Leaving the light on 24/7 in a all coral tank?
- Thread starter Hunterx
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jreefer113
New member
well i am new to this sight but i know quite a bit about photosynthesis and such............like someone pointed out it does not happen in the dark........respiration does.......photosynthesis uses light and co2 and h2o to creat sugars..........those sugars are then broken down at night through respiration which breaks down those sugars in the presence of oxygen to release the enerygy from the sugar.....thats why your oxygen is used up at night......and thats why light and dark cycles are needed.......i hope I got that all out correctly
liveforphysics
New member
For the folks leaving the fuge lights on 24/7. In my tests, Chaetomorpha Sp. actaully had an increased growth rate when using a timer with a 12on/12off cycle.
From the observation of pH, I noted that after the first 5hrs or so, the pH is no longer held stable from the fuge being lit. I now run 2 fuges each on a 6hr photoperiod. The algae growth in the display is lower than ever before, the pH is more stable than it has ever been, and the rate of macro algae growth is increadible.
It also costs no extra lighting power to run 2 fuges with 6hr lighting cycles than 1 fuge with a 12hr lighting cycle.
Lights on, the plant inhales. Lights off the plant exhales. They are equally important. Plants will just stop and exhale when they become saturated, however, for corals it will be fatal.
From the observation of pH, I noted that after the first 5hrs or so, the pH is no longer held stable from the fuge being lit. I now run 2 fuges each on a 6hr photoperiod. The algae growth in the display is lower than ever before, the pH is more stable than it has ever been, and the rate of macro algae growth is increadible.
It also costs no extra lighting power to run 2 fuges with 6hr lighting cycles than 1 fuge with a 12hr lighting cycle.
Lights on, the plant inhales. Lights off the plant exhales. They are equally important. Plants will just stop and exhale when they become saturated, however, for corals it will be fatal.
ummmm if you think about it, the ONLY place that comes close to having the sun out all the time is the north pole. Everywhere else in the world the light lasts for 10 hours but in reality if you think about it the sun is not the same intensity for those 10 hours. So if what we are doing is recreating the ocean enviroment, ask yourself where in the world is the sun out 24/7, with consistant intensity with oceans that host coral ?
ReefDoctorMicromussas
In Memoriam
I am willing to bet that he did not ask the question to learn what was in the best interest of the coral... My bet is that he has the tank somewhere that it is on display and would like it to always look "awake" The answers provided here address the corals needs perfectly, so I will avoid what we all see as obvious and instead point out the aesthetics...
The answer that he needs is .. Leaving the lights on 24/7 will make the coral look bad, it will retract and not bloom in the pretty way that you want, soon the coral will begin to degrade and show signs of failure to thrive resulting over time in coral death
The answer that he needs is .. Leaving the lights on 24/7 will make the coral look bad, it will retract and not bloom in the pretty way that you want, soon the coral will begin to degrade and show signs of failure to thrive resulting over time in coral death
fishquaria
New member
Put very simply, Photosynthesis is the manufacturing process for the synthesis of sugars. After manufacture they need to be 'packed', 'distributed' and made available to be 'consumed' this happens in the absence of light. When photosynthesis is not happening. So consider it this way, if you had fifty people working in a factory, during production you'd have as many people as possible working on that, production. Packing etc, would take place in the night, when raw material for manufacture isn't available. Now if manufacture went on and on, you wouldn't be able to get the product out and into the hands of the consumers in time. So you'd be doing a lot of damage, and stariving a lot of people... A very simple explanation.
awestruck
New member
Here's my .02 FWIW: I never leave my lights on 24/7 for all of the reasons previously mentioned; additionally, fish need quiet time too.
I vary my lighting schedule a lot because I try to imitate (well, as best as I can) what's going on outside. For example, sometimes I turn the actinics on and then turn the daylights on several hours later. Sometimes I only turn the actinics on for the entire day. Sometimes I push the lights as far back as I can (my t5s are on legs) thus the back is more lit than the front, and sometimes I reverse it so the back is more dim than the front. Most of the time all of the lights are on and evenly distributed throughout the tank. And, sometimes I leave the lights off for a day and just have some light coming in through the windows.
My goal is not to see totally rapid growth from my corals. My goal is to imitate Mother Nature as best as I can, even though my set up is nowhere near as sophisticated as it could be. My tank is healthy and everything is thriving and growing...
Again, just my .02
I vary my lighting schedule a lot because I try to imitate (well, as best as I can) what's going on outside. For example, sometimes I turn the actinics on and then turn the daylights on several hours later. Sometimes I only turn the actinics on for the entire day. Sometimes I push the lights as far back as I can (my t5s are on legs) thus the back is more lit than the front, and sometimes I reverse it so the back is more dim than the front. Most of the time all of the lights are on and evenly distributed throughout the tank. And, sometimes I leave the lights off for a day and just have some light coming in through the windows.
My goal is not to see totally rapid growth from my corals. My goal is to imitate Mother Nature as best as I can, even though my set up is nowhere near as sophisticated as it could be. My tank is healthy and everything is thriving and growing...
Again, just my .02
MR Bowfront
New member
What if it is moonlight from a programed LED?? Is there a advantage from running 20% moonlight during the night hours?
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sde1500
Active member
10 year old post but decent info at least. Moonlights are for nothing beyond aesthetics really.
SeaMonkee
New member
OFF Topic, but kinda funny. When I was just getting out on my own I had a rental house/duplex as my first place, and started to notice the PG&E bill never really came. Until I remembered I never registered for it, I didn't think too much of it. Neighbor started complaining that his gas bill was huge, and a subsequent attic repair concluded that the duplex was setup where my unit's were run by his supply lines after the meter. I miss those non-existent bills.
Cajunreefer87
New member
Definitely too much light. Bye bye coral.
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