4 on 8 off lighting cycle

[pickupman66]

so back in April, I switched over to a modified lighting cycle on my tank. it took a bit of setup work with my timers, but I finally got it down after a few days of tweaking. as of today, my lights run as follows:\

6:30a Actinics on
6:45a Halides on, Actinics off
11:30a Halides off, Actinics on
5:15p Halides on, Actinics off
9:15p Halides off, Actinics on
10:00p Actinics off, Moon lights on
12a Moonlights off

The Actinics overlap by a few minutes on each side but for the most part they are off when the halides are on to save on heat. in my tank, they dont do a whole lot when the halides are on.

Now, what I have seen is a very dramatic growth in my Coralline algae on the rocks and other surfaces of the tank. it is growning everywhere. even on old frag plugs, snail shells, crab shells, all the plumbing, etc... I have not seen any growth retardation on the SPS but I do see great polyp extension. all of my SPS seem to throw out monster polyps in the dark and really extend in with the actinics on. My Zoanthids are rapidly growing over the rock. they seem to grow as fast as the green star polyps in the old tank.

My main reasoning behind this was for heat dissipation. with a garage sump, the most heat is in the middle of the day and my chiller would run for an extended period of time from 1-5pm (constantly). now it may cycle 4 times during the day.

here is a photo from April

and from june

 

[ToXIc]

The corals may like it but what about the fish?
They probably think is a very stormy rain season.


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[pickupman66]

From what I can tell. They are good with it. I don't hear any complaints

 

[poolkeeper1]

I have never heard of anyone doing this, It may be fine or it may not! The Day/Night Cycle plays a part in everything in life and when you mess with it you may have unintended results. I know if i turn my lights off during the day my fish go hide like it's night time and corals close up so it does have an effect, weather it's harmful long term or not is the question?
Have you thought of just starting the lights much later in the day to avoid the heat issue? I do like the Corraline growth explosion though as in my tank it's light due to corals using the Ca to grow verses Corraline. I am curious as to how it goes long term?
Bill

 

[pickupman66]

Bill, the tank is actually fully lit from 6:30 am till 10 at night but only has 9 hours of intensity from the MH, so it is never actually dark except at night. I could just have the lights come on at 5 pm and turn off at 1 am, but going to bed at 10:30, I would not get the enjoyment of the last few hours of light. Plus my wife can enjoy the tank thru the day with the kids. the babies she keeps like to sit and watch the fish. there are some other threads on this on several forums with some articles that show teh zooxenthelle algae are most active in teh first 4 hours of full light. if this is truly the case as the "scientists" think, then having multiple short cycles should cause greater growth in some corals. in tow months, i have not seen any negative effects. my fish are happy, corals look good.

then again, it could also be those wavepoint Coral wave bulbs I am using. supposed to be good for coral growth. in one thread I read, the poster mentioned they are coral farmers and this increases their growth rate.