Here is a question I know has been asked a lot of times.
What can I do to cut my bills down on lighting? And also serve the right purpose.
Right now I run
4x 54watt t5 from 7:00am to 8:00pm (bulbs are Giessemans power chrome 2x actinic+,1 pure actinic, 1 fiji pink not Giesseman)
2x 250watt MH from 9:30am to 7:30pm (bulbs are Phoenix Hexarc Blue 14,000)
9x blue led’s all night
I was thinking of changing my light schedule to use the t5’s 7:00am to 10:00am and 6:00pm to 7:30pm
and have the MH 10:00am to 6:00pm
The t5’s more or less would be my dusk and dawn effect
my suggestions for your current set up… i agree with your changes from 7-10,10-6-6-7:30 but i would do some overlap with the t5s even if its just 30 mins worth at least itll allow for your livestock to eas into the brightness that is your halides.
my suggestion for an altered setup… first off how are your t-5s set up is it 2 sets of 2. meaning 2 plugs? if so i would make a swap out for some higher par t5s maybe some ati blue+(i have expierence with them thats why i suggest it great par plus still great blue color not familliar with geismann but might still work) ok so back to the plan i would break it up and do actinic or more blue t-5s in the morning say 7-10 then switch on higher par t-5s with the actinics(so full t5 usage) from 10-12:30 halide comes on as midday sun from 12-4:30 then the full t5 comes back on at say 4 till 6 then actinic or blue t-5s only from 6-8
that may be confusing but it should break down on your big wattage usage it would be 5 hours with 108 watts, 4.5 hours with 500 watts, and then 4.5 with 208 watts instead of 13 hours of 208 watts and 10 hours of 500 watts with your current set up… 7704 total watts vs 3726 with my revised setup, total wattage usage in half and should still provide enough light to sustain growth and happiness
I have 1 plug for t5’s and 2plugs for the halides and 2 plugs for leds 1 for white other for blue.
I see what you are saying about over lapping the t5’s for a short period while the halides warm up since they do take 5-10 minutes I think to fully heat up. Maybe 15-30 minutes into the halide cycle.
1 thing I do like about the halides I tried before was have 1 turn on as sunrise then both on during mid day then have the sunrise side turn off and use the other for a sunset. example if this does not make sense - left bulb on at 10:00am then right bulb on at 12:00pm then left bulb off at 4:00pm then right bulb off at 6:00pm
I do not know if anyone does this or if it really makes sense to do. I thought of that to try and mimic true life. but without the sun
Watts have no bearing on growth of corals, you don’t put watts into the water.
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check that, if you put watts into the water it will have a significant impact on the growth of your coral.
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Ok seriously, if you can control 2 of the t5’s at a time I would run 2 T5 actinics for 12 hours total, turn on the other 2 about 2 hours into the day and 2 hours short of the day so 4x T5’s are on for 8 hours and then 3.5 hours into the day from the beginning have the halides come on for 5 hours total shutting off 3.5 hours before the end of the day.
This will simulate a slow increase in lighting throughout the day with a peak at “noon” and then sunset, giving the coral a much more natural lighting cycle and reducing your energy useage. I use 6 total T5’s having only 2 run for 1.75 hours in the am and pm and all 6 on for the middle period. 4 T5’s are enough for good growth, limiting them to increments should not hurt.
Well, in all lighting, the goal is to get as much of the light into the tank, pretty much straight down. Not up, or sideways or somewhere else. so to do that, use the best reflector geomety for your bulb type. something that reflects the light going up, back down to the tank without running into anything else. and the most efficient light output, lumens per watt light sources you can find. And most important to the corals, the correct spectrum of light.
Tim- my t5’s have only 1 plug so I can not control the 2 sets separate.
I know it is a popular thing we all here and its debated in many ways about watts per gallon.
I do not know my par readings and I am sure some of my placement of corals or light height may be off.
My lighting fixture is 13 1/2" above the water level.
I would have loved to go with LED but I already invested in this setup so it will have to work. My tank is on a budget though I keep spending more money on it every week.
I have a 2x250 watt halide combo fixture myself. I run the Halides for as little as 5 hours a day. You run your halides for twice as long as me (and pay twice as much). You can shave another 3 hours off your plan. My timers go something like this…
We like to be able to view things before and after work. I still have not seen any responses to the halide dusk to dawn effect. Has anyone heard of doing it that way or is it just 100% pointless?
[quote=“JustSumGuy, post:10, topic:4293”]
We like to be able to view things before and after work. I still have not seen any responses to the halide dusk to dawn effect. Has anyone heard of doing it that way or is it just 100% pointless?[/quote]
ive seen it done with 3 before 1 on then 2, then all, then the second 2, then last one, kind of to make it like the sun is moving across the sky. never seen it with 2 before, which doesnt meant it cant be done, just havent seen it.
