Lets talk about lighting an SPS tank

[ddr]

Using the arbitary units above, 8 hours at 250 will result in significantly more photosynthesis than 4 hours at 500. Of course, in reality, the coral and its zoxanthellae will photoacclimate and so the differences may not be all that great, but the trend will still be there.

Andrew I find that very interesting & have only ever heard the opposite (That higher light at shorter lenght is a wonderful thing) & have seen people setup their tanks deliberatly this way, not that I could ever under stand why that could be so.

Is there a limit or a way of working out the best lighting period for a specific tank (there will be differences between coral within the tank but an overall lighting regime) or am I asking for the 'holy grail'?

Is there a Maximum or Minimum period of light we should aim at?

Dan.

 

[JB NY]

Is there a limit or a way of working out the best lighting period for a specific tank (there will be differences between coral within the tank but an overall lighting regime) or am I asking for the 'holy grail'?

The biggest problem is most people don't know how much light they are putting into the tank. Unless you have a PAR meter for in tank readings, you won't know how much light (or how little) you have.

 

[NuclearReefs]

Well,, your theory I know works to an extent because of people lifting their lights getting better coloration.. Do you think this is a better solution rather than cutting back on the photo period?

also what flavor of 150Mh are you using? Im wanting to try those new Ice cap pendants with the iwasakis and see what kinda results I can get.. Thanks again. I truely enjoy reading your's and Jb NY's view points on this. I had done some testing with MH fixtures with dana about 7 years ago and really found the facts we were determining very unique for the lower wattage halides.Still to this day the best looking tank Ive owned was 3 feet long with 2 175 watt german 10k halides.

Thanks,

Nathan

 

[NuclearReefs]

The biggest problem is most people don't know how much light they are putting into the tank. Unless you have a PAR meter for in tank readings, you won't know how much light (or how little) you have.

Agreed Joe,, good point,, this is a tool that is begining to be part of the standard regimen of gadgets we need ...LOL!

Nathan

 

[ATJ]

Andrew I find that very interesting & have only ever heard the opposite (That higher light at shorter lenght is a wonderful thing) & have seen people setup their tanks deliberatly this way, not that I could ever under stand why that could be so.

Dan,

Higher, shorter may result in more desirable colours as it is likely to result in a greater need for photoprotection and this may be why people go for that regime. In terms of the coral's health, though, lower, longer is most likely to be better. These are generalisations and without PAR meters (as Joe suggests) it is difficult to know for certain.

 

[7thheaven]

Thanks ATJ. I have a question.

lower, longer is most likely to be better

I think there can be a minimum level (watt.par etc..)that coral needs.
Could you tell me the min level?

 

[ATJ]

I think there can be a minimum level (watt.par etc..)that coral needs.
Could you tell me the min level?

It is not that simple...

What is important for a coral is the total amount of light it receives over time. It has to receive enough light so that the energy produced by photosynthesis exceeds the energy needed by both the zooxanthellae and the coral to survive and grow. The minimum required by one coral may be different from others so you can't really generalise on the minimum for all corals. Also, there isn't a table you can look up that tells you the minimum for each coral.

I am hoping that as I refine my calculations, I will be able to calculate the amount of light at a certain depth for a given location. If you know the location a coral was collected and what depth, it would be possible to estimate how much light it was receiving. Armed with that information, you could provide the coral with that information.

The difficult part in all this is that you rarely know the location nor the depth at which a coral was collected. However, if you have information of other colonies of the same species, it is safe to assume that data will apply to your colony.

For example, I have a photograph of a A. aculeus that I took at a depth of 26 metres on Osprey reef. In Summer, I estimate the coral would receive around 8.5 E.m^-2d^-1 and 4.2 E.m^-2d^-1 in Winter. If you provided between 100 and 200 μE.m^-2s^-1 for 12 hours per day, it would be approximately equivalent to what that wild colony was receiving.

Forget about watts - they don't tell you much more than how much electricity you will be using.

 

[7thheaven]

thanks andrew,, very insightfull,, so we shall see how my sps like being relaxed with a shorter photoperiod.. I have stepped mine down an hour a week so far.... I was buring my halides at 8 hours,, Im down to 6 now.

Nathan

Dear Nathan...

Are you burning halides at 6 now?

How about that? Is it OK?

 

[Electrobes]

After reading entire thread I found a couple of things interesting that correlates with my tank. I have a 37G tank. I was using the XM 10K SE halide, but after many problems with the bulb (went through three of them, two of them being defects one cracked!) I went with a hamilton 14K. I love the color but want the faster growth via the 10K XM, so I am hoping my letter to the company might actually get me a new bulb that isn't so buggy. Furhter though is that I have 2X65 watt PCs which never could add blue well with the 10K XM. I am to soon get a 2X39 T5 HO retro fit with two blue plus bulbs (I hear they are bluer than the actinics).

My questions are:
Would the corals perfer the actinic T5 bulb or would they not care which bulb I get for the blue supplementation with the XM 10K... ? Meanig does the bulb being an actual actinic have more health benefits than the Blue plus bulb?

How different is the change from the 14K bulb (with 2X65 watt PC actinics) to the 10K XM (with 2X39 T5) will this affect my corals... like in your opinion what should I see different going on with the corals?
Thanks!

 

[NuclearReefs]

Dear Nathan...

Are you burning halides at 6 now?

How about that? Is it OK?

Im down to 4.5 hours a day on my halide and my corals have never looked better. Remember I am using a Iwasaki which is a very Potent bulb . I assume you would achieve this same effect with 10K's....

I still have my VHO's running 12 though..

Im really happy with cutting them back so far....

Nathan

 

[7thheaven]

Thanks Nathan...

I am waiting your reply for a long time....

How about VHO-on time? Are you down two?

Thanks in advance~!!!

 

[NuclearReefs]

Sorry 7th,, I didnt see that posting til the guy after you posted,,, Too much email.. I am presently letting my VHO's on at 9:30 am and off at 9:30pm.. its 4 bulbs,, 3 are actinic and one is aqua sun all URI on a icecap 660.

Nathan

 

[dphins]

NuclearReefs
What time do you run your mh? I would think you would have them on when you are watching the tank and not when you are there?

 

[NuclearReefs]

they run in the middle of the day ,, I catch them for about a hour or two,Im in the process of moving as well so I trying to seperate myself from thank because Im not looking forward to taking it down to move it ...


Nathan

 

[Darrell Ward]

Flatlander, those are very interesting observations. I don't think SPSers like to here that VHOs keep better SPS corals. They have pride in their halide set-ups. However, I don't doubt you findings for a second.

IMO as long as intensity is there, Kelvin ratings are a personal preference.

IMO flow rate is very under rated.

Water clarity is sometimes overlooked also.

 

[Julio]

that is why there is another thread regarding water quality.

 

[JB NY]

that is why there is another thread regarding water quality.

 

[ATJ]

Water clarity is sometimes overlooked also.

How much difference do you think water clarity makes to lighting?

 

[Julio]

it makes a tremendous difference, if your water is not clear yoru light penetration will be diminished and the colors on your colras will start to fade.

 

[ATJ]

it makes a tremendous difference, if your water is not clear yoru light penetration will be diminished and the colors on your colras will start to fade.

I'm sorry, I wasn't clear with my question. What percentage difference will it make? e.g. How much light from a percentage perspective would be lost between a super clear tank (running Ozone, carbon and/or something similar) versus a standard tank with a little bit of organic yellowing?

Why will the colours fade? What is the physiological reason for "fading" of the colours?