photoperiod

[jski711]

so to everyone that has metal halide lighting how long should i keep them on during the day??? i have 2 150 watt 14k bulbs and am not sure how long i should keep them on. thanks as always.....jake

 

[redvipe2010]

what are you keeping?

 

[jski711]

right now, candy cane, zoo's, frogspawn, chalice. might do some sps.

 

[paininthewrasse]

I keep mine on for 9 hours a day.

How are the corals doing?

 

[ChicagoReefMan]

unfortunately i do not think you have enough lighting for sps. I would definetly try it with something easy but I did not want you to get your hopes up. Nobody likes it when they get thier hopes up and it doesnt work out. Sorry for the buzz kill

 

[TheGent]

I dunno.. I would say that he has the bare minimum lighting requirement for SPS. I agree that throwing in a $50 acro frag is not a good idea, but I would wager that some monti digitata would do well. I could be convinced either way on the acro though.. Lighting is obviously a topic of a lot of debate, and the only thing that everyone seems to agree on is that the more the have, the better off you will be.

Rule 1:
More lighting never hurts, until you try to shove a small sun under a hood..

 

[TheGent]

Oh.. And a 10-12 hr photoperiod is not unheard of, as long as you can keep your temp stable..

 

[BenjieC]

14hrs

 

[Bryan89]

13 hours main tank 11 hours small tank

 

[squibley2]

12 hours from 10-10. With 2 250s over a 55

 

[prugs]

2hrs of T5 to get things warmed up.
3hrs of MH to get things cooking.
2hrs of T5 to give things a chance to rest.
3hrs of MH to get things cooking.
2hrs of T5 to give things a chance to rest.
12hrs total

Best of all it really works.