How do I do all this without buying out the timer aisle at home depot???
I use a Allen Bradley SLC 5/04 Programmable Logic Controller to run the lighting and "power heads" for the main tank. The PLC allows me to surge PHs easily at "random" timings. There are no Power heads in the main tank, pumps are located externally and enter the tank via bulk heads in the back and bottom.
suffice to say this is anal overkill, what did you expect from a village idiot...I mean electrical engineer.
Bottom line ..get to know your corals, they will tell you when its right. tropical light periods are long days of clear blue skies, I would go at least 10 hours of full daylight with an hour of dawn and dusk. If this proves to be too much light, move the light away from the tank but try to maintain a 12 hour total photo period.
If you want a PLC, you can find them on ---- at a bargain, but get out your check book, they ain't that cheap, and the Rockwell software to write the program logic will run you about $5K, unless you can find a copy on ----. I love being an electrical engineer, so many things that I can use for my obsession...errr uh hobby....Now if I can only get a part time job at home depot...
