Length of time for lights on in fuge?

chuckdallas

Tank Tinkerer
Well, I read on 1 or 2 or 3 threads that I should have the ligbts on over the chaeto on an opposite schedule of the daylight to help keep the pH more stable. I've been running the lights from 9 pm to 9 am. I just switched from a Wet-Dry to a fuge & I was wondering if I should run the lights over the fuge from 2 pm to 8 am, which is what I did when I had an Algae Turf Scrubber and the Wet-Dry.

Any thing wrong with an 18 hour ON cycle for the fuge lights?

Also I started the fuge light with a spiral CFL light built & enclosed inside it's own reflector as you might see on a back porch light. It was 2700K. I read on www.melevsreef.com and 2-3 other threads here to get the 5000 to 6700K bulbs instead. I ordered some so now I have one 2700K bulb over 1/3 of the chaeto and over the mangrove plants and I have a 5100K bulb over the other 2/3rds of the chaeto.

Any pros/cons? What's the best Kelvin temp bulb for mangrove plants?
Should I take out the 2700K bulb and replace it with one of the 5100 or 6700K bulbs I ordered and have sitting around?
 
More hours should be okay. Very bright lighting can be counterproductive, but that lighting seems reasonable to me.
 
I ran my fuge light 24/7. Did the reverse daylight fuge for a while but never noticed any difference in Ph. I found the Chaeto grow much faster with light 24/7. I would have to harvest almost every week.
 
I like a "summer" photoperiod of 14hrs on, 10hrs off for the 'fuge. Some people claim it keeps the caulerpa from going sexual and releasing the absorbed N03,P04,etc. back into the water.
 
Back
Top