Ramping lights or not

[Reefsareef]

I'm wondering if I need to to ramp my light?

People with T5, metal halides can't ramp up in the morning down in the evening can they?
Just have full power lighting in the day for a few hours.

So do I need my LED light to come on early morning at low intensity creep up to full power for a couple of hours then slowly creep down again?

Are we doing the all day lighting for ourselves so we get to view it for longer or does it have advantages to the corals to be lit at various light intensity and several hours of a day ?

 

[Reef Psychology]

When I used MH and T5's I would turn on the T5's two at a time until all 8 were on over a period of 2 hours then the MH's would turn on for 6 hours then turn off. Then the T5's shut off over 2 hours opposite the morning schedule. That was my ramp up and ramp down.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I'm wondering if I need to to ramp my light?

People with T5, metal halides can't ramp up in the morning down in the evening can they?
Just have full power lighting in the day for a few hours.

So do I need my LED light to come on early morning at low intensity creep up to full power for a couple of hours then slowly creep down again?

Are we doing the all day lighting for ourselves so we get to view it for longer or does it have advantages to the corals to be lit at various light intensity and several hours of a day ?

I think it depends on the fish, and what other ambient light source the tank might have. Fish can get startled with sudden lighting changes - I'm sure there's the possiblity they might get used to it after a while, but it definitely will stress them out. If your lights go off while there is still other light on in the room, it won't be such a dramatic change...
If you have non-dimmable lighting but several fixtures it's probably best to "ramp" lighting by staggering the on/off times of the fixtures.

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

IMO light ramping is better at mimicking nature. However, it's not of utmost importance. As pointed out by the OP, plenty of successful reefs do not ramp up.

 

[vabben]

My main DT the radions ramp but my supplemental light is on and off. No ill affects noticed. My frag tank is strictly on and off, I do stagger each light times to lessen the impact, but still have had a clownfish jump out. No reason I could think of, but possibly could have been startled by the lights coming on. I do light both roughly 12hrs a day.

 

[Jase4224]

Well we know what happens in the wild, and we have the ability to copy that. So the question is why wouldn’t we? My experience from going t5+halides back in the day is that fish are more relaxed with a ramping light cycle. Especially new fish becoming accustomed to aquarium life. I have also wandered if zooxanthellae prefer a ramping of light rather than a shock.

 

[killer2001]

I do not like how my clowns react to sudden light turning on. If I turn the light on suddenly and its long enough for them to wake up, I can't turn the lights off again because they will be frantically swimming around in the dark.

So the fish tank room is completely dark (w/ 2 night lights). I do a ramp up and a ramp down for sleepy time as well.

 

[damsels are not mean]

I think animals especially fish prefer the ramp. It doesn't startle them that way. Corals also seem to react to the ramp in my tank although it's hard to say if they are just using an internal clock of some sort. I can't remember when I was running fluorescents how corals acted.

There is no disadvantage to ramping up and down, so why not?