Thoughts on turning lights OFF mid-day forming two shorter "days"...?

[daddy2kids]

OK, gurus; some help, please.

I have come to the conclusion that I am running my lights too long. I have a daylight and an actinic, which are on for about 14-15 hours each day. I turn them on when I get up and turn them off right before bed. I do have some nuisance algae, but not a lot (thank God).

I am seeing in threads posts discussing a general rule of thumb of lights on for a total of 10-12 hours for reef tanks (some say less).

Anyway, we want to view the tank in morning and during the evening. To reduce the time my lights are running, I am considering using timers and turning OFF the lights when no one is home.

My general proposition is running the lights only during the morning and during the late afternoon/evening, e.g.:
5:00am Actinic ON
6:00am Daylight (10,000K) ON
8:00am Daylight OFF
9:00am Actinic OFF
2:30pm Actinic ON
3:30pm Daylight (10,000) ON
8:00pm Daylight OFF
9:00pm Actinic OFF

In this example, the Actinic will be ON for a total of 10.5 hours and the Daylight will be ON for a total of 6.5 hours....

Any thoughts on the general idea of turning OFF the lights for several hours in the later morning and earlier afternoon?

Any suggestions on the specific ON/OFF times I propose above?

Thanks in advance everyone!

46g bow front, not sure how much live rock (<1# per gal),
Diamond Watchman Goby (Valencienna Puellaris)
Scooter Blenny (Synchiropus Ocellatus)
Yellow Tang (Zebrasoma flavescens)
Blue Hippo Tang (Paracanthurus hepatus)
Kenya Tree Coral (Capnella sp.)
Pulsing Pom Pom Xenias (Xenia sp.)
Banded Coral Shrimp (Stenopus hispidus)
Six Lined Wrass (Pseudocheilinus Hexataenia)
Pair of False Percula Clownfish (Amphiprion Ocellaris)
4 astrea snails
2 cerith snails
3 nassarius snails
Several red legged hermits
Several blue legged hermits
Green crab
2 ea Brain Coral (Favia sp.)
Green Button Polyps (Protopalythoa sp.)
Red People Eater Palythoas
Eagle Eye Zoanthids (purple red purple green)
Many other Zoanthids and Palythoas
Aiptasia (nice crop; numbers exploded w/ use of AiptasiaX/ injections of vinegar and hot water)
Berghia Nudibranchs (working on the foregoing)
Coralife 36 Inch Aqualight W/ 96 watt 10,000K and 96 watt True Actinic 03 blue square pin base compact fluorescent bulbs
Fluval 305 with only carbon and PhosLock

 

[chimmike]

just run them 8 hours continuously, for the time period when you are home the most.

I turn mine on at 2:30 or so and off at 8:30 or so, you could do noon to 8, 1 to 9, etc.

 

[zenpytho]

i would say 2 shorter periods wouldnt be good i have noticed some of my corals arent really fully expanded till lights r on for couple hours seems like longer lights r on more they expand

 

[chimmike]

also, keep an eye on that "Green" crab (probably an emerald) they're not reef safe, contrary to popular thought

 

[WXB]

keep it simple I turn on my actnic light 1 to 1.5 hrs then i turn on the sun lights then after 8 or so hrs turn off my sun lights leave the actnic light for an hr or two.

 

[seapug]

your corals really only need about 6-7 hours of full intensity light to be healthy. Running actinics only before and after the "daylight" period is a good way to save power and still be able to enjoy some time watching the tank. It makes no difference when that period occurs (in relation to the "day" we live in as people). If you're a night owl, there's nothing wrong with making the midday full light phase of the tank coincide with your evening activities.

I can't cite any scientific studies that show any benefit or problem from multiple shorter "days" as you describe, but it really doesn't matter in terms of your electric bill. 6 hours of full power usage costs the same whether it's done all at once or 2 separate 3 hour stints. The only thing that could change your cost is running your full power phase during off peak hours when rates are usually cheaper.

 

[jbax]

my lights run 2:30 to 11:30. actinics the first and last hour.

 

[lacosta28]

OK, gurus; some help, please.



46g bow front, not sure how much live rock (<1# per gal),
Yellow Tang (Zebrasoma flavescens)
Blue Hippo Tang (Paracanthurus hepatus)

You should be worried about the size of tank and those 2 tangs more than the lights. Unless you plan on upgrading to a bigger tank.

gallons
Zebrasoma flavescens Yellow Tang 100
Paracanthurus hepatus3 Pacific Blue or Regal or Hippo Tang 240

 

[WXB]

didnt even see that. Please look up your fish befor you get them. tangs need a min of 75 i have heard min of 90 gal. that should tell you somthing about how much space they do need. I got my yellow eyed tang he is small but i am in the middle of setting up my 125. I took it from my Bearded Dragon. Poor guys ****ed off but he has a good 200 gal to live in now. Look up fish prior to getting them. I screwed up and listend to an A HOLE about a cleaner wrass. I went for live rock saw the fish figured ok sweet. I was 40 miles from my laptop to loook it up. He told me a bunch of BS I got the fish after getting home i looked it up to see any and all of its information dos and donts. Come to find out it eats parisites off of larger fish. i called them up to complain and was then told to never come back. I refuse to add to the problems. Please dont add to them as well. lets let them have as much of a natural life as possible.

 

[daddy2kids]

Thanks everyone for thoughts on lights and especially for insight on the tangs. The yellow tang came with the established tank (along with the clowns, the goby, and the wrasse). I was very much a noob when I got the blue tang. It was a while ago, but I believe I asked about tank size and was told I was ok. Gullible me. Looking at the numbers posted here, obviously not. Is there a definitive tank size for them? I see 240 and 90 and 75 posted here. A 75 could happen soon. A 240 no-way.

Any idea how I can tell if tangs are content? They eat great and spend a lot of time swimming around a munching algae and both take turns "playing" in the flow from a small Koralia 240 I have mounted in the center of the back wall aimed toward the front wall. They swim in the flow from the Koralia for lomg spells of time. They each have their own home. The blue does not spend much time hiding as I read that they will do. How do I know if one or both are miserable?

 

[RedM3]

There's a sticky in this forum that gives this site's generally accepted minimum dimensions for a healthy, established tank to support various tangs.

I can't offer any insight as to how to tell if they are content. It's way to subjective...

 

[lacosta28]

It also probably isn't an emergency where you need to go out and buy a bigger tank tomorrow. Start thinking about upgrading eventually though. If that just isn't possible you can also look into finding a new home for the blue tang.

 

[garydan]

Back to the lighting. I'm using MH, but i ran for about 6 months doing two shorter days. I ran for 4 hours, off for 1, back on for another 4. I didn't do it for viewing, i did it because of heat in the summer from running 500 watts of MH and then i just left it that way for a while. It was a lesser of two evils choice.

I didn't see any ill effects, everything remained happy and healthy. I figured it was no different than a long summer day with some clouds blocking the sun for a couple of hours. Not conclusive evidence by any means, YMMV. I'm with the camp that it's harmless. I think it's better than overheating and will certainly go back to doing it if temperatures are a problem this summer. I don't know if i'd do it for no other reason than viewing.

I saw better growth on my acropora when running like this. I can't really back that claim or definitivly say it was due to the lighting, maybe there are other factors at work, who knows. I did have better acropora growth during the summer with two photo periods than i do now during the winter with one.