I run a T5/MH set up, I am considering having a few days each month (3-4) where just the T5's run. This would save some energy costs and add a few extra weeks to the life of the MH bulbs. afterall, its not sunny every single day at a natural reef anyhow. anyone else ever consider this or actually try it? wondering what effect this would have on my corals. any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
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Cloudy day on the reef
- Thread starter Patriot76
- Start date
I have personally had ALL lights off in my tank for three days at a time in the past to control algae. I only lost 1 frag, and quite honestly I am not sure that the lighting played any role in its demise. I have done this numerous times, even last week for 2 days. I read about many people doing cloudy days once a month on other sites.
I see absolutely no harm in what you propose. Especially since you will still have T5's on. Some tanks, including my mixed reef use nothing but T5's!
Taz
I see absolutely no harm in what you propose. Especially since you will still have T5's on. Some tanks, including my mixed reef use nothing but T5's!
Taz
You should have no problem doing that. The new LED fixtures are actually adding storm and cloud features that purposely leave the lights off for periods of time. We have left our tank lights off for a day if we were out of town and have not lost anything.
I usually do about 2 days a month with very little light . I just run my t-5's for 2 hours midday during feeding and let whatever natural light in the rest of the day . I dont know if it helps or not but it doesn't seem to hurt . There was a long post on lighting on r/c with some claims of better growth with less lighting . I think it was in the advanced forum .