How long is too long, to run your lights?

[redfishbluefish]

When I first got moonlights (2, approximately four foot IceCap LED's), I ran them through the night.

What I noticed is that my fish weren't going to sleep....they stayed up. So what I did was to incorporate these two "moonlight" LED's as part of my light schedule. So I run these for one hour in the morning and one hour just before lights out to mimic daybreak and nightfall.

If you still wish to use moonlights to view your tank after hours, I would recommend not running them through the night....your fish need to sleep.

 

[Dburr1014]

I use the photon v2 at about 70% for an hour. The rest of the 13 hours is ramp up and ramp down.

 

[cromag27 Verified Sponsor]

When I first got moonlights (2, approximately four foot IceCap LED's), I ran them through the night.

What I noticed is that my fish weren't going to sleep....they stayed up. So what I did was to incorporate these two "moonlight" LED's as part of my light schedule. So I run these for one hour in the morning and one hour just before lights out to mimic daybreak and nightfall.

If you still wish to use moonlights to view your tank after hours, I would recommend not running them through the night....your fish need to sleep.

i’ve always run moonlights 24/7, but super dim so my fish can sleeep. the key is not so much what hours you run them, but rather how bright they are.

 

[reacclimating 2 the hobby]

Here's what mine looks like... copied wwc 900g schedule

 

[lzrlvr]

I run my lights 12 hours per day

 

[Willie Villasana]

I run my led's for 12 hours but not at full intensity. 60% blues 40% whites.

 

[Gage Sullivan]

I am very new to the hobby, and I know this isn’t a section focused on questions...BUT... I turn on blues at 9:00, run full intensity (whites) at 11:00. Cut whites off at 6:30, and blues cut off at 8:30. A cheap ramping I guess. All my corals were very happy, UNTIL about a month after I got them. my zoa’s started randomly opening and closing; getting smaller each time they open, and my gsp closed up and hasn’t been open for 2 days after looking happy and healthy for more then a month. Could it be that my lighting schedule is too long? Thanks!

 

[bigdrew]

@Gage Sullivan, I am now back into the hobby after a 5+ year absence, and based on my limited prior experience, "it" was all about consistency. If your coral was used to something and then it changed, sometimes that causes some issues, depending on the size of the change, what the change was, etc. In your case, it seems as though there was no change with the lights. Therefore, my "10,000' view" would be that something else must have changed other than lighting.

 

[Gage Sullivan]

Hmm... ok it’s been a month and I just got some nicer black box led’s. The corals once again are doing something similar to what I previously said. Although I have started adding some purple up for coralline, so it might have something to do with it. If someone wanted to send me some new lights I can give some solid feedback as to what changing the lights does to corals. Haha

 

[link81]

I have full control of 2 channels on mine.
One blue channel, and one "color" channel.
I actually calculate Sunrise and Sunset each day. Noon is considered halfway between sunrise and sunset.
the blue channel starts at 10% 1 hour before sunrise, and ramps up to full intensity one hour before noon.
the color channel starts at 10% at sunrise ramping up to full intensity one hour before noon.
One hour after noon, both channels start ramping down.
The color is off at at that days sunset time
the blue ramps down to 10% at 11PM and stays there until midnight when it shuts off.

 

[mcshams]

Approximately 5-6 hours. Ramp up is long so that I enjoy lighting throughout the day.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

Bump

 

[HudsonReefer2.0]

12 hr cycle w 10 hr full intensity ab+ temp sandwiched between.

 

[douglasbnyhof]

How long do you run your lights (full intensity) each day?

I turn my full spectrum on my tank before I got to work, and they stay on for about 8-9 hours, then when I get home I switch them to blue lights for about another 1-2 hours before it's lights out... Is this to long?

I run a schedule that mimics the intensity of nature. Low in the morning ramping to full by lunch and then ramping down to off by dusk. Low intensity blues until 9. I even programmed clouds to change things up.

Grow light in the sump 24/7 for the macro.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Typical is a 12 hour cycle often 9a - 9p, even 10 p

 

[Fredm]

I run a schedule that mimics the intensity of nature. Low in the morning ramping to full by lunch and then ramping down to off by dusk. Low intensity blues until 9. I even programmed clouds to change things up.

Grow light in the sump 24/7 for the macro.

Hello Douglas,

Are you doing a simulation like a solar curve? I'm interested because in the past I obtained very good results this way with the settings that came with the Evergrow 2080, and then I went back to more "classic" settings with the recent ramps. If you use a curve, could you please share a photo or the setting used and do you know the PAR reached at the highest point?

Thanks

 

[Aquariumaddictuk]

4 hours full blast for me 15k with ramp up/down then back to 23k for my viewing pleasure.
I tried going full beef for longer & even with slow acclimation the whites bleached some montis.
Acro's loved it but I find this is a nice balance.

 

[Digimes]

Well, my total cycle is about 14 hours but the peak last about 5 hours. I have bebated adding an extra hour in the middle for 6, which would give 3 up, 6 middle, 3 down and 2 hours of moon light.

 

[Fredm]

I was thinking about this type of curve in my previous post. In this case, it's difficult to give a period of full intensity. But, if we assume that between 250 and 300 of PAR, we reach the saturation point, the peak of the curve should correspond to 300 or more?

 

[ESABOE]

Bump