Lighting

kasik64 · Feb 2, 2017

So I have a biocube that came with 3 lights, I'm not all that familiar with them yet but I want to know which lights to turn on and when. Includes a normal white light, a blue with a fan, and a blue without a fan. When should I have which lights on?

redfishbluefish · Feb 2, 2017

I can not tell you what to run from the information provided. What you want to do is try to mimic what occurs in nature as far as lighting....sunrise, early morning, mid day, afternoon, sunset. Here's what I do with the lights I have.....controlled by a controller .......I run 2, 120W Apollo LEDs (not controllable, but separate white and blue channels) and 1, 120W (165W) Mars Aqua LED with blues at 100% and whites about 33%. In addition I have 2, 4 foot IceCap LED nightlights (four foot LED fixtures) that are part of the cycle. The cycle mimics equator lighting.....a 12 hour light period.

Sunrise (Nightlights) ------------ 1 hr ------------ 10AM-11AM
Morning (Blues only) ------------ 3 hr ------------ On at 11AM
Mid-day (Blues and Whites) --- 4 hr ------------- 2PM - 6PM
Afternoon (Blues) ----------------3 hr ------------- Off at 9PM
Sunset (Nightlights) --------------1 hr ------------ 9PM-10PM

kasik64 · Feb 2, 2017

So all lights should be off at night?

redfishbluefish · Feb 2, 2017

My belief, YES, lights should be off at night. When I first got my "night lights", I was leaving them on until I'd go to bed....but then noticed that my fish were also still up. I believe fish need the darkness so they could get the sleep they need as well. 12 hours of daylight, 12 hours of darkness.

kasik64 · Feb 2, 2017

Awesome, thanks for the helpful information! I will try to find a timer for my lights since I am unable to change lights during the day as I am at work.

Js.Aqua.Project · Feb 2, 2017

From having run a BioCube, I moved my bulbs to get the white and the fan paired.

I then ran one blue for an hour before my white and second blue came on, then an additional hour after they turned off. Lights on at 8a off at 8p (so white & second blue from 9a to 7p).

All the coral (softies and LPS) seemed to like the photoperiod and I never had much algae growth.

kasik64 · Feb 2, 2017

Just what I was looking for! Thanks. Glad that there are more people out there with experience with biocubes.

Lewie · Feb 26, 2017

Hi, I have a green element led light it 72" its 15000 lumen its good for corals

reefs+waves · Feb 26, 2017

Lewie said:
Hi, I have a green element led light it 72" its 15000 lumen its good for corals

I would start another thread but it has tons of power so it's fine in that department however I am not sure if it is dimmable or what the blue led to white led ratio is.