lighting time?
- Thread starter Pico1
- Start date
fragaholic
New member
Photoperiod with halides is a big debate. Some say less is better some say more is better. I run mine for 7 hours with good results. I dont think reefs in nature get 12+ hours of direct sunlight so I shoot for less.
robertloop
Member
I run my 175 MH for 13 hrs. The 400w on the other side of the tank is on for 6. All my really colorful acros are under the 10,000k XM 176w mh.
Justin74
New member
I think supplementation lighting plays a big role in dictating how long of periods MH's should be used. If none, the need to run longer may be greater, with some the opposite could hold true.
But a good point was made, the sun will not produce 12+ hours of direct light onto a naturally lit environment, nor is it needed to. This point was slightly touched down on a presentation we had tonight by Anthony Calfo.First itll be a long time before we could emmulate the quality of light thats produced in a wild tropical environment, even assuming we could; tank depth plays a major factor in how much light is needed for alot of species in the hobby industry. Also, alot of corals in the industry can be highly adaptive and successfull trade offs can occur. For example, where light may be a scarce corals will accomodate themselves by becoming more aggressive in there food consumption/absorbtion,and vice versa, where light is overly abundant corals will depend less on food consumption and more on photosynthesis. And a bigger point(and more valuable IMO) the hobby has put too much emphasis on light and all its possible variations as opposed to water quality, water flow, and feeding.
So for a more specific tailord answer you seek, youll want to explain what you have and want to keep.Type of specie,tank depth(and size), current (acitinic/or other)supplementation if any,etc.
Hope I didnt cloud up the discussion to much
-Justin
But a good point was made, the sun will not produce 12+ hours of direct light onto a naturally lit environment, nor is it needed to. This point was slightly touched down on a presentation we had tonight by Anthony Calfo.First itll be a long time before we could emmulate the quality of light thats produced in a wild tropical environment, even assuming we could; tank depth plays a major factor in how much light is needed for alot of species in the hobby industry. Also, alot of corals in the industry can be highly adaptive and successfull trade offs can occur. For example, where light may be a scarce corals will accomodate themselves by becoming more aggressive in there food consumption/absorbtion,and vice versa, where light is overly abundant corals will depend less on food consumption and more on photosynthesis. And a bigger point(and more valuable IMO) the hobby has put too much emphasis on light and all its possible variations as opposed to water quality, water flow, and feeding.
So for a more specific tailord answer you seek, youll want to explain what you have and want to keep.Type of specie,tank depth(and size), current (acitinic/or other)supplementation if any,etc.
Hope I didnt cloud up the discussion to much
-Justin
Justin74
New member
Are you supplementing with any pc's,vho. or t5's?If not,you may want to consider a longer length of time say between 8-12 hours. Start at 8 and if your corals seem fine stay there for awhile.After a few weeks somtimes months if the colors arent as vivid or worse, noticable faded from what you remember you may want to increase the length. This is only my speculations though I cant tell you how long you need to keep your unit on as I never have used that unit , even for someone who has every coral is different and chances are youll have a different variety with different responses to photoperiod and intensities.
So your never going to get a solid answer unless you find someone with the same tank(and inhabitants) and the same lights(and kelvin rating),not to mention the same amount of filtration and flow,
Ultimately thats just a ball park figure, youll just have to monitor the reactions of different photoperiods untill you get the results your looking for.Wish I could be more helpfull
-Justin
So your never going to get a solid answer unless you find someone with the same tank(and inhabitants) and the same lights(and kelvin rating),not to mention the same amount of filtration and flow,
Ultimately thats just a ball park figure, youll just have to monitor the reactions of different photoperiods untill you get the results your looking for.Wish I could be more helpfull
-Justin
