Photoperiod

[dnguyen1]

Hey guys, my tank is FOWLR only now, am curious if there's a recommendation on how long the photoperiod should be, I actually have had my period for 7 hours a day which I'm beginning to think is way too short.

Also curious if you guys run PC how often you would replace the PCs.

I'm coming from a MH reef setup so I'm trying to figure a bit of things out here

 

[sunfishh]

I think there are two important issues here. The first is to provide a photoperiod long enough for you to see your fish without your tank being overrun with algae. The second is to provide a period when the lights are off so your fish can rest. Other than these two points there is not much to worry about.

 

[dnguyen1]

Hmm, perhaps that's why I haven't had any sort of algae blooms because my photo period is so short?

Would the jump from 7 to 10 hrs be a huge assist to algae growth?

Other than that, I'm mainly concerned that the fish get sunlight so that they aren't always "SLEEPING"

 

[nyvp]

like everything else in the hobby move slowly. change your lighting , parameters up or down slowly on anything

 

[dnguyen1]

Definitely going to move slowly, I think my fish will appreciate the added sunlight

 

[Recty]

I typically give my fish as much sunlight as they would get in the wild. Most fish we keep are found in tropical zones somewhat near the equator, they get a good 12 hours a day of sunlight, I do the same at home, anywhere from 10-12 hours.

I have my lights come on around 11:30am so that by 12:30pm when I come home for lunch my fish are up and ready for food. Then I leave them on for 12 hours so that in the evening when I'm home or when people come over, they can see them into the wee hours instead of having the lights go off at 8:00pm or something.

Right now my lights are turning off at 10:30pm so it's only an 11 hour photoperiod, but I dont have algae problems since I dont have excessive nutrients floating around.

 

[Mikeeal]

On my FOWLR, I have a single actinic T8 that comes on at 6PM when it starts to get dark, and goes off at midnight. I rarely clean the glass, no algae. The only cleaning I do on the glass is getting my dang kids fingerprints off.

The other FOWLR is in an office, so I have the light schedule the same as dayshift, (8am-5pm)

The reef, a whole different ball game. Actinics come on at noon, and go off at midnight, (with the halides in the middle for about 8 hours) for the same reason Recty said, (normally when people would be over visiting)

 

[limitdown]

Fish don't need lights!
I only turn my lights on for 4-5hrs a day, manually, when I come home from work at night. Natural sunlight coming into my living room during the daytime is enough to let my fish know that it's day time.
I actually only use 160watts to light my 200g tank. 4 tubes of 40watt regular T5's. FO's should not use T5HO's, T5VHO's nor MH's. they are all less efficient in terms of lumens output per watt of energy used.
Think energy efficiency, which equals money saved!

 

[Recty]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12951513#post12951513 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by limitdown
Fish don't need lights!
I only turn my lights on for 4-5hrs a day, manually, when I come home from work at night. Natural sunlight coming into my living room during the daytime is enough to let my fish know that it's day time.
I actually only use 160watts to light my 200g tank. 4 tubes of 40watt regular T5's. FO's should not use T5HO's, T5VHO's nor MH's. they are all less efficient in terms of lumens output per watt of energy used.
Think energy efficiency, which equals money saved!

Humans dont NEED 12 hours of light either, but let me tell you from experience with living in Alaska, when we get down to 5 hours of daytime a day, it sucks. I much prefer the 20 hours of light a day summers Anyway, I dont NEED 20 hours of light a day but I certainly like it much better than 5 hours.

Fish will survive on low light, but you might as well replicate their natural environment. Sunlight coming in a window and indirectly somewhat lighting your tank is not the same thing a fish experiences in the ocean with the sun beating down.

As far as using 40w T5s, well to each his own. Some people like the look of the brighter lights. Personally, I'm running MH's on a FOWLR because I like the ripple effect it gives the sand and I love the color intensity it brings out in the fish. I'd much rather pay more a month in my electric bill to have a more aesthetically pleasing tank