6/8 Hours?

I have a 50 gal reef tank. I don't know what kind of lights I have, except one is white, and one is blue. I am fairly new to having a saltwater tank. I've heard that you shouldn't have your lights on more than 6/8 hours. I would like to have them on more because I am home a lot, and enjoy looking at the tank.

I know more light, more algae, but is there any other options... does more light affect the corals, and fish?

Thanks,

Papa...

 

Sounds like you have one 10K bulb (white) & one actinic bulb (blue). The light cycle in my reef spans about 9hrs, not sure where you got the info on 6-8hrs. I think anything between 8-12hrs is fine for a reef. More light won't hurt the fish, more light will help the coral growth (not sure what you have though).

Algae isn't solely linked to light cycle, it has a lot to do with excessive nutrients in the water (overfeeding, using tap water, overstocking a tank, bad husbandry, etc). The type of algae you will get from a light cycle is your basic on the glass algae that is something you will always have & isn't negative/nuisance algae.

What is your tank size & what type of fixture do you have (watts)? Depending on what type of reef tank you want, two bulbs will most likely not be able to support much, unless this is a very small tank.

Knowing what size your tank/fixture is & what types of corals you have or want will help us give you better advice.

Thanks!

 

I have a 10k/actinic blue 40 watt T5 bulb in my 29. It's been in for about a month on a 12-13 hour a day timer and I haven't had any problems in my FOWLR tank. I also have a puffer which means no cleaning crew.

 

Longer light periods are primarily for coral. I would not go longer than 8 hours for the "daylight" light (the white one). If all you have is a 2 bulb fixture then the blue will be on at the same time. You may want to look into a 4 bulb fixture, one that has seperate switches for each 2 bulb combo. You could have 2 actinic on one switch and 2 10,000K on the other. That way you have them on timers and have the actinic come on for 2 hours first then have the "daylights" come on for 8 hours and have the actinic go off 2 hours after the daylights go off. This gives you a 12 hour cycle; actinic is a full 12 hours and the daylights 8 hours.

 

I've never had a problem with 12-14. Flip on your lights. Enjoy your tank.

 

MH here and 9 hrs a day for me