How long to run supplemental T5 lighting

[Mike646]

hello everyone,

I am trying to figure out the best way to use my T5’s. I am running an AI hydra 52 LED using David saxbys settings. I have my T5’s (aquatic life fixture 24” 4 bulb) come on from 12-8pm. My concern is that I’m running them for to long. Saxbys peak is about 6 hours starting around 2pm and ending about 8pm. Should I only run the T5’s during that period? Or is my current 8 hour period ok? My leds ramp up from 10am-2pm and dim from 8pm to 10pm. Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[Crabs McJones]

That's what I do. Run the t5s during peak hours and let the leds do the ramping up and down

 

[jda]

I would let the T5s do most of the heavy lifting too... there is no downside to running T5s more. I would get 8-11 hours of T5s.

 

[Firemanreefkeeper]

Agree with both above. I have that t5 fixture and I let it do most of the work letting my LED lights supplement a little extra light to give the tank some shimmer and depth.

 

[Montiman]

I run my t5s for 4 hours a day. The majority of my research suggests that most corals photo saturate in 4 hours. I have also known many coral growers that only run lights for 4 hours for this reason. I like the growth and coloration benefits from the t5s but I visually prefer LEDs. I run the LEDs for 14 hours.

 

[Billldg]

This is my current lighting schedule.

My t5's run from 10:30 am to 3:30 pm. I plan to extend t5 on time a LED intensity down the road.

 

[LadyTang2]

Agree with both above. I have that t5 fixture and I let it do most of the work letting my LED lights supplement a little extra light to give the tank some shimmer and depth.

I'm looking to be predominantly T5s with some LED for shimmer, how did lay things out to make that happen and do you get the shimmer you would like?