lighting question

[piranhaking]

I have a ten gallon reef with an unfinished diy hood on it. I have two T8 15 watt bulbs (one of them is actinic) and two of the standard 24inch shop lights that are 20 watts (T12 i think)

My question is regarding the photoperiod and timing of the lights. Right now everything is running off of one timer. I would like to how long a photoperiod is ideal to run, and how much better it would be to have the lights come on individualy. The T8's are each have their own ballast, but the two T12's are a pair and cant be split up. If it would be worth while to separate the lights and time them individually what would be a good time span. all i can really afford to get timer wise is the ones with a switch for every hour, i cant get the really nice digital ones that you can set for exact times.

 

[bertoni]

It's really up to you. I don't think that starting the bulbs separately will have any particular benefit.

 

[supertech3]

Most people try to simulate the light periods of the sun

 

[cmacld]

run your t5s as actinic and your t12 at 10k or 20k, i run my actinic for 12 hours a day and my 10k about 10 hrs a day, then the little moon lights come on at night. you can certainly change those periods to your liking (assuming that your corals are recivieng efficiant lighting).

 

[piranhaking]

t8 not t5 they are the type that come in the standard 10 gallon hoods. Thanks for the advice. I was actually thinking of switching to 10k bulbs. right now i have one normal bulb and one plant/aquarium bulb in the t12's and a standard aquarium bulb in the other t8