light schedule help

lazycouch · Jul 27, 2020

hey everyone. i have the marine fluval 3.0 LEDS and am trying to figure out which light schedule/pattern works best. after doing the research about what colors are actually beneficial to corals and how your light patterns should mimic that of the suns, i’ve planned a couple of different methods of attack but wanted to ask for some help narrowing down which is the best/most effective. some are more complicated than the others so i’m wondering if it should be kept much more simple than what i’m thinking. (ps any low percentages will be amped up along the way and will be starting with low percentages at around 10-20% to avoid any shock)

stock: 99% softies: fingered leathers, sinularia, yuma florida hairy and bounce shrooms, gsp, toadstools, zoas, then i have 2 rock flower anemones. 1% LPS would be favia and am planning on adding either a lobo, hammer, octospawn, or chalice along the road !

sorry for the long message and i appreciate it if you’ve made it this far. Thanks!

Kryptonian · Jul 27, 2020

You definitely want a light schedule heavy on blue and violet to promote coral growth. More red wavelength can lead to algae growth but it's not a dealbreaker with having some red for aesthetic reasons. White is purely aesthetic so set what you like to see in the tank there.

I'd say A looks closest to what most people use. I personally don't like spiking to full within 2 hours and prefer to sunrise with super low point intensity around 8 am and not hit full steam until 1pm. Then start cranking down at 5pm for lights out at 8:30. Then at 9:30, go into a violet and white moonlight for 3 hours.

It's not uncommon to see blue and violet at 100% for the heat of the day.

There are so many different opinions on lighting schedules out there. The most important thing to remember is that your corals need consistency. Find a lighting schedule that works for you and stick to it.

lazycouch · Jul 28, 2020

Kryptonian said:
You definitely want a light schedule heavy on blue and violet to promote coral growth. More red wavelength can lead to algae growth but it's not a dealbreaker with having some red for aesthetic reasons. White is purely aesthetic so set what you like to see in the tank there.

I'd say A looks closest to what most people use. I personally don't like spiking to full within 2 hours and prefer to sunrise with super low point intensity around 8 am and not hit full steam until 1pm. Then start cranking down at 5pm for lights out at 8:30. Then at 9:30, go into a violet and white moonlight for 3 hours.

It's not uncommon to see blue and violet at 100% for the heat of the day.

There are so many different opinions on lighting schedules out there. The most important thing to remember is that your corals need consistency. Find a lighting schedule that works for you and stick to it.

thanks for the info!! will stick to A and give it some adjustments.