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- Apr 8, 2007
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Thanks for all that info. It appears I run my lights a lot less than you. Maybe that's at least part of the reason I'm not seeing as much growth. I'm going to start increasing the length of time my lights are on and see if it helps. My colors are good, but my growth sucks.
Thanks - but don't quit, I feel that same way when I look at some of the tanks out there. The grass is always greener.
Here is my lighting schedule:
8:00 AM - 12:00 AM (on all day for that little extra)
LED moonlights are made up of "Reefbrite" 3 watt diodes x 18 & an extra strip of 1 watt x 12 diodes.
9:30ish AM - 11:00 PM - T5 actinic & Fiji Purple (4 bulbs) start - stay on all day (runs for 14 hours)
1:00 - 1:20 PM all remaining lights come on & run until 9:00 - 9:15 PM.
The T5's and the Radion are on the same timer and come on at 1:00 PM.
The metal halides are divided amongst 2 timers and set up with the two outside lights together & the two inside lights on the other timer. This provides a better sunrise/sunset affect - the inside two stay on about 15 minutes longer since in my opinion this gives a more natural appearance resembling the last minutes of sunlight shining through a section of reef with the rest going darker. At this stage it is back to the four T5 actinic/Fiji purple bulbs & LED moonlights until 10:30 PM when it turns to just the LED moonlights and the reef goes dark at midnight.