lights on for how long?

[Melonbob]

Another post got me thinking. Now that I have alot of coral, how long should my lights be on? I am only starting actinics at 11am, full lights at noon, full light off around 7:30pm and lights out at 8. Enough? I'm not so sure now that I have a crocea too.

 

[Altohombre]

I am the most inconsistent light person ever. My daily schedule is different each day so it makes if very hard. I really need to get timers.

 

[Bifferwine]

9 hours (like you have) is enough for coral. Most reef tanks keep their lights on for 8 to 12 hours a day.

Alto, I finally motivated myself to buy timers last month. Only because I started to have to go out of town a lot, and didn't want to have to get someone to come over twice a day to turn on and off lights. I spent $80 at Lowe's (Dustin...), and I have no idea why I put it off for this long. Definitely well worth it.

 

[OurFishies]

Ours are on timers! Best thing ever! We run lights a total of 10 hours a day (1 hour at the beginning and end on just actinics) and 8 hours for the normal light.

When we had a really bad algae outbreak we moved down to 6 hours a day full light, but we did not have a lot of coral back then.

 

[Rcpilot]

My light has a remote control. Like your TV or DVD player.

DISPLAY TANK
moonlights OFF at 6:00am
Actinics ON at 6:30am
10K ON at 8:00am
10K OFF at 8:00pm
Actinic OFF at 9:30pm
Moonlights ON at 10:30pm

REFUGIUM
10K ON at 8:00pm
10K OFF at 8:00am

I never touch my lights. They are all set. They come on at the same time and go off at the same time every day. I don't bother to adjust them for daylight savings. Hell, I HATE daylight savings. Screws up my sleeping habits 2 times a year. :frustrat: Wake up an hour earlier in the fall and an hour later in the summer? Why would I do that to my corals? I just leave the lights set where they are.

If you don't have timers, get them.

 

[Altohombre]

Biff what timers did you get. I bought a timer a while ago for my freshwater and figured out that it was only for 2 prong plugs and not the 3 prong.

 

[yote]

HA,I got you beat Biff.I got a total of 24 bucks in my timers.Got at wally world for 12 bucks a piece.
BTW,My lights run for 12 hours a day total with 10,000Ks being on 4 hours.

 

[Bifferwine]

Well, my lights have a lot more plugs than your guys', so I need more timers. I had to buy 4 timers total, one for the fans, one for the actinics, and two for the 4 MH bulbs. My lights have 4 plugs (and I got three pronged heavy duty timers at Lowe's).

 

[messiah023]

Holly Crap RCPilot....I just read your signature line.
How do you find time for your reef with all the "HOMOSEXUAL NECROPHILIA" going on?

YIKES!

 

[simpleman]

8 hours for me
Actnics on at 4pm
Halides on at 6 pm
Halides off at 10 pm
Actnics off at midnight
No algae other than coralline

 

[reeffreak]

I bought three timers from the 2docs,$10 each.They have duo 3 prong outlets so two of the powerheads are shut off with the lights.

12 hours a day.

 

[Piggy]

I keep my light on for 12 hours a day. Seeing I'll be going to visit family all next week I'll cut them down to 9.