Photoperiod discussion

[panic]

What is your photoperiod, number and type of lights, and color?
Why did you choose this?


My 75g display:
2x 400se Reeflux 12k on 7 hours
1x 250de XM 10k on 2 hours
2x 3' URI SuperActinics on for 12 hours

I have tried to simulate the sunup / sundown effect with the actinics for a few hours, then the 12ks for a couple before the 10k "high-noon" for 2 hours. I have experienced accelerated growth since I have added the 10k for only 45min over 4 months. I have recently bumped up this time over the last couple of weeks to 2 hours on the 10k.

Now I wonder if this graduation of light is necessary. I plan to use 2 400se Reeflux 12k and 1 400se Reeflux 10k with Luminarc III for 9 hours over my new 180bb that is ready to be christened with rock and water in 2 weeks. The reflectors will hang above with no canopy. I will use no other supplemental lighting, unless I don't like the look

 

[Wiskey]

I have a 50 gallon 4 foot tank. I have 2*55W 03, and 2*250W XM 10K MH. My tank is BB.

I run the PC 03's for 12 hours, and the MH for 4.

I only run the MH for 4 hours because anymore and my corals start to bleach.

I hate looking at the 03 blue tank all day, so my next tank will include atinic and 10K PC's so I can have a normal looking tank when the MH is not on.

HTH,
Whiskey

 

[my2girls]

I have a 75 with 12K Reeflux also. I run 2 250w 12K with 2 T5 blueplus. My halide period is 5 hours and actinics for 8 hours. My tank is 95% SPS. Seems like you could get away with less light. Your electric bill must be a killer.

 

[cheesner]

I run about the same as my2girls, except I have 10k on the MHs.

I am now SPS heavy (for a month) and I am seeing good growth on all of my frags and 2 colonies.

 

[mntl]

-20 or so gal display all sps.
-Single 175w Iwasaki aqua2 14k in a luminarc mini/ice-cap ballast
-No supplimentation
-Bulb sits 7" off of the water surface
comes on at 1:30pm goes off at 10pm

I found that the corals in the tank where getting lighter in color, so I first lowered my photoperiod but found that the coral as a whole would get darker, when what I really wanted was darker and more of the brightly colored pigments and less brown. I started feeding more heavily and turkey basteing all of my rock religiously. Sinse I started this I have found that I get much better coloring with little to no brown.

-John-

 

[DMK]

used to run MH 10 hr/day then 8 now 6, each time i lowered i got better coloration, always 13 hrs/day VHO actinic. started w/ DE AB 10K then gesieman 14.5K now phoenix 14K. i will stay w/ this bulb. perfect coloaration IMO, especially on mag ballast. blue/white but not too much blue.

 

[Satori]

On my 55, I run 2 VHO actinic for 14 hours, 1 175w 14k MH for 12 hours, and 2 250w 14k MH for 11 hours.

I guess I do it like this because like to see it with the lights on rather than off, it gives great results, and it doesn't cause any problems.

My tank is nearly all SPS, exept for some zoas, xenia, and a candycane.

 

[Ti]

8hrs

 

[Chip Douglas]

We were running our XM 10k's for 9 hours but cut back to 7 hours yesterday. We might even cut back to 6, we'll see how 7 works for now though.

 

[Sk8r]

We're about 15 hours on actinic, about 8 on a 250 MH, with a candycane, a yongei, a cerealis all about 14 inches from the MH. The candycane colored up teal-ish, the cerealis is happily purple,and the yongei shows traces of the darker green. The frogspawn is another 6-8 inches down, and seems happy: the montipora has grown a quarter inch in the last two weeks...maybe it's too much, but nothing seems unhappy except the palys.