EXTRA Long Light Cycle???

[Peppie]

What effect to the corals would it have if you ran lights on for 20 hrs and off for 4 hours????
Also what is the best HQI bulb for sps growth?

 

[pandora32]

Its funny you ask that. I just did a long light cycle. Me my wife and daughter left friday morning to go camping. We got back late sunday. As soo as i walked through the door...crap! I left the halides on and the light over the sump. I know...get timers. Anyways. Nothing died, the temp was 85, all the fish were swimming slow like they just had a big party. The coral seemed like it grew more. The rbta was very open. And that green slimy algae that grows on the glass...LOVED IT!

 

[Peppie]

Glad it turned out OK.
I was wondering more about long term. If you were to slowly work up to the 20hrs on 4 off. and run that as your cycle for months to years.

 

[Spinner]

Studies have shown we need a good 8 hours sleep and a nite is when the body repairs it's self. Maybe that holds true in the marine world too?

 

[tat2z_21]

Obviously they would die, because after paying that electricity bill there would be no budget left to feed them.

 

[Katchupoy]

why do you need it for 20 hours?

 

[mercenary-grunt]

More growth

 

[NanaReefer]

Many corals do their feeding with lights out. IMO 20hrs is just wrong.

Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk 2

 

[RandyMC]

Interesting question though. I see where you are going with this. I am sure there have been studies on longer light cycles, it's just time to find them.

It makes sense though. Plants and their different stages are all based on the # of hours of Light and dark they get. When the days are longer the plant is developing it's size (vegetative growth), then as the days start getting shorter, the plant starts to bloom/flower (flowering stage).

Maybe the same holds true with corals. Anyone out there able to make a 365day programmer. I would buy one and research data that represents sunrise and sunset, and program the lights accordingly. ??????? Do climates like those around natural reefs have the same sunrise and sunset ever day, since they really don't have seasons?????????
That's the question to ask.

I will be following this tread, and doing a little research myself.

Thanks for posing the question.

 

[Jeramy]

One side effect would be that you would be cleaning a lot more algea off the glass with that long of a light cycle. I would think that fish might get stressedwith that long of a light cycle as well. If it was just a grow out frag tank that did not mater if the galss is dirty and has no fish in it might be ok. Though I am not sure that a longer light cycle is going to grow the corals faster I would think proper lighting and water peramiters would be more important then the lenght of the light cycle=)

 

[Peppie]

Interesting question though. I see where you are going with this. I am sure there have been studies on longer light cycles, it's just time to find them.

It makes sense though. Plants and their different stages are all based on the # of hours of Light and dark they get. When the days are longer the plant is developing it's size (vegetative growth), then as the days start getting shorter, the plant starts to bloom/flower (flowering stage).

Maybe the same holds true with corals. Anyone out there able to make a 365day programmer. I would buy one and research data that represents sunrise and sunset, and program the lights accordingly. ??????? Do climates like those around natural reefs have the same sunrise and sunset ever day, since they really don't have seasons?????????
That's the question to ask.

I will be following this tread, and doing a little research myself.

Thanks for posing the question.

Thanks for rewriting my Q. This is the info I was hopping to get from my post.
It does make sense to me the longer the lights stay on the more growth. But there has to be a line there somewhere. 12 hours on? 16hrs on? 20 hrs on?
If the corals feed at nite,( lights out) is 4hrs enough time to feed??

 

[Peppie]

One side effect would be that you would be cleaning a lot more algea off the glass with that long of a light cycle. I would think that fish might get stressedwith that long of a light cycle as well. If it was just a grow out frag tank that did not mater if the galss is dirty and has no fish in it might be ok. Though I am not sure that a longer light cycle is going to grow the corals faster I would think proper lighting and water peramiters would be more important then the lenght of the light cycle=)[/QUOTE

No fish in the Frag tank. Dont mind cleaning the algae off the sides. Water param. would be kept in check.

 

[Peppie]

Obviously they would die, because after paying that electricity bill there would be no budget left to feed them.

LOL tat2z
Not saying I going to run the HQI for that amount of time. Just wondering if the growth would increase with the longer light period. And how much is too much?

 

[Peppie]

why do you need it for 20 hours?

Dont NEED it, Just curious.

 

[Spinner]

I use to think of those kind things too...........but i am much better NOW after those shock treatments at Ward B I believe some marine life would be OK with it and some would shut down as needed. I also think longer light times would add additional stress to borderline creatures?

 

[Peppie]

Life in the ocean has had a light and dark cycle for ever. All life has evolved to make that work in their favor. My 16 -20 light cycle would most surely cause ill effects.
But I still wonder how much is to much??

 

[tamarindthai]

when you start to see the burnt mark on you coral and fading color,,,, mean ,,,,too much ,,jmo

 

[chickenofthesea]

How about you try it and tell us how it comes out? Experimentation is just as important to this hobby as existing knowledge. With out experimenting we can't grow. I really have no idea and I'm sure there are so many variables.

 

[mojoreef]

I have not tried it myself but the biology kind of works against the concept. We all have a good understanding of what happens in the period of lighting with sps type corals, but their are equally important dark reactions. So in the dark period the coral lays out its skeletal matrix much more thickly (where as in the light period its fast and thin) which strengthens the skeleton but also allows the coral to release amounts of its nutrients into that matrix also. Their is also a dark reaction for photosysnthesis, then mix in the transfer of nutrients and carbon dioxide back to the zoox. So for this and then the fact that oxygen is a bi product of photo, so how much becomes to much? also the coral does not have much of an ability to store the goods it get from zoox, so not sure about the benefits either?

Just some thoughts

Mike

 

[1guydude]

intrested how ur ph and alk would do during that kind of cycle as well... hmm i think the tank would crash after awhile.

+1 peppie be the ginny!