So on another forum we were discussing this topic, and I thought I would bring it up here. Not all options are mine as I have copied some posts from the other forum for back ground.
I was running my lights on this schedule:
2 x Blue + on at 6:45AM
2 X Aquablue special 1 X Pure Actinic on at 9:00Am (the Blue + say on with them)
2 X Aquablue special 1 X Pure Actinic off at 6:00PM
2 x Blue + off at 7:30PM
Then a member posed this theory "I dont know about running lights on longer for better growth for corals. I've read that shorter periods of light, 6 hours, is best. And using supplemental lighting for longer periods. I used to run mine for 10 hours. Right now I run mine for 6 hours..all 10 bulbs, and two bulbs for 12. Check out the TOTM on RC, he was the last person I read about shorter periods of light. In a natural setting, Intense light occures for maybe 1-2 hours in the day, any other time its less. When you have your metal halides on, thats the most intense lighting your corals can get. So compared to the natural settings, you in a sense are giving the coral 6,8,10,12 hours of intense lighting. BTW, since I lowered my lighting times to 6 hours, my PL has gone from 3 branches, to pushing 6 branches, in 3 weeks." To which someone else posted this "I don't think running light longer is going to help you much other than maybe stressing out your corals more, if any. The host coral can only take so much food from the zooxanthalae before it poison it. This is much more apparent in LPS than in SPS so that's even more dangerous. In addition, without real data, I don't think you're saving much anyway even if you do go with longer light period. Your power consumption is not much between your light and your heaters. If anything, I am willing to go out on a limb to say that your heaters maybe using less power than your light."
With that in mind I switched my lighting schedule to this:
2 x Blue + on at 10:00AM
2 X Aquablue special 1 X Pure Actinic on at 12:00PM (the Blue + say on with them)
2 X Aquablue special 1 X Pure Actinic off at 6:00PM
2 x Blue + off at 7:30PM
What do you guys think?
I was running my lights on this schedule:
2 x Blue + on at 6:45AM
2 X Aquablue special 1 X Pure Actinic on at 9:00Am (the Blue + say on with them)
2 X Aquablue special 1 X Pure Actinic off at 6:00PM
2 x Blue + off at 7:30PM
Then a member posed this theory "I dont know about running lights on longer for better growth for corals. I've read that shorter periods of light, 6 hours, is best. And using supplemental lighting for longer periods. I used to run mine for 10 hours. Right now I run mine for 6 hours..all 10 bulbs, and two bulbs for 12. Check out the TOTM on RC, he was the last person I read about shorter periods of light. In a natural setting, Intense light occures for maybe 1-2 hours in the day, any other time its less. When you have your metal halides on, thats the most intense lighting your corals can get. So compared to the natural settings, you in a sense are giving the coral 6,8,10,12 hours of intense lighting. BTW, since I lowered my lighting times to 6 hours, my PL has gone from 3 branches, to pushing 6 branches, in 3 weeks." To which someone else posted this "I don't think running light longer is going to help you much other than maybe stressing out your corals more, if any. The host coral can only take so much food from the zooxanthalae before it poison it. This is much more apparent in LPS than in SPS so that's even more dangerous. In addition, without real data, I don't think you're saving much anyway even if you do go with longer light period. Your power consumption is not much between your light and your heaters. If anything, I am willing to go out on a limb to say that your heaters maybe using less power than your light."
With that in mind I switched my lighting schedule to this:
2 x Blue + on at 10:00AM
2 X Aquablue special 1 X Pure Actinic on at 12:00PM (the Blue + say on with them)
2 X Aquablue special 1 X Pure Actinic off at 6:00PM
2 x Blue + off at 7:30PM
What do you guys think?