Run Time for Lights

gnorman

gnorman

Active Member
hey everyone. i was just wondering what is the best run time to have your lights on. what time of day, and for how long should i run them? i have a 150g FOWLR and my lights are as follows.
2 36" 2x96W Aqualight Double Linear Strip Retrofit Kit.
right now im only running the white flourescents( so around 200 watts) b.c the blue tubes broke

3 one watt blue LED lights that i keep on during the night.
do these LED lights take up run time for your light system? i know people that keep their LED lights on all the time.
right now my lights are set for an on and off system. the LED lights go on at 9 at night and off at 10. then at 10 the aqulight system turns on. i get home from school around 12:30 and leave for vball around 2:15 so i turn off the lights then and then turn them back on when i get home around 6 and then they are on until 9 when the LED lights come on.
is this too much lighting? is there any way i can set it out where i dont have to manually turn on/off the main lights?
also, i just got some fuge plants that are attached to a rock. i put them in my fuge and they have been in there for about 4 days or so. my LFS told me to run the fuge light when the main display lights are off. so ive been basically running the fuge lights at night and from 2-6ish... is this too much or too little time.
sorry for the long post. i hope it made sense. thanks for reading
eric-
 
murph145

murph145

Active Member
i leave my lights on 8 hours a day i run MH alone and thats it... they come on at 2:30 go off at 10:30pm the rest of the time the fishes have to swim in indirect lighting from outside and when im turning lights on in the living room... ive found that 8 hours in general seems to work pretty good keepin corals happy
 
gnorman

gnorman

Active Member
thanks for your reply murph. would the run time be any different for a FOWLR. and also, how long should i keep my fuge lights on for and during what time of day/night
 
matt819

matt819

Member
It really doesn't matter for FOWLR. The same 8 hours would be fine, you could even go longer if you wished, up to 10 or 12 hours and see if you develop any algae blooms, then you might wanna cut it back. You should run your fuge light opposite of your tank to help stabilize pH. The same amount of time or close is fine there too.
 
mannysantana

mannysantana

New Member
I am running the following:
1 96w Power Compact Actinic (blue)
1 96w Power Compact 10K (white)
2 150w HQI MH 10K
10 470nm Moon Lights
And run them like this:
09:00am ON 1 96w Power Compact Actinic (blue)
10:00am ON 1 96w Power Compact 10K (white) plus the above
11:00am ON 2 150w HQI MH 10K plus the above

[hr]
07:00pm OFF 2 150w HQI MH 10K
08:00pm OFF 1 96w Power Compact 10K (white)
09:00pm OFF 1 96w Power Compact Actinic (blue)
09:00pm ON 10 470nm Moon Lights
 
gnorman

gnorman

Active Member
thanks for all of your help. just trying to decide when to run mine so i can make it easier on me. i guess i just need to get some timmers, that should help.
 
integral9

integral9

Member
Actinics go from 9am to 9pm and Sunpaqs go from 11am to 7pm. lunar lights are on the rest of the time(9pm to 9am) as well as my fuge light.
actually, because of stupid daylight savings all those times are moved back 1 hour...
From what I've noticed, most people run actinics for 12 hours and sunpaqs or MHs for 8 hours. Kinda simulates a sunrise and sunset... I think one guy here even turns on his MHs sequentially to try and mimic the sun moving across the tank... can't remember his ID.
 
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