How long is too long for lighting

[Vanlife-reefer]

I’m looking for advice regarding lighting schedule.

I’m looking to keep zoas and macro algae.

The tank is 9 gallon as you can see in the picture below.



My lighting schedule spans over 12h and it ends at 11:30pm.
My problem is that I wake up to work about 5/5:30am and I always like sitting by the tank with my cup of coffee watching the marine life.


Is there anything I can do to be able to have some lights on and not harming the reef?

 

[Subsea]

Depending on the system, I run lights up to 16 hours.

 

[Vanlife-reefer]

Depending on the system, I run lights up to 16 hours.

Can you tell me more? I need to understand it better.

 

[Subsea]

Can you tell me more? I need to understand it better.

You need to talk with the techies about ramping light schedule. I don’t fret on it. The only automation that I use is a on/off light timer (switch).

For systems that are actively growing I run all lights for 16 hours. To answer your post: turn lights on at 5:30am and off at 11:30pm. What harm do you see with that?

Is it rude to awaken fish & coral with bright light? I don’t know. For systems that I like to view when lights are off, I use a submersible low wattage blue light on 24/7.

 

[X-37B]

I have for many years now run 1hr up/down and 8hrs at peak for 10 total. I ran 12 hrs for a long time and did not notice a difference.

 

[Hooz]

I run a 14 hour schedule on my tanks. It runs from 8:30am to 10:30pm ... BUT ... I use VERY long 2.5 hour ramps, and my schedule is only at its peak for 4 hours.

I ramp up all the blues from 8:30 to 11. Once the blues are at their max for the day, I start ramping up the whites from 11 to 1:30. Everything is at its peak from 1:30 to 5:30, then I ramp whites down from 5:30 to 8, then ramp the blues down from 8 to 10:30.

So the blues are "peaked" for 9 hours total, while the whites and blues are only "peaked" for 4 hours. The rest of the schedule is ramping up or down.

It's a good balance for me since I work from home and can look at my tanks any time throughout the day, but nothing gets blasted by light for a ridiculous amount of time. I get nice blue viewing in the morning and evening, and a nice daylight look in the middle of the day, in a schedule that (IMO) mimics what a "natural reef" would get through the day.

 

[Vanlife-reefer]

I run a 14 hour schedule on my tanks. It runs from 8:30am to 10:30pm ... BUT ... I use VERY long 2.5 hour ramps, and my schedule is only at its peak for 4 hours.

I ramp up all the blues from 8:30 to 11. Once the blues are at their max for the day, I start ramping up the whites from 11 to 1:30. Everything is at its peak from 1:30 to 5:30, then I ramp whites down from 5:30 to 8, then ramp the blues down from 8 to 10:30.

So the blues are "peaked" for 9 hours total, while the whites and blues are only "peaked" for 4 hours. The rest of the schedule is ramping up or down.

It's a good balance for me since I work from home and can look at my tanks any time throughout the day, but nothing gets blasted by light for a ridiculous amount of time. I get nice blue viewing in the morning and evening, and a nice daylight look in the middle of the day, in a schedule that (IMO) mimics what a "natural reef" would get through the day.

What light have you got?

 

[Science/G]

No problem at all. A little blue for a twilight period in the beginning and end of the cycle is fine. IMHO. It's probably no more than the moonlight some reefers run.