how many hours a day should lights be on?

currently i use 2 3 foot tubes 1 clear and 1 blue
i keep the clear light on for 8 hours and the blue light on for about 12 hours
my tank is only about 5 months old so everything is still fairly new
but i noticed the coral wasnt to happy with only 8 hours of blue light<UV>
so i started bumping up the dosage and the coral seems a lil happyer but i also noticed "ALOT" of green algie growing on the glass i mean the hole back wall was covered in it in about a week i think its from the light but after reading couple other threads in the live rock section it could also be something to do with the cycling

also noticed red algie turned up but ive been doin water changes to keep on top of that 1

am i doing the right thing?

- jamie

 

What kind of lighting is it? Are you using tap water?

 

yeah i was told tap water wasnt a problem with the chlorine would evaporate pretty quickly so i went with it, it hasnt effected my fish to my knowledge and the ph is pretty stable how ever im open to suggestions on better ways to make water.
im using 2 fluros 1 is white and the other is blue both are 3 foot tubes i dont know how to be more specific about lighting as im not really educated in that area yet ... hope to be 1 day but the only info i can give yah is 2, 3 foot fluros

 

With tap water you get nitrates and phosphates along with copper. They use copper to treat the water esp. in the summertime to kill off algae which will kill off inverts and corals. Your lights are NO (normal output) fluorescents, which are good for fish only tanks, but as for growing, they are only good at growing algae, not corals. The higher intensity lights are too bright for algae to grow such as metal halides.

 

ok .. no more tap water how else can i get water i dont have a rainwater tank so the only option i know of is tap water:-/

the blue light that im using i bought as a corel light and was told by the guy who sold me it that it was for growing corel im sure of that, that in mind do u have a specific type of light i should go for next time im at the shop?

is it possible maybe that the algie growth is part of the cycle of the tank as for per the life rock post that jay made.. it was said by johno that high algie growth could be a cycle after ammoia died off i think could it be that? the tank is still new about 5 months old :-/
in any case i guess im hopping its just a cycle and the algie will slowly and politely bugger off cos it looks pretty crap

-jamie

 

The cycle is usually the first 4-8 weeks of the tanks life. If you still have algae problems after that. You need to look into other things. Such as tap water. You can buy bottled water by the gallon, or I know some places there sell it. Buy distilled if possible which that is the next best thing to having a RO/DI unit. Im not as familiar with places there for buying things like matt is. Matt would be the guy to talk to about those sort of things.

As for the blue light. NO fluorescents are not for growing corals. The blue light is for many reasons or could be used for many different things. NO fluorescents just dont have the intensity to do any good. I would hold on to the blue one for later use.

The hardest thing about setting up a tank is the intial cost of it. You have sit down and figure out what you want to do with the tank. This lets you know what route you need to take as for lighting requirments. Some corals need more intense light then others. Some thrive under intense light, some will melt and die.Some corals work well together, some dont. Some corals have whats called chemical warfare, its there defense to keep corals from crowding them and thus giving them room to grow. If you plan on keeping a mixed reef IE sps, lps and soft corals, you will need a lot of chemical filtration to filter out the chemicals produced by the soft corals because it will kill the sps corals.

 

Lighting schedule:

9AM - Actinics ON
10AM - 10000K + 6500K ON
8PM - 10000K + 65000K OFF
10PM - Actinics OFF

Really the ammount of time the lights stay on has to do with how mature the tank is. If you are starting out, and the lights are on for most of the day you will get alot of algae blooms. Really 10-12 hours is a pretty good time.

 

new lights

ok just got home from shops with whole new lighting system

T5 Ho marine glow actinic spectrum
T5 Ho power glow 18000k

and had to buy a new unit aswell so im $220 out of pocket but maybe my tank might take a turn for the better
the only thign i noticed is i cant switch off the lights individually they both have to be on at the same time =\
so ill try and keep em em on fer maybe 11 hours a day for best results maybe? not sure about that 1

thanx fer yer help on this 1 brian u really helped me out a heap

 

no prob bro

 

Lighting is only part of the equasion. Water parameters need to be addressed as well, as well as filtration!