Light cycles?

[AquaAdam]

I'm just wondering how you guys decide to set your light cycles. I understand your lighting may vary depending on corals but how long would you say is a normal time period to have the lights on? When searching for lighting schedules i've found every person is different but I'm looking for something to base it on. should they be on for 8hrs? 12hrs? peak in the middle? more blue than white?

I've also found my maxspec razor r420r doesn't work the way I thought. It actually gradually increases the light to the first time period, instead of turning on at the specific time, which is good in a way, but is going to take some tweaking to get it work the way I want.

 

[flooddc]

Your light cycle should be based on your own schedule and preferences. You want it to be on the majority of time when you're home to enjoy it. I usually set my to turn on for about 10h/day. Some people like to ramp up and down during their cycle and all sort of programmable stuffs if you have the controller(s). I am not a fan of all blue light so, I just have both blue and white turn on the same time and off the same time.

 

[homer1475]

Your light cycle should be based on your own schedule and preferences. You want it to be on the majority of time when you're home to enjoy it. I usually set my to turn on for about 10h/day. Some people like to ramp up and down during their cycle and all sort of programmable stuffs if you have the controller(s). I am not a fan of all blue light so, I just have both blue and white turn on the same time and off the same time.

I'm exactly the same with the exception that I have 4 blue LED's that I turn on for an hour before my lights start to turn on, and an hour after my light turn off for a moonlight effect.

 

[JohnnyHildo]

^ exactly.
type of coral, depth which they are situated also seem to play a part as well. i run an ati dimmable fixture that starts at 11am and turns off at 11pm but the first and last hours of the schedule are at very low intensity and only using 2 bulbs. throughout the day i am really only running close to 100% on both channels for under an hour.
play with the schedule but keep in mind the longer it's on the more trouble algae will likely be. 12 hours would probably be too long if it wasn't so dim to begin and finish the day.

 

[vashawn]

I have 4 led evergrow d120 full spec on a 265 mixed
blue comes on @ 75% @ 9a
white comes on @ 45% @12n
and white turns off @ 7pm
blue turns off @ 10pm
moonlight turns on @ 10p and cuts off @ 8a.
i have 3 seperate timer
I like to watch my tank with lights on lol

 

[civics14]

10 hours a day - 2 hours ramp up and 2 hours ramp down, 6 hours at my max setting

100% blue, 75% white, 75% UV/Red (RapidLED Onyx)

start time is at 1pm to shut off completely at 11p, i get home from work at 5, so i can enjoy it for several hours before i head to bed

 

[pyithar]

led:
12 hrs a day for blue+some other colors. 8 hrs a day for white+some other colors.

 

[gallegos]

For my mixed reef my lights come on at 11:00am and turn off at 9:00 PM. Has worked great for me for years

 

[Ron Reefman]

You asked,"When searching for lighting schedules i've found every person is different but I'm looking for something to base it on." And what people are giving you is their different settings and no reason or rational.

We light coral for 2 reasons: Because we want to see it with our eyes, so it needs to be lit up. And the corals have an algae called zooxanthellae that do photosynthesis which helps feed the the coral.

As I understand it, once you get enough light shining down on the water over a real reef, like 9 to 10 in the morning, the zooxanthellae will take an hour or so to cycle and start doing photosynthesis. They will then do that for 4 to 6 hours, until the sun starts to go down, like 2 or 3 in the afternoon. They have worked this cycle for thousands of years.

Now in your tank you have the ability to have enough light to possibly do photosynthesis for as long as you want to leave the light turned on. However, the zooxanthellae have thousands of years of genetics that tell it photosynthesis is a 4 to 6 hour process and that's all the longer it will/can do it. Adding 2 or 4 or even 6 hours of extra bright light for your viewing pleasure isn't a problem for the coral. But the zooxanthellae aren't doing photosynthesis during those extra hours either.

On the other hand, the coral polyps themselves do produce pigments (so do the zooxanthellae) and longer times with bright light may change how much or even what color pigments are produced. Think about you standing in the bright sun for an hour a day vs 6 hours a day. The first will give you a nice tan over time, the second will give you a sunburn that will evolve into a very deep brown tan over time and probably some skin damage in the form ot leathery, wrinkled and cracked skin.

And my personal lighting levels? Over my DT's I do a 5 hour sunrise, 4 hours of midday and 6 hours of sunset. I think I get about 8 hours of enough light for photosynthesis to happen. Over my frag tank and grow out tank I do 1 hour of blue, 6 hours of blue & white and 1 hour of blue. Even just the blue is at 100% on my leds and that is a high enough PAR for photosynthesis.