What is the best photo period for a new tank?

[ramesis]

Hi,

 

I have a new Nuvo 10 that I just cycled with the lights off.  I have 2 fish and 4 snails.  I have an AI 16HD and I would like to start turning my lights on but not sure what the correct photo period is.  Is it best to start at a full 12 hours but increasing the  percentage of the power periodically or start with full power but a shorter photo period and increase the length periodically until reaching 12 hours?

 

Any info would be appreciated.

 

Ramesis

[sadie]

When I got my new tank it came with a book that explained the lights and their cycle.  How long you should run each one etc.  If it didn't come with a book, you might be able to find the manual on line.

[ramesis]

3 minutes ago, sadie said:

When I got my new tank it came with a book that explained the lights and their cycle.  How long you should run each one etc.  If it didn't come with a book, you might be able to find the manual on line.

Hi Sadie!

It did not come with a book.  I have a schedule that I want to use.  The problem is that I don't know if I should ease into it or just go at it full blast.   I got this schedule from the AI website.  It is by a guy named David Saxby.  As of know I am leaning towards the full photo period but with reduced intensity.

Ramesis

[sadie]

When I did change my light schedule, I did it slowly.  I thought it would be easier for all critters involved (coral and fish).  I changed it by 1 hr every couple days till I had what I wanted.  

[sadie]

ah, sorry, just saw you were running NO lights at all.  Not sure about that.  I left my lights on a reg schedule when I cycled my tank.  Maybe someone else will chime in.

[ramesis]

Just now, sadie said:

When I did change my light schedule, I did it slowly.  I thought it would be easier for all critters involved (coral and fish).  I changed it by 1 hr every couple days till I had what I wanted.  

 

Ok..  so you went the other way then.  Hmm... You are the second person to give me that recommendation  Maybe that is the way to go.  Light the tank 1 hour more at a time every 2 days starting with 1 hour.. 

[Doc_]

Fish and Snails really don't care about lighting you could honestly run a tank for months with the natural light that creeps into a room and be fine, the lighting is for your visual appeal , I wouldn't run at high intensity 24x7 but really they don't care all that much if you had more sensitive critters you would want to gradually ease into things  but an AI Prime isn't going to create enough heat or PAR to bother the fish or snails in your tank. 

 

One thing I'll say I personally learnt is that a 11-12 hour Photo period straight out of the gate on a new tank is a great way to promote algae outbreaks, both the type you want and potentially the types you don't.

 

People run anything from an 8 hour photo-period to a 12 hour photo-period based on their needs and what they want to see from their tank though those with longer photo-periods from what I've seen seem to ramp up and ramp down in some way over an hour or two (sometimes more) and only run their Peak Lighting Schedule for a few hours. Once you add corals the intensity of the lighting is also considered a factor when deciding how long to run your lights for at peak. 

 

I suggest reading and deciding what works best for you long term and lock in a schedule that works for you before you add corals to avoid the constant change that comes with tinkering  but for fish and snails just let your eyes decide what you want to see and what you don't 🙂

 

 

[ramesis]

Thank you doc_ that's very good advice.   

[DreC80]

Anywhere from 8 to 12 hours.  As doc said you risk an algae bloom if you are running them too high and too long this early in the game.

 

You can go with the Saxby setting, but turn the intensity down...maybe 30% or so and shorten the photo period to 8 or 9 hours.

 

This will also help once you get corals in the future so you don't blast them with light right from the get go.

[ramesis]

21 minutes ago, DreC80 said:

Anywhere from 8 to 12 hours.  As doc said you risk an algae bloom if you are running them too high and too long this early in the game.

 

You can go with the Saxby setting, but turn the intensity down...maybe 30% or so and shorten the photo period to 8 or 9 hours.

 

This will also help once you get corals in the future so you don't blast them with light right from the get go.

Thank you.  At what point do you recommend to start increasing it?  Once I start introducing corals?   

 

I could go on a acclimation period setting it at 30 percent the increasing it by 30% a month for a total of 3 months.  

 

And reduce the photo period to 4 hours a day and increase it little by little until I match his photo period.

 

How does that sound?

 

I don't plan to introduce corals until I get coraline growing in the tank.  But I do want a rock anemone.  

[DreC80]

Correct, once you start introducing corals you can start increasing slowly depending on the particular coral's needs.  Maybe like 5% every 2 or 3 weeks to be safe.

 

The overall intensity will really depend on what corals you plan on keeping.  If you look at Saxby's tank it is full of SPS so he runs his intensity high with a longer photo period.  He's got the little peaks and valleys in the schedule to give the corals a break if I remember correctly.

 

This is part of the problem with LEDs, too many options to tinker with.  My personal recomendation for now is to start with an easier lighting schedule until you get things dialed in.

 

I would do something like 12 pm sunrise with a 2 hour ramp.  6 pm sunset with 2 hour ramp down.  That will give you an 8 hour photo period.  For the individual colors I would set your UVs and blues to 30%, white to 10%, green to 5% and red to 2 or 3%.  For what it's worth some believe the red leds encourage algae growth...so may want to keep it low.

 

Since it's just fish in the tank, now is the time to mess around with the light and figure things out.  You definitely don't want to be tinkering once corals are in. 

 

Lastly, the only true way to know your light output is via a par meter and/or lux meter.  Without these tools we are just guessing.  

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

[ramesis]

13 minutes ago, DreC80 said:

Hope this helps

This helped a lot.  Thank you!