2 photoperiods a day

[Cu455]

I was thinking if have my lights run 2 day/night cycles in a 24 hour period. I would like to run my lights from 4am till 10am then from 4pm till 10 pm.
Just wondering what other people thought about this idea. I am looking for something more then it's best to replicate nature.

The only thing I am worried about is the polyps won't fully extend in such a short photoperiod . I think it might take some time but my coral will adjust.

 

[Tonyscoots84]

from what we all know nature has one day and one night, not 2 of each. Maybe rethink what you are trying to accomplish here

 

[Waleedwale1]

Could be an interesting experiment. If you do see more growth, maybe you're onto something.

 

[Tonyscoots84]

highly doubt it!

 

[cryptics]

I did 4 hours on 8 hours off from May till November. I actually saw pretty good growth. A bunch of warehouses use this method. It stems off a research paper that proposes that coral takes in all the light it can handled in about 4 hours. I can find the name of the book and research for you but just search my posts. I started one about it when I started

 

[FocusReefing]

What happened after November?

 

[Jenna X]

I'm intrigued, tagging along. How about a split photoperiod? It would be pretty cool if someone had several sw tanks each with varying light schedules.
I'd also like to know why you changed the schedule on Nov.

 

[jackson6745]

I remember threads about this a long time ago on Reef Central. Try searching through their archives.

 

[cryptics]

What happened after November?

Nothing bad. I am just not a vendor so accelerated growth wasn't my goal. I used to 4 on 8 off to control temperatures over the summer. My tanks are in my office in the basement. no AC's down here so I was controlling temp with fans. The fans had to work a lot less if i spread out the lighting schedule into two parts. I switched back in November to see if I would notice a difference. Chalices grew much better on the split. Mainly the JF Crazy Fox and Biohazzard. Z&P's I didn't notice a large difference in growth rates. i will probably go back next summer. Fish adjusted fine to the split schedule.

 

[Cu455]

I will set the timer up today and post pictures. See how well it works. I have only had coral in my tank for a few months so I really don't have growth to compare it too. In addition a lot of my coral are in bad shape because of a rock wall collapse and the 2 weeks it took me to find most of the coral.

My lights run from 5am till 9pm. I have noticed some algae growing on my glass and want to cut down on the lights before the algae becomes a problem. But I also want to enjoy the tank before and after work.

 

[MikeC]

Cutting your photo period is not a cure for excess algae.

A over abundance of phosphates feeds algae.
If your cutting you lights for a short period to get a jump on your algae overgrowth that's fine, but be sure and find out where your phosphate build up is coming from(ie non siphoned sand bed,not enough flow to get the detritus up and out of the tank to a adequate skimmer for your setup, refugium,to large of a bio load) these are where excess phosphates can build up and cause to much algae

Now as to not knock you for wanting to try something new like you stated in your first post, IMOP I would wait until your tank is more mature and stable to see if two photo periods will effect your growth it "YOUR tank" (because let's not forget everyone's setup is different) that might be a interesting experiment.

Good luck and let us know how you make out

 

[lnevo]

5am to 9pm is a ridiculously long photo period. If your goal is to have lights on and corals out before and after work then i say go ahead and try the split lighting schedule. It's been discussed in the past many times but I think only a few have tried it with not many results posted. By the previous poster it seemed to work ok. I would check RC where there is probably a lot more opinion on the subject.

I agree with MikeC that if your goal is to avoid algae issues then your going the wrong direction. But I would definitely start with lowering that lighting period. I would say no more than 12-13 hours as a maximum (summer in the Great Barrier Reef sunrise to sunset is around 13 hours)
I think most people do more like 8-10

 

[Cu455]

I wouldn't even consider the algae an issue. I know is from feeding frozen food, rods and LRS. Here is the spot I am talking about.

 

[Cu455]

I also think the algae came on a piece or rock I got. Had my tank for 7 years and never had a algae issue.

 

[MikeC]

I wouldn't even consider the algae an issue.

O ok sorry for the confusion but you originally said

I have noticed some algae growing on my glass and want to cut down on the lights before the algae becomes a problem. But I also want to enjoy the tank before and after work.

:banghead:

 

[MikeC]

P.s. It's not the glass I would be concerned about its that razor Caulerpa you have growing in the upper right hand side of your photo

 

[vio]

P.s. It's not the glass I would be concerned about its that razor Caulerpa you have growing in the upper right hand side of your photo

+1 Mike, also well said about PO4.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6j8-3fRUsQ

 

[evoIX_Reefer]

From what I was told when looking to do a grow out tank, the fastest growth can be produced by using 8 on 8 off.

This may be hearsay but can't tell you any facts as I never got a chance to do this method.

 

[Yani1133]

Interesting concept im going to try and do some digging i have access to alot of databases. For those looking check out google scholar or even pubmed, peer review= always better.

 

[cryptics]

Here is my original thread about this.

http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/advanced-reefs/147763-thoughts-lighting-schedule.html

A few posts down is a link to he study done that this is based off of.