how long do you keep your lights on everyday?

[StunnaShadez]

hot this time of year...

630am-1:25pm

right before it gets too hot around, the lights should be off.

 

[ReefTECK]

One solution for that....Chiller :thumbsup:

I actually run my lights from 9am-9pm actinics, 10am-8pm halides, but the tank starts getting light on it from the sun through the window at 7-8am, and its full sun in my tank from 10am-2pm!

 

[pledosophy]

Mine go on at 5pm and off at 1am.

Atnic only for the first and last hour on one tank, the other tank has no atnic so it is full force all day.

Elecrticity is cheaper, it is cooler, but most of all, the lights are on when I'm home. I like to watch my fish.

 

[DLANDINO]

I run the following

Actinic on at 1pm
Daylights on at 2pm

Daylight off at 9pm
Actinic off at 10pm

Moonlights on 10pm-1pm

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12345000#post12345000 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by hyperfocal
I'm experimenting with a staggered schedule, partially to keep tank temp lower and partially to support the multiple daily feedings my anthias require.

Right now:

7:30am - On
8:30am - Off

11:30am - On
2:30pm - Off

5:00pm - On
9:00pm - Off

It's doing a good job keeping the tank temp low, and the anthias are doing fine (well, except for the sickly-since-bought one that's been MIA for the past week... worm food more than likely).

If you want to do that for heat reasons, that's fine, but it's largely unnecessary for the anthias. I'm pretty sure anthias do just fine in the wild when the sun is up for 12 hrs, then down for 12 . I would think the lighting you describe would actually be detrimental and confusing. I would also think a few fans would do much more for your heat situation.

Anyway,

My actinics are on for 12 hours (11-11) and the halides for 8 (1-9).

 

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12349480#post12349480 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by LobsterOfJustice
If you want to do that for heat reasons, that's fine, but it's largely unnecessary for the anthias. I'm pretty sure anthias do just fine in the wild when the sun is up for 12 hrs, then down for 12 . I would think the lighting you describe would actually be detrimental and confusing. I would also think a few fans would do much more for your heat situation.

Anyway,

My actinics are on for 12 hours (11-11) and the halides for 8 (1-9).

I have read that anthias need multiple feeds a day---don't quite understand that--I have three of them--they get fed twice a day with the rest of the fish

 

[hyperfocal]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12349480#post12349480 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by LobsterOfJustice
If you want to do that for heat reasons, that's fine, but it's largely unnecessary for the anthias. I'm pretty sure anthias do just fine in the wild when the sun is up for 12 hrs, then down for 12 . I would think the lighting you describe would actually be detrimental and confusing. I would also think a few fans would do much more for your heat situation.

I like to watch the fish feed and they're much easier to see with the lights on. They don't seem confused, though I'm not sure how I'd tell if they were; would they shrug their shoulders a lot? :lol: Besides the room lights are on, so it's not like they're going from complete darkness to noonday sun with the flick of a switch. My reef suffers from intermittent cloudy weather each day

I am running fans, both in the canopy and on the sump... 500W of lights on a relatively shallow tank just leads to increasingly warm water as the day progresses.