Would it be okay to set my light timers for two different times?

[Solarfall]

As in, could I set them to come on for like 6 hours from 12pm to 6pm then another 3 from 10pm to 1am? Or do corals need a solid block of light and dark time?

Reason being I go to school in the morning then usually work early afternoon til ten. Whenever I get home from a day's work of talking to regular customers about saltwater I'm all pumped to check out my tank and do maintenence or whatever, but by then my lights have been off for like 4 hours the way I have it set now.

I'll be really sad if someone says no :grumble:

 

[ccCapt]

No. You don't want 2 light cycles....it's not natural.

 

[Solarfall]

Damn. I guess I'll just set them from like 3 to 12 then :(. At least I'll be able to do stuff after work though.

 

[dcantucson]

No. You don't want 2 light cycles....it's not natural.

But would it or could it cause any harm? :question:

 

[RyanG]

In freshwater its used to help control algae.

Dont the reefs get cloudy for a few hours at some point in time? Im sure there is enough ambient light to where they wouldnt go into a nighttime mode.

 

[Rcpilot]

There's been some research on 2 light cycles. The lights would come on and run like 6hrs and then go off for 6hrs. Back on for 6hrs and then off again for 6hrs. Gives ya 2 light cycles in a 24hr period.

ON 6am
OFF12pm
ON 6pm
OFF 12am

Or whatever variation fits your schedule.

But I'm not advocating this. Just providing information. I would do a lot of research before attempting something like this.

 

[yote]

Personally,I'd just set the times to kick the lights on late enough in the day to give me time to watch and work on the tank.

 

[Melosu58]

I totally agree with Larry. It`s just not natural and IMO would add stress to the fish. They need something as close to what`s in nature so they can get the rest time also.

 

[Bifferwine]

If you get home at 10 pm and you want your lights on for 9 hours a day, why not run them from like 5 pm to 2 am or something?

 

[Solarfall]

If you get home at 10 pm and you want your lights on for 9 hours a day, why not run them from like 5 pm to 2 am or something?

Well that's what I'm gonna do. But I usually have an hour or two between school and work also, and I like to come home to my corals opened up. I seriously spend at least one solid hour a day staring at my tank, and all I have are 2 fish, some zoas, a leather, and a bunch of snails. I can't imagine how much of my life this thing's going to consume when I get into more serious animals. :shock:

 

[Ted]

me to solar me to. :Cheers:

 

[yote]

Thats pretty much all of us.
The further we go in the hobby,the more addictive it becomes.Its actually as bad as crack.

 

[project5k]

yea, but i dont feel the need to smoke my live rock...

yea, i had to "shift" my light schedule some too, i leave the house at like 6am, and i generally dont get home till like 630 or later..

well, in the mornings, i dont have time to look at the tank, i'd get stuck there and be late for work, ask me how i know.... so what i did was my 50-50 actinics come on at 11, then my 10k's come on at 12noon, then my 10k's go off at 930, and then the actinics turn off at 11. My nightlight bar comes on at like 1050pm and goes off at like 1110 or so, just cause theres no point in it being on during the day....

this way, i'm not late to work, and i get to stair at the tank when i get home from work, but when the lights go off, i know its time for me to go to bed...