Should I alter my light schedual?

My fixture is an Aquaticlife T5HO 6 bulb 48" totaling 324 watts. Currently I run two bulbs (ati blue + and ati coral +) from 9:00 am to 7:00 pm (10 hours). Then from 12:00 noon to 2:00 pm ( 2 hours) using one geisssmen 10,000k, two more ati blue +, and one more ati coral +. So in short 2 bulbs for 10 hours and 6 for 2 hours. Does this sound normal or should I shorten the 2 bulb length and increase the 6 bulb timeframe? Let me know!

Thanks,

~ Ford

 

To balance the transition and place your "high-noon" in the middle of your lighting schedule, you could change it to:

9 AM - 11 AM: 2 bulbs

11 AM - 1 PM: 4 bulbs

1 PM - 3 PM: 6 bulbs

3 PM - 5 PM: 4 bulbs

5 PM - 7 PM: 2 bulbs

Just a suggestion since you asked for opinions, but if your corals are healthy and growing, you don't really need to change anything.

 

I wish I could do that. My fixture only allows for either 2 or 6 bulbs to be on at a time. I've heard from a few sources that maybe my lights were on too long.

 

Everybody has an opinion; Take any advice with a grain of salt and let your tank be your guide. How are your corals? Healthy? Colorful? Growing?

FTR, 10 hours is a perfect total lighting period. the 2 hours with 6 bulbs is also fine as long as your corals aren't bleaching. If their color is dull and growth isn't that great, you could actually increase the 6-bulb period; just do so in small increments over a period of a few weeks a watch them very closely for signs of stress.

 

Thanks man! i would say my corals are doing fine, just growing very very slowly and i mean very slow. Right now im kinda suspecting my lighting. My water has been very clean with good flow and i started to dose 2 part like 2 months ago. So now my alk and cal are pretty stable. I suppose i can bump the 6 bulb exposure up by 30 min and try it for awhile to see what happens. I guess i just needed reassurance that i was in an acceptable time range. Thanks for the advice!

 

Awesome advice

I think you can slowly bump your midday period to 4 hours or maybe even 6 hours.