Lighting questions

[Olive]

Okay so I have a new coralife light (2 daylight and 2 actinic bulbs) for the SW and it is AWESOME! Now while I want to do everything exactly correct (ha! not so easy ) I also want to try to keep costs down....( I know, I am cracking you up, right? ). I was calculating how much more electricity this light is using than the regular light it came with, and let's just say I was a little horrified. Okay, maybe that was a little theatrical , but you get my drift.

I know that these lights should be staged, so how could I do that efficiently and save a little $$$ at the same time, without hurting anyone (coral growth)? I start out with the actinic on around 8:00 a.m........then when should I turn on the regular daylight bulbs? How long should they be on? Then, when should I begin to stage down back to actinic before turning the whole thing off? I must also say that I am having a bit of a temp rise in the afternoon.........(82-83 degrees in the tank) and I am not sure when I should start getting too concerned with that.......
I plan on buying one of those neato timers that will do all of the off and on for me, so I can't screw it all up.

 

[Hazmat]

12 hour cycle works good

8am actinic on
9am daylight on
7pm daylight off
8pm actinic off

the only prob i have with 8 am start time is I'm at work all day and when i get home i would only have 2 hours of viewing time.
My living room is vary dark so i start at 2pm and end at 2am so that works for me better. Plus i don't go to bed till 1am or so so this gives me max viewing time.

Hazmat

 

[Adrinal]

yep same with me... well not so late same Idea though.

 

[Olive]

12 hour cycle works good

8am actinic on
9am daylight on
7pm daylight off
8pm actinic off

the only prob i have with 8 am start time is I'm at work all day and when i get home i would only have 2 hours of viewing time.
My living room is vary dark so i start at 2pm and end at 2am so that works for me better. Plus i don't go to bed till 1am or so so this gives me max viewing time.

Hazmat

Okay, so only an hour then before the heavy duty comes off and on..........



what do you think about the night time lights?

 

[Hazmat]

what do you think about the night time lights?

Not sure I understand what you are asking.....
Are you asking what do I think about the lights you bought?

Hazmat

 

[RamJet]

Night lighting is great, the fish can see so that they dont end up swimming into something that will eat them.

 

[Olive]

what do you think about the night time lights?

Not sure I understand what you are asking.....
Are you asking what do I think about the lights you bought?

Hazmat

Sorry, I guess I didn't explain enough.........

they have these special night time lights that are very close to black lights....I have heard that the corals especially benefit from it, but from what from what RamJet says, it's good for the fish too!

Thanks RamJet!

 

[ostrow]

Night lights also help you to see your way to the potty, and keep from tripping over toys not put away. Oh wait, wrong night light!

I don't use night lights. I do however use a viewing light that is on until about 11pm so I can see the tank nice without having to use the heavy lifters. Here's the light:
http/cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...&category=42225

If you are worried about cost, don't run a light while you are asleep. The 12hr cycle is probably right. I go much shorter with my 2X250W MH -- they are only on about 6 hrs. But that is pretty high intensity light for my 75G. The rest I just have the flourex on.

 

[Olive]

Night lights also help you to see your way to the potty, and keep from tripping over toys not put away. Oh wait, wrong night light!

I don't use night lights. I do however use a viewing light that is on until about 11pm so I can see the tank nice without having to use the heavy lifters. Here's the light:
http/cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...&category=42225

If you are worried about cost, don't run a light while you are asleep. The 12hr cycle is probably right. I go much shorter with my 2X250W MH -- they are only on about 6 hrs. But that is pretty high intensity light for my 75G. The rest I just have the flourex on.

Cool! Thanks everyone!

 

[RamJet]

You can make a night light out of blue LED, will only cost pennies a year to run them. Or, the LFS has should have them, if I remember right they are $20 to $100.00 or so. Your coralife light is much nicer than the one in the link, keep that one and add the blue LED. You dont need much light at all for them to see at night, just something that would simulate moon light.

 

[Olive]

You can make a night light out of blue LED, will only cost pennies a year to run them. Or, the LFS has should have them, if I remember right they are $20 to $100.00 or so.

Oh goody.......I think that I have seen them there.........just haven't bought it yet......they are really little things that I just attach onto the regular bulbs I think.......

 

[RamJet]

Yep, thats them. They also make one that can go into the water on the back of the tank. Dont get them confused with the lazer light for fresh water tanks, those change color and move around and do things I dont want to see. Not to cool for a reef, or any tank for that matter. B)

 

[Olive]

Yep, thats them. They also make one that can go into the water on the back of the tank. Dont get them confused with the lazer light for fresh water tanks, those change color and move around and do things I dont want to see. Not to cool for a reef, or any tank for that matter. B)

I agree....there are enough tacky tank decorations without putting stupid disco lights into the tank.................it is bad enough that I chose blue and red gravel 8 years ago and even though I could I am not going to change it now!

 

[RamJet]

Hey, dont beat yourself up over it, we all make mistakes sometimes.
Should you want a cheap way to change it to something a little easier on the eyes, you can go to the local stone and gravel co. and get a bucket of pea gravel (usually for free) wash it well and put that in instead. (Looks nice and natural) Take care, I needs to gets some sleep. Night, farewell, stay warm and dont take any wooden nickels. Oh, and remember "Elvis is King", Jonny Cash is pretty cool too, I like that "ring of fire" song. Wall of VooDoo did a cool remake of that song also. Yep, Wall of VooDoo is pretty cool too. I wonder how old Jonny Cash was in dog years. Hmmm, dog years....... I wonder, how many dog years it would take to get to mars?

 

[Olive]

Hey, dont beat yourself up over it, we all make mistakes sometimes.
Should you want a cheap way to change it to something a little easier on the eyes, you can go to the local stone and gravel co. and get a bucket of pea gravel (usually for free) wash it well and put that in instead. (Looks nice and natural) Take care, I needs to gets some sleep. Night, farewell, stay warm and dont take any wooden nickels. Oh, and remember "Elvis is King", Jonny Cash is pretty cool too, I like that "ring of fire" song. Wall of VooDoo did a cool remake of that song also. Yep, Wall of VooDoo is pretty cool too. I wonder how old Jonny Cash was in dog years. Hmmm, dog years.......

You crack me up! I do agree that Elvis is King and Johnny is a close second. I love the remake he did of the NIN song.....it's creepier than when it was originally sung by NIN.


What do you think it would look like if I mixed some natural stone in with the gravel I have now? The tank is doing so well I hate to upset it by taking the old out........would it just look like I chewed a corn chip up into my bubble gum?