Lighting Schedule

Whats a good lighting schedule for a reef tank? There are Antics, white, and moon leds that I run.

 

Assuming you have T5HO, I run mine for 10 hours per day. If you can operate the actinic and daylight bulbs separately, you can start the actinics an hour before and leave on for an hour after the daylights to mimic sunrise and sunset somewhat if you wish.

If you're referring to actual time, it doesn't matter. Our pets come from all over the world; they'll adapt to whatever suits your schedule (i.e. - I'm away from home from 7 AM to 4 PM; my lights come on at 11 AM and go off at 9 PM so I have a few hours after work to enjoy my tank ).

For the moonlights, again, it doesn't matter- your pets will adapt. Some run them all night, some for just a few hours, and still others, not at all. There are no positive or negative effects either way.

 

I run my actinics from 10:30AM-9:30AM. Daylights from 11:30AM-8:30PM. So 11 hours total lighting period.

 

Ok thanks for your inputs. I was wondering because I have some hair algae and I didn't know if that was because i run the lights for 12 hours, probably too much.

 

No. While there are a few low-nutrient types of algae, GHA requires nitrates and phosphates. You'll need to find the source and correct it.

 

So is it true then that the length of time you run your MH has nothing to do with coral growth for example?

 

No, that is absolutely false. One can even rectify a slightly underpowered lighting system by increasing photoperiod; by the same token, a slightly overpowered system can be used if run at a shorter duration. Please note the emphasis on SLIGHTLY. Bottom line, light exposure is directly related to coral growth, and overexposure can result in bleaching.