Sunrise / Sunset timing

[Paul M]

I'm running a Twinstar 600E over my scape and have just recieved a Dimmer / Controller for it. I have had a play about to learn the programming of it and am delighted with the way it gradually reduces the light to 0% etc. Much less stressful for the fish, and particularly for my partner, not having the light go from OFF to ON ( and vice versa ) immediately.
I have been running my photo period for 8hrs at max intensity but am unsure about how to progress with the program feature.
Do I ramp up and down but still have a full 8hrs at max illumination ( which seems a bit excessive ) or do I ramp up and down but have less time at max illumination? Say for example Ramp up over 45mins, 6hrs 30 at max and then ramp down over 45mins ( 8hrs total ) ?
I know that it is difficult to prescribe for an individual set up but I'm interested to know how others deal with this situation?
Thanks.

 

[MichaelJ]

@Paul M If your tank is running fine with the current photoperiod of 8 hours (which seems to be the case based on the picture ) I would start ramping up for 30 minutes and ramp down for 30 minutes and cut the max intensity time to 7 hrs 30 mins. Adding 30 minutes in total, which mostly include the early and late ramping time where there is hardly any light, should not make a difference either way.

I ramp up for 30 minutes starting at 11:30am and ramp down for 45 minutes starting at 11:15pm so technically I have the light on for 12 hours and 30 mins. including the 1 hrs 15 min ramping time. My light level (intensity) is very, very low in both my densely planted low-tech tanks and the part of the family room where I keep both tanks are fairly dimly lit throughout the day. The 12 hours photo period mimics the conditions in the tropics where most our plants and fish are from, so a long photoperiod seems natural and works well in my case (no algae to speak of, good growth etc.) - and as an added bonus I get more opportunity to enjoy my tanks 🙂

Cheers,
Michael

 

[Paul M]

Thanks Michael. That all sounds very logical to me.
I guess it comes down to the usual, try it and see what happens. If it's not working well then maybe some adjustment required.