Split Photoperiod?

[fishfanatic06]

I hear of some people claiming that having 2 seperate photoperiods in one day can increase growth rates. They run their halides 4 hours in the morning. Then the lights were off for 4 hours. Then the lights came back on for four hours in the evening and then off for the rest of the night. Would having two days and two nights each day trick the corals into growing faster?
Seems Interesting.....

 

[nismo driver]

ive heard of that being done to provide ample lighitng for coral with out having there lights on during the hottest part of the day.

 

[dmilne85]

if you search the aquacultrue/propagation forum you will find a large thread on it. i belive a memeber of RC who is a marine bio student getting his masters is studying coral growth and pretty much bunked this theory... it seemed like he had plenty of scientific info/studies to back it up and studies showed that longer photoperiods improved growth instead of split. However, i have heard of people saying they feel they get better results doing a split photoperiod... so if you want to try it... try it, and do what pleases you the most. i dont think everthing we do to our tanks needs to be supported by everyone here on RC as long as you are not harming the life within our tanks. just my 2cents.

 

[MeuserReef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11635628#post11635628 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dmilne85
=i dont think everthing we do to our tanks needs to be supported by everyone here on RC as long as you are not harming the life within our tanks. just my 2cents.

Amen Brother!

As far as the split lighting..... I think your corals and fish would think they were living on Mercury with such a high frequency of short photoperiods!!

Then again..... I bet Mercury has some killer PAR!

 

[trottman]

I HAVE MINE ON IN THE MORNING, OFF AT LUCNCH TIME, AND THEN ON AGAIN AROUND DINNER TIME. I HAVE MY ACTINICS ON THE ENTIRE TIME. I JUST DID IT SO THAT THE TANK LIGHTS WOULD BE ON WHEN I AM MOST FREQUENTLY HOME. I HAVE GOOD GROWTH AND GOOD COLOR, BUT I WOULD NOT SAY THAT IT IS DOUBLE THE GROWTH