Howto setup your new lighting system

[LifeIsFish]

lately i decided to build my new lighting for my 3 tanks.
currently i have 3 tanks of 300 gallons each.
my main tank (which is reef), i wanted to improve my MH light and to add some moonlight (that wil be controlled by my RKE).

the configuration that i came up with is as this:

4x MH 400W each.
5x Atinic bulbs 54W (Blue Life) that connected to 2 ice caps ballasts
8 1W moonlights pods (the ones that controlled by the RKE controller.

the timing period for those lighting is as following:

MH1 - 11:15 - 19:15
MH2 - 11:45 - 19:45
MH3 - 12:15 - 20:15
MH4 - 12:45 - 20:45
Atinic lighting - 7:00 - 21:00

moonlight - the controller turn them on 21:00 - 7:00

what do you think about this setup?
what time period would you define the lights in order to get the best preformance for the reef.

My other tank, i'm currently start to build. this light will be only T5 bulbs, and the 8 moonlight controlled by the RKE. the bulbs will work via 3 Ice Caps 660 my only concern is what type of bulbs should i have for this? 50/50, 75/25 full blue etc.....

i think that this topic is a big one and i would like to get any type of input in regards to that topic.

tomorrow i will post some pictures of my new lighting that i complete for my reef.

 

[LifeIsFish]

 

[melev]

Everyone has different taste when it comes to lighting, so the opinions will surely vary. Myself, I've come to like the staggered lighting period over my tank. It allows the reef to receive gradual lighting that moves across the tank rather than getting it full blast for a fixed amount of hours and then off again.

As we know, the earth is constantly in motion, so the sun doesn't hit a certain spot at the same intensity for a very long period of time. What I mean is that sunlight directly overhead will soon move to a new point, creating shadows that grow longer throughout the rest of the day. What we saw originally as very bright will be less intense as time passes.

So it is with my tank. Daylight pours into my living room each morning. This is enough for some of my fish to start swimming around, while others stay hidden in the reef. At 11am, the VHO actinics turn on and cast their glow for two hours. At 1pm, the first 10,000K metal halide bulb turns on, and it is the one closest to the patio door where daylight enters the room. Thus, the right side of my tank is now lit up.

At 2:15pm, the middle MH turns on, adding more light since two MH bulbs are on.

At 3:30pm, the left MH turns on, and now the tank is lit up from end to end. This is what I refer to as 'high noon'. The tank stays fully lit from 3:30pm to 7:00pm.

At 7:00pm, the right MH turns off, because I'm trying to emulate how the sun crosses over my home and my reef from the right to the left, daily. At this point, the tank is still lit by the middle and left MH bulbs, but the Toadstool Leather is now in semi-darkness, only being lit by whatever light happens to shine over that area.

At 8:15pm, the middle MH bulb turns off. Now the only light is the actinics which is pale compared to the 10,000K MH bulb still burning on the left end of my reef.

At 9:30pm, the last MH turns off. The actinics run until 10pm. And it stays dark until the next morning when the sun rises outside, to start the cycle all over again.

I may have to take a series of pictures to save on typing in the future. :lol:

 

[300Reef]

nice lighting.....

 

[LifeIsFish]

thanks Marc, for the input.....

so basically you don't run any moonlight correct?

my controller has a night mode, which is set from 21:00 to 7:00. the moonlight (that are a module for this controller), are on during this period of time.

is this fine?

 

[melev]

No, I don't use any moonlights. There are modules and stand alone gizmos that will not only provide moonlight, but even increase and decrease the wattage of the bulb to emulate the new moon to full moon effect, copying what is happening outside throughout the month.

I do think moonlighting is pretty, but it really only needs to be on while you are looking at the tank. So if you liked it to look at your tank until 1am, after that, leave them off.

My refugium lighting is on from 10pm to 6am, and the refugium is completely under my tank, in the back of the sump. The little light that spills into the fishroom is all the light my reef gets, and it isn't much at all.

Dana Riddle talked about how some corals bleach that are in the direct path of a blue LED moonlight that is plugged in and never turned off. Because they use so little power, and add no heat, and last 50,000 hours supposedly, people tend to forget about them. However, the corals in their path can't forget about it, and tend to bleach because they never get any time to rest.