Please Critique my lighting schedule

[Diazreeflife]

I have 2 T5's with 2 MH 250 watt the lighting looks great and my lps and most sps coral are thriving except for my favia and a small maze brain frag they are both slowly bleaching and I'm thinking it might be my lighting schedule.

Currently I have my T5 on from 10am-10pm

My MH are on as followed
ON 12pm-2pm
OFF 2pm-3pm
ON 3pm-5pm
OFF 5pm-6pm
ON 6pm-8pm
OFF 8pm-10pm

From 10pm-10am moon light are on.

Reason I have my MH on this schedule is to keep the temp down.

Please tell me if my schedule is a problem?

David

 

[Diazreeflife]

Anyone

 

[FX CharityCorals Verified Sponsor]

Well you can move the bleached corals lower or shadier spot.

I would run halides total 6 hrs and T5 8-9hrs

 

[Diazreeflife]

Well you can move the bleached corals lower or shadier spot.

I would run halides total 6 hrs and T5 8-9hrs

All my sps that are bleaching have been or are low in my tank. My MH are running for 6 hours a day. My t5 are on for 12 hours.

 

[FX CharityCorals Verified Sponsor]

Could be more your temp fluctuations doing the bleaching

 

[Diazreeflife]

Could be more your temp fluctuations doing the bleaching

My temp goes from 76.4 to the highest of 78.3 through out the day.

 

[trido]

Have you tried running your MH's for six hours solid? How big is your tank? Those lights on a 55 is quit a lot. On a 120 and up, not so much. Do you run a fan over the tank to help keep the temps down?

IMO your T-5s are good but not as your only source of light. Six hours might be on the low side of lighting for your MH. How high the MHs and T-5 are will also play a role in their strength.

Two corals not doing well might not have anything at all to do with your lighting or temps. Some corals just don't like certain tanks.

Since you asked specifically about your lighting schedule...........It should be OK but if you leave your MH on for six hours straight you will probably get better color and growth. The reason for this is every time your corasl start to ramp up in the photosynthesis you shut the lights back off and slow their metabolism back down never really giving the corals a true day time.

 

[Diazreeflife]

Have you tried running your MH's for six hours solid? How big is your tank? Those lights on a 55 is quit a lot. On a 120 and up, not so much. Do you run a fan over the tank to help keep the temps down?

IMO your T-5s are good but not as your only source of light. Six hours might be on the low side of lighting for your MH. How high the MHs and T-5 are will also play a role in their strength.

Two corals not doing well might not have anything at all to do with your lighting or temps. Some corals just don't like certain tanks.

Since you asked specifically about your lighting schedule...........It should be OK but if you leave your MH on for six hours straight you will probably get better color and growth. The reason for this is every time your corasl start to ramp up in the photosynthesis you shut the lights back off and slow their metabolism back down never really giving the corals a true day time.

My tank is 125 gallons my lighting is on top of my canopy so about 10 inches about the water. I do run two fans in the canopy and that's what keeps my temp down. So u thing the cause could me the shutting down of the MH's for a hour break?

 

[alex_moua]

See if you could place them in shaded area, that might help out

 

[Diazreeflife]

So should I leave my MH's on 6 hours straight or continue with my current schedule?

 

[trido]

Id' leave them on for six hours straight. Even if your temp climbs three degrees you will be OK. Two is better. I was suggesting that your lighting might not be the issue at all. It could be flow, chemistry, or even allelopathy from another coral. Try finding a spot with less light and thats about all you can do for now. If that doesnt work, try different flow.

 

[lucky7]

Shutting the bulbs on and off will lessen their life span along with the ballast by firing the bulb so many times a day