What is your lighting schedule and why?

snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Hey all,
So, what is your lighting schedule, and why did you choose it? There are many different types of light bulbs and combinations out there,... so tell us a little about what lighting system you have, brands if you can, and your lighting schedule and why you chose those hours.
Let us know if LED lighting schedules are any different then the traditional lighting times (8-9hrs) and if you can keep them on longer at a lower level, if that makes sense.
I have a four bulb T5HO DIY retrofit system with UVL bulbs. My lights come on at 1:00pm and stay on until 9:00pm. This is the time that I am usually home and able to look at the system. While I might be up past 9:00pm, the others in my household go to bed earlier then that. I chose to light the tank around 8 hours - and I try to avoid keeping the lights on during the hottest part of the day (controlled by my Apex Jr.)
 
S

smallreef

Guest
2evergrow/reefbreeders d120's
Blues turned up to 75%,whites up to 50%
Blues stay on for 10 hours and whites come on 2 hours after and go off 2 hours before the blues....I also have a cheap strip of blue LEDs for moonlights so my fish don't end up in my 5 anemones currently in the tank (soon down to 3)
Don't have any heat issues thankfully...
I chose my own led layout.. I really love it...
 
sweatervest13

sweatervest13

Active Member
2 Reefbreeder Photon 32" units over a 125g standard size RR tank.
I have the exact times and powers written down at home but I'll give you the gist of it.
I have the tank in my basement so it can stay pretty dark during the day. I work full time and I am a bit of a night owl, so I have the lighting schedule adjusted to fit my schedule.
I have full lights out for 4 hours a day (0% power both channels, no moon light).
At around 11:00 am the moonlights start coming on and I slowly ramp up the power (start a 1% power on the blue channel {moonlights are from 1% power on blue channel to 10%}). So, from 11am - 4pm the moonlights get up to 10% power on the blue channel.
At 4:00 pm the sun starts to rise on my tank. I ramp up both blue and white (white channel has the other full spectrum LEDs) until I get to 90% blue and 70% white (keeping the channels about 20% apart gives the tank a nice 20K look). The power peaks around 9:00 pm then starts to back down at the same levels until 1:00am. Then the reverse moonlight settings until it is completely dark again around 6:00 am.
I just used the 1 hour interval settings on the unit. It could be programmed at 1/2 hour intervals. I may change in the future. I still have one more jump up in the power settings until I get o 100% power on the blue channel and I may go to 85% on the white channel. I have had this lighting schedule for just over a month, so I think that I can bump up the power soon.
I will dig around and see if I can get the exact times and power settings for the 24 hour lighting schedule.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
...I used to keep a special timer when I had corals, actinic on first, an hour later the main MHs...then before lights out the actinic again for an hour...then moonlights for the night time. 12 hours on, and 12 hours off.
I used Metal Halides...175w X 2 with 96w X 2 actinic...moonlights were the strips that went all the way across the tank on top.
I have seahorses now, I use T5HO lighting, because they look better then regular fish lights. I turn on the lights when I get up (usually around 7:30am) and shut them off around 7pm to 8pm. the few mushroom coral I kept, doesn't care about the lights.
 
mr. limpid

mr. limpid

Active Member
Nice sweatervest I like your lighting schedule
. My tank is LPS only I have the Marienland Reef Capabale LED fixture original can not control blues and white and not dimable. So the hole fixture comes on at 11am and off at 10pm all corals have been doing great on this fixture for the last 2 years.
 
sweatervest13

sweatervest13

Active Member
Okay, I found my hand written lighting schedule. Here you go:








Current Lighting Schedule











New Lighting Schedule











Time



Blue Channel



White Channel







Blue Channel



White Channel







11:00 AM



1%



0%







1%



0%







12:00 PM



4%



0%







4%



0%







1:00 PM



7%



0%







7%



0%







2:00 PM



9%



0%







9%



0%







3:00 PM



10%



0%







10%



0%







4:00 PM



20%



10%







25%



15%







5:00 PM



45%



30%







50%



35%





6:00 PM



60%



40%







70%

50%




7:00 PM



70%



50%







85%



65%







8:00 PM



90%



70%







100%



85%







9:00 PM



90%



70%







100%



85%







10:00 PM



70%



50%







85%



65%







11:00 PM



60%



40%







70%



50%







12:00 AM



45%



30%







50%



35%







1:00 AM



20%



10%







25%



15%







2:00 AM



10%



0%







10%



0%







3:00 AM



9%



0%







9%



0%







4:00 AM



7%



0%







7%



0%







5:00 AM



4%



0%







4%



0%



ight:19px;">
6:00 AM


1%



0%







1%



0%





7:00 AM



0%



0%







0%



0%







8:00 AM



0%



0%







0%



0%







9:00 AM



0%



0%







0%



0%







10:00 AM



0%



0%







0%



0%
 
mr. limpid

mr. limpid

Active Member
Wow that's impressive. Is this all done from the controler from reefbuilders or do you have a different one?
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
Sweatervest I like that schedule.....A very good example IMHO....Most overlight and ramp or torch the crap out of their systems for to long.......
 
sweatervest13

sweatervest13

Active Member
That sounds to good to be true and at a great price. Know I what a full blown reef tank.
Do it!! By no means are they the best. But for the price, they do pretty okay. I had to be very careful not to fry the corals when I fist got them in January. As you can see by the schedule I am still not up to
100% on any channel. Glad you like them. I think snake is/has pulled yhe trigger on the 16" unit.
 
sweatervest13

sweatervest13

Active Member
Sweatervest I like that schedule.....A very good example IMHO....Most overlight and ramp or torch the crap out of their systems for to long.......
Thanks Shawn!! I was going for a nice sun/moon cycle. I have read and it make pretty good sense to try to keep things a close to nature as you can. It would be pretty sweat to have it do clouds and thunderstorms. But they are pretty basic units.
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by sweatervest13 http:///t/395513/what-is-your-lighting-schedule-and-why#post_3521524
Do it!! By no means are they the best. But for the price, they do pretty okay. I had to be very careful not to fry the corals when I fist got them in January. As you can see by the schedule I am still not up to
100% on any channel. Glad you like them. I think snake is/has pulled yhe trigger on the 16" unit.
I'm keeping my 75g afterall and changing up some stuff to see if I can save some electricity. I'll be purchasing the photon 48 when I save up a little more money in a few weeks.
I really like your lighting schedule, the way you have it done.
 
sweatervest13

sweatervest13

Active Member
Sweatervest can these units be connected to an Apex?
I don't believe so. I remember reading something over on RC while i was researching these units, I think folks mentioned that you would have to swap the drivers if you wanted to connect to an Apex. Or that future models could be supported by Apex.
 
sweatervest13

sweatervest13

Active Member

I'm keeping my 75g afterall and changing up some stuff to see if I can save some electricity. I'll be purchasing the photon 48 when I save up a little more money in a few weeks.
I really like your lighting schedule, the way you have it done.
I'm keeping my 75g afterall and changing up some stuff to see if I can save some electricity. I'll be purchasing the photon 48 when I save up a little more money in a few weeks.
I really like your lighting schedule, the way you have it done.
Right on!!!! You will have fun with that fixture. Programming is easy but does take a bit of time.
 
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