Coralife Lighting

[Peaches1]

Lights - Coralife unit

• Halide bulbs/ MHQ-D / 150W/10000K UV-STOP 1504
• Coralife 96 W Actinic square pin fluorescent lamp
• 3 LED blue lights

new to reefing, purchased an used 88 gal tank and sump unit, in the cycling period, the question i have is how long do i operate the lights , Halide light for 2 hours , Actinic lamps for 6 hours and blue light for 4 hours. The lighting unit is 12" above the tank. Will upgrade at a latter date once I determine if I will enjoy this hobby.
Any guidance would be appreciated

 

[Ron Reefman]

#Welcome to Reef2Reef!

I'd suggest the MH run at least 4 hours, 6 is probably better and 8 isn't out of the question. The zooxanthellae inside your corals polyps do photosynthesis for roughly 6 hours, give or take an hour. That photosynthesis helps feed the coral polyps.

The actinics can be on longer, or just used before and after the MH as a version of sunrise and sunset.

You stated 3 blue led lights. Do you mean just 3 leds, or 3 led fixtures?
3 leds - run them all you want.
3 led fixtures means more questions. How many bulbs? What is the wattage?

 

[Peaches1]

Thank you for you reply this is very helpful.
I have two (2) Halide bulbs/ MHQ-D / 150W/10000K and I have been cycling my tank for 90 days, things look good, fish are moving and the nemmines are open but if I leave the Halide lights on for a long period of time I start getting green algae on the rocks and glass , clean up crew cant keep. I feel I'm cooking the aquarium with running the lights for longer than 2 hours at this point, I will be changing out 20 gallons of water weekly. Am I going the right direction....yes they are just 3 leds lights

 

[Ron Reefman]

How old are the MH bulbs and what is the color temp of them? Do you know what your PAR levels are?

MH bulbs frequently get changed every 12 to 24 months ad they start to change the color spectrum they emit. They become more prone to growing algae. And the bulbs with color temps like 16,000K and 20,000K which are more blue white.

 

[Peaches1]

Thank you again for the direction, I ordered 2 Halide bulbs, hopefully I'll be able to upgrade to better lighting on down the road, after trying to establish this tank , I'm trying to learn the process, without losing any fish or corral and understand what I'm doing, and no, I dont know what the pars level are. I bought some extra snails to help rid the green.
Again thank you for the help

 

[Ron Reefman]

The new metal halide bulbs are a good move. Do you know what the color temperature of the new bulbs is?

That fixture sounds like it would be good. MH is what dominated the hobby before t5 and leds came along. Lots of light (good to great PAR). But they do add some heat to the water and lots of heat to your house. That may be OK in the winter, but your A/C may not appreciate it.

Good luck and have fun. That's what this is supposed to be about.