Lighting = the tropics

[DiViNeLeFT]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8478141#post8478141 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Ryanqk
you wouldnt replicate a hurricane or other storm in your tank even though they happen occasionally, so why replicate a cloudy day? might as well optimize your light to be bright and have good growth rates

couldn't we consider fragging and sand stirring a simulated hurricane or storm?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8479726#post8479726 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by GSMguy
i want to know what you were growning

tomatoes of course haha... i was thinking the same thing.

 

[poedag]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8471414#post8471414 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Donw
I tend to agree here. I think this is probably the biggest reason most people reject the entire idea. Most dont have a way to simulate dawn and dusk and simply turn off/on bulbs from a single point light source is not going to do it.

Don

Very true, there is really very little way to simulate/replicate the ammount of diffuse light, or just PAR, that would be coming in on a rainy or clowdy day, especially if you are using a single point light source.

it's really quite amazing the amount of PAR that makes it to the surface via diffuse radiation when clouds/stratus/fog are present. i'm sure the total intensity is somewhat muted but there would still be a signifigant amount of available PAR at depth during a cloud event.

 

[awestruck]

Poedag, thank you for your information because my in depth understanding of light is limited (just like my knowledge of chemistry), and DiViNet. for your idea--it's interesting. With the sand stirring, would that make nitrates go crazy due to the gunk coming to the surface--I don't have the answer to this. One thing that I earlier forgot to mention is that 2 years ago my LFS told me that every now-n'-then they "blast" their reef tanks with power heads to kind of replicate a storm (not the bed, just the rock). The one owner said that it lifts a lot of the debris, thus enabling the skimmer to pick some of it up and take it out. Also, interestingly, in one of Tullock's books he mentions doing something similar once in a while because apparently storms are a type of "cleansing" for the oceans. I've only been reefing for two years so I defer to experts--what I don't know far exceeds what I do know. What I think is awesome about every single earlier reply is that we care about our tanks and whatever methods we practice, well, we're just trying to help our animals as much as we can. THAT in and of itself is truly wonderful!!!!
As always, wishing everyone peace.

 

[DiViNeLeFT]

yeah, that is what i am thinking... i will usually slightly stir up any portion of the sand that i can actually see debris just to get them suspended in the water. i dont stir the sand a lot, just enough to get the visible debris off the surface of the sand. i also will blast my rocks every now and then with a turkey baster to get the debris in the cracks in suspension as well.