What kind of light cycle is recommended?

• In any aquarium, the light cycle, or amount of time the lights are on per day, can have a dramatic effect on the growth of nuisance algae.
• If you have a lighting system with both daylight (white bulbs) and actinic (blue bulbs) lights, it is best to have the actinic blue lights come on 1 hour to 1.5 hours before the daylight lights and stay on 1 hour to 1.5 hours after the daylight bulbs turn off. This can be easily accomplished with the use of two timers.
• We recommend a white daylight cycle of 8-9 hours with the actinic blue lights coming on before and remaining on after the daylights.
• If you have rapid growth of nuisance algae, try cutting you light cycle back by 15-30 minutes.
• Sometimes it only takes a small decrease in the light cycle to make a big difference.

What kind of lighting is required for a fish-only aquarium?

• Fish-only aquariums with live rock do not require bright lighting.
• Adding bright lights to a fish only aquarium will cause the growth of excess nuisance algae, resulting in more cleaning for you.
• Provide 1-2 watts of light per gallon.

What kind of lighting is required for a reef aquarium?

• Proper lighting is an absolute necessity for any reef aquarium.
• Most soft corals can do well under VHO fluorescent or Power Compact (PC) fluorescent lighting.
• Provide approximately 3-5 watts of light per gallon. Example: A 60-gallon aquarium with soft corals should have from 180 to 300 watts of light no matter how much live rock you have in the aquarium.
• Aquariums with soft and large-polyped stony corals should have approximately 4-6 watts of light per gallon.
• For SPS (small-polyped stony) coral reefs we recommend 7-10 watts of light per gallon.

What are metal halide lights?

• Metal halide lights are the best choice for reef aquariums with stony corals of any type.
• They also create a soothing shimmer all over the aquarium.
• The only downfall of metal halides is that they produce much more heat than fluorescent bulbs and therefore require a taller canopy, better ventilation, and sometimes a chiller to prevent them from overheating your aquarium.
• Metal halides should be mounted in a 12 to 15 inch high canopy, or at least 6 inches from the top of the aquarium.
• The results they will help you achieve in reef keeping are tremendous.