65 gal too much light ???

T

tito1985

New member
hi i have a 65 gal sps tank 3x18x24. i am currently running 2 250 watt 10k xm's along with 2 95 watt vho actinics. My question is ive been reading alot on how some people are running shorter lighting periods. I am currently stumped on how many hours to run my halides. Would it make sense to run a short lighting period on a tank with so much lighting considering that the corals might reach their saturation point quicker??? All the imput that i can get from you guys would help thanks
 
I have a 58 [similar dimensions] with 2 x 250's on it [and VHO].
I run mine about 6-7 hours each - for a combined total of 10 hours of MH.

IMO you'll want to acclimate corals to their final position with this light - and possibly decrease the photoperiod depending on results. Just my take.
 
i run 2x400w MH's on my 58gal tank. 20k on for 10hrs and 10k on for 2hrs (2hrs is overlapped w/ teh 20k.)

not too much light at all

Lunchbucket
 
i run 2x250 MH with 4x96w VHO on my 65.

12 hours vho, 5 hours MH.

Not sure if it is too much light, but has been doing good for me.
 
I have the same exact setup, but 3' vho's for actinic. The pc actinics didn't do much for me. That amount of light is perfect for me.
 
tito I had the same lighting on my old 65gal. If you keep a low nutrient tank you're going to have to run a shorter photoperiod or you'll have a tank full of faded corals.....but some guys like those faded colors :)
 
jackson - not true. if you acclimate them correctly you won't have faded colors. do my colors look faded???

Lunchbucket
 
no your colors don't look faded.

Why would you want to acclimate each coral to higher lighting when they can be just as colorful if not more under less?
 
Right now im runnirng mh 7 hours and vhos 9 hours. The problem that i was having is that a couple corals that i had moved to the top of the tank lightened on me to the point that it almost looked like it was bleached so then i lowered it. Maybe i moved the coral up to fast but i cant see how u could slowly raise a coral up to the light with such limited space to place it, on the way up. if i were to lower the lighting period how do i go about it meaning at what rate show i lower the lighting period. thank for the help
 
I was at about 7 hrs when I first start to reduce my photoperiod. I made an initial jump to 5hrs and decrease about 30mins weekly. I've been between 2-3 hrs now for about a year and my colors have improved 10x
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6581761#post6581761 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Lunchbucket
i run 2x400w MH's on my 58gal tank. 20k on for 10hrs and 10k on for 2hrs (2hrs is overlapped w/ teh 20k.)

not too much light at all

Lunchbucket
Click to expand...

Lunchbucket, I think I want to quote this in my signature line. :D :D

-E
 
Would it make sense to run a short lighting period on a tank with so much lighting considering that the corals might reach their saturation point quicker???
Click to expand...

So that everyone is clear on this point, because I think this is often misunderstood, brighter lights won't cause a coral to reach their saturation point in terms of photosynthesis faster or slower than dim lights. A given irradiance produces a given rate of photosynthesis. The more light (to a point) the faster photosynthsis goes. Eventually photosynthesis can't procede any faster, even if the lighting gets brighter--that's the saturation point.

When our lights turn on they hit the corals with a certain amount of light. The time it takes to go from light hitting the chlorophyll (or accessory pigments) in an algal cell until the captured energy makes its way through PSII and PSI is usually seconds (or minutes at the most). So, when the lights come on the coral has reached its maximum rate of photosynthesis with that light source in seconds to minutes. There is not a "warm up" period until it reaches saturation or anything like that.

If a light is bright enough to get the coral to 1/2 its saturation level, that is what happens almost immediately. If the light is bright enough to reach saturation, that happens almost immediately. So a brighter light won't allow a coral to reach its saturation point any faster than a dim one: a light either is bright enough to reach saturation, or it's not. Do realize that it is possible to go beyond saturation too, which often causes photoinhibition. A bright light will allow a coral to fix more C in a given period of time simply because photosynthesis is happening faster, not because the coral reaches photosaturation faster.

Chris
 
I would put a 20k xm in there to replace 1 one of the 10k. You do have too much light IMO. All this reduced photoperiod reduction stuff is a result of the "more is better" myth. We have gotten good enough at nutrient control that it isn't necessary.
 
Why would you want to acclimate each coral to higher lighting when they can be just as colorful if not more under less?
Click to expand...

umm...because i have higher lighting then what they come from...duh. so i'm not supposed to acclimate corals? or i'm not supposed to get corals from a tank that has lower light then me? i'm confused on your statement.

Ewan - why you want that in your sig line???

Lunchbucket
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6586968#post6586968 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Lunchbucket


Ewan - why you want that in your sig line???

Lunchbucket
Click to expand...

Because you're the master of going big. If it weren't for you setting the bar, I wouldn't be on a perpetual upgrade for the last 5 years. :D

On a serious note though, I've been trying to figure out a way that I could fit some t5 actinics over my tank, so that I can try reducing my halide photoperiod as well. I've developed a washed-out look in my tank, and I'm looking at changing my light around a bit.
 
Ewan - :lol: i take that as a compliment :D i guess i have broken some rules in my day :D or proved some people wrong

Lunchbucket
 
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