13hr lighting cycle with 2 a360

[Aquavaj]

I have 2 Kessil a360 over a 4' 120g. Since this week I've got them set up with my Apex to ramp up and down to simulate sunrise and sunset. I pretty much just copied another person's profile and tweaked it a bit. I have it 8a-12 to ramp intensity up to 60 (0-100) and color to 40 (0-100) over 2hrs. From 12-4p the intensity raises to 80 and color to 60 over 1hr. Finally 4-9p it drops down to just above the cutoff of on/off over 3hrs and remains at this until it shuts off at 9.

My question is, does a lighting cycle this long promote excessive algae growth even though the lights aren't running at full intensity for the whole cycle? I've read you should keep it 8-10rs max.

 

[justajason]

I'd recommend max 12 hours total time. I'd also suggest you start with a ten hour cycle opposite to your refugium. I use these lights and they're remarkably powerful.


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[reefinmike]

I have two over my 90 along with two pairs of T5 bulbs and I REALLY love the setup. The T5 helps even out the shading effect from the two point sources of light and tame down the intense shimmer so the tank looks more natural and less disorienting. An ATI blue and white bulb kick on at 18:00 and off at 22:00, and two ATI blue's kick on at 21:00 and off at 01:00. Over time and as my tank shows a need for more light I will keep each set on an hour or so longer, overlapping for longer periods as well as increasing the kessil's intensity.

Be careful starting at 80, those kessils are much brighter than they appear. I'm having trouble finding areas shaded enough for brain corals. I haven't had any issues concerning excessive algae growth. Also, Keep in mind the kessils dont turn on until the intensity hits 12-13%

 

[Aquavaj]

I haven't seen any adverse affects yet with going up to 80. This was coming from 4x T5 and 250w 14K MH so the corals are no stranger to strong lighting. My softies and LPS seem to like this setup more but the SPS definitely love the t5/mh more.

Also forgot to mention I have 2 48" LED strips (blue/white) that comes on at 11-1 for additional light but these seem more for fish so I don't really know how much more light they're outputting.

I will cut them back to 10hrs and go from there.