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On to the lighting

2K views 3 replies 3 participants last post by  IndianMaidn 
#1 ·
Hi,

Along with the 75 gal. aquarium I just purchased came these really nice coralife lights. Don't know too much about lighting yet, now may be a good time to learn. I tried doing research on this, but it got too confusing. The hood has 4 65 w. 10,000K Daylight bulbs, 4 65 w. 03 Blue Actinic Flourescent bulbs, plus the moonlights. All lights have a separate switch. When I turn on the daylight bulbs, a fan comes on too, oh boy !! O.K., I did freshwater before this, no fancy lighting. What are these different bulbs for ?? Can someone at least start me out and tell me which light to have lit when and for how long ?? I know the moon lights are a matter of prefference, or is that the deal with all the lights ?? This is just a FOWLR aquarium right now,nothing fancy.
Thanks guys, I've got the basics now, it's these little things that are getting me now.
Just a heads up, skimmer will probably be next.
 
#2 ·
The daylight 10,000k bulbs are what the photosynthesizing animals use to create food via the zooanthelle. These lights shoud be kept on for at least four hours a day, give or take.

The blue actinics are what give the water its natural blue tint. These help the corals "pop" with colors. They also help bring out the colors of certain fish. I leave mine on for about eight or nine hours a day; they come on two hours befire my daylights, and shut off two hours after the daylights go off.

The moonlights are used to stimulate nighttime activity and allow viewing of nighttime habits. I allow mine to come on about an hour of complete darkness. I have read (forgot where) that photosynthesizing animals need at least an hour of complete dark as part of their food proccess.

Hope this helps.
 
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