light cycle for cheato

so i was wondering how long one should have his cheato lit up in the refugium? i have the backs of my biocubes converted into fuges with underwater lights from intankLLC. They heat up my water a bit so i am wondering how long i should leave the underwater/fuge lights on? I just got the lights and last night was the first time i used the lights. I had them come on shortly after the DT lights went off and kept them on for about 7 hours and then turned them off, so that the temp could drop in the tank before the MH came on again.
any feedback would be appreciated>

 

i think most people use a reverse cycle to keep the ph from dipping. the fuge lights are on when the dt is off. some people do leave their fuge lights on 24/7 but i usually hear this being associated with keeping caulerpa from going asexual.

 

Mine come on around 8pm and go off at about 6am. What are you are doing should be plenty. I think keeping the temp down is more important then another couple hours of light given you already have them on for 7hrs.

 

most run them opposite the display tank lights and overlap by 30 minutes on either side of the on/off time - all that is designed to stabalize the PH so it does not drop during the night due to algae producing Co2 during the dark hours when photosynthesis stops.

 

If your worried about nutrient uptake I would run them 24 hrs a day. plants don't need darkness except for triggering certain sexual changes in them.

 

i cant leave them on 24/7 cuz with the addition of these refugium lights to the MH lights would really cook my tank! I need the tanks to drop back to about 75 deg. before the MH come on again for the daily cycle, otherwise my tanks would raise to over 80+ degrees before the MH turn off. This would be sketchy!

 

Telgar, so i should have the refugium lights pop on about 30 min before the daylights go out and keep them on for 30min after the daylights come on? Is that what your saying?
So with my situation, with needing the temp to drop a bit before the lights come on, is that going to be a problem? I havent ever had a problem with PH fluctuations before when i didnt have a refugium, at least that i know of?

 

im sure you ph is fluctuating a bit. try testing it right b4 the daylights come on and right b4 they go off. it may just not be enough of a swing to visibly affect the inhabitants, but if it was more stable im sure they would be even happier. GL!

and fuge lights wont heat up your tank like a couple of mh. if you use 6500K t5 it should barly affect temp at all.

 

light and dark reactions. also known as C3 and C4 reaction cycles.

darkness is needed to metabolize the stored energy from a day... once a threshold for a days worth of photosynthesis is reached growth ceases.

I agree with opposite light cycle and t5 bulbs. wont have temp issues and you will still get great growth

 

yes, thats exactly what I mean. As for your heat issue try turning the heater down a few degrees if the underwater light your using is heating the tank that much.