lighting times

[iluvzigz]

well hello everyone ive had my tank setup for about 3 1/2 months now and i vve been seeing people talk about keeping their lights on for 10-11 hours ive been keeping my lights on for about 7 hours only... is this not enough?
ive got a reef tank setup im running a 250 watt setup with 41" pc's on my 55 gal -one bulb is 10,000 and the other is i belive a 460 actinic ..they both come on at the same time cause both ballists are wired together so i cant have one come on and not the other

my corals and everything seem to be doing great..but maybe they would do better if i had them on longer..would it help them grow faster
my issue is alge (not an issue now but id like to keep it from being) i was told that by keeping them on longer it will make more algae so it was suggested to me to keep it around 7 hours- id love to have the tank on longer to enjoy it if possible

im also thinking of getting a moon light what times would that be best to have those on? when ever the main light are off or just for a couple of hours at night
what does evryone think??!!! thanks

 

[Snelly40]

I have my lights on for about 8 1/2 hours. I think you'll find this is pretty typical. Corals and everything else will get plenty of light while it weill help keep the algal growth down as well.
The beauty of it is though is that you can still enjoy ur fish, my lights come on at 2:30 in the afternoon and go off at 11pm, so i have all afternoon and into the night to watch them. As long a the room does not have direct sun you can make them adapt to your work schedule. good luck

 

[billyr98]

my actinics come on at 1pm and go off at 11:30pm

But my Mhs are on from 2pm-10pm

 

[aqujoe247]

I have a 260wt PC, the actnics come on at 1p.m.-9p.m. & the 10k come on 2-8p.m. Also my moonlights come on from 9p.m.-6a.m.