How long should i run my halides

[kevantheman35]

I have a 20"x20"x20" tank lit by a 250w pfo ballast and fixture. 14k pheonix bulb. I have both sps and lps and have been running my halide 11hours with 9 3w cree royal blue leds running 12 hours. Should i cut back my halides?

 

[Piper27]

I only run mine 5 hours.

 

[Finland]

I run mine 7hrs.

 

[kevantheman35]

Sounds like everyones different. Could you list your tank depth wattage, and how far your light is above the water everyone?

 

[robertmi]

as long as you don't have algae problems you should be fine. That is the biggest reason people cut light cycle down, that and maybe because of heat of MH

 

[Reef264]

Mine come on at 12pm, and go off at 8pm.So it's 8 hours.

Actinics come on at 11am, and go off at 9pm

 

[Buzz1329]

T5s -- 1 to 10 pm
MH1 -- 2 to 8 pm
MH2 -- 3 to 9 pm

 

[kaserpick]

16" cube
150w Phoenix SE MH
12" off water surface, 14"-18" from assorted SPS
7.5 hours

I'll be dropping mine to about 8" from the surface, I want to try slowly upping it to 8.5 hours. I think my intensity is on the low side, considering wattage and distance.

 

[oscar.millan]

6 hours for me, haven't noticed slowed growth and I'm saving energy.

I've played with 10, 8, 6, and 4 hours. 6 hours seams to be my sweet spot.

 

[JAustin]

I'm at 7.5 hrs burn time on 2x250 Phoenix over my 40 breeder.

 

[hypnoj]

I'm at 7.5 hrs burn time on 2x250 Phoenix over my 40 breeder.

holy cow. that's a lot of light for a 40g tank.

My tank is a 20 inch deep 80g. SPS only tank. I run my single 175 MH bulb for 7 hours. Growth is great. Only run actinics pre and post MH bulb times.

 

[robertmi]

I have a 50g that has the same footprint as a 75g except it is shorter(12inch high) and I have a 400wt mh on the right and a 175wt mh on the left. lots of light and they are on from 2pm-10pm. SPS on the right and lps on the left. blasting them with light and zero algae and awesome growth.

 

[steevareno2002]

I run mine for 10 but they are 150 watters...If i used 250's I'd go 8 hours or less. Is this thinking logical or does it matter?

 

[kevantheman35]

I dropped mine from 10 down to 8 today with the led actinics running 9. We'll see how it goes I should have done it a long time ago