light time question

[supertech99]

In an effort to cut down on some cyano I was turning my lights off for a day at a time coupled with water changes. I noticed that my zoas sprouted more new heads during this week of lights out/back on/out/back on than they had done in the past with the lights on. My frags are much more densely populated now with lots of small heads, thought this was cool, anyway to my question. In an effort to keep cyano at bay, keep my powerbill low, and not waste bulblife I am looking for a good time duration for continued growth but kept to a minimum. I work 12hrs a day, commute 2hrs a day so i am lucky to get my 30min stare on during the week and do most of my maintence on the weekend. I am the only one in the house that looks at the tank so I want to maximize savings and minimize waste. I was doing 12hrs with my pc lights but switched to 10hrs when i got my t5's and never increased it. I was thinking that I may be able to drop my daylight time to 8hrs and reduce power. Would this cause my corals to grow more slowly? Anyone have any experience with low amounts of light time on their tanks? Any suggestions?

 

[commonstranger]

I only run my MH for about 8-9hrs a day.

 

[poolkeeper1]

T5s for 8hrs i think would be fine, I run mine for 11 and my Halides for only 6hrs. But have ran less hrs in the past or if i have Algae issues. Try and see how your coral reacts, If negative return to old settings. You may change in small amounts instead of all at once. No lights for a day once in a while is fine IMO

 

[supertech99]

thanks guys, I found a article in the archive that stated he turns out his lights for three days straight every month and swears by the results. I think that is a bit extreme but i do think i will lower my light time to about 8 hrs total, i only have one sps and got him from someone who was keeping it under pc so i think it should be ok.