Mhucasey's SPS obsession

[mhucasey]

On the subject of lighting, I stumbled on this old article from 2008.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2008/3/aafeature1

I will quote what caught my attention, and I wonder if it's accurate.

With this arrangement, the tank temperature fluctuated from 76 oF (lights off) to 80 oF (lights on) over the course of 24 hours; the irradiation period lasted 8 hours/day. The height of each of the lights was adjusted to provide a constant amount of PAR at the coral level, measured by an Apogee Quantum Meter; the initial height settings of the lights delivered about 140 - 160 mE/m2 of light intensity, but unsatisfactory coloration in this nutrient poor environment prompted the elevation of these bulbs so that the PAR readings at the corals were about 80 - 100 mE/m2. These readings were taken at the center of the tanks, directly under the MH or T5 bulbs. Therefore, not every coral received the same amount of light, as the intensity drops off as distance from the center increases. Nevertheless, identical placement of each type of coral in the three tanks ensured, at the very least, that the light intensity for each type of coral was approximately equal between the two MH tanks, with some uncertainty in the amount of intensity variance between the MH tanks and the T5 tank. Note that this approach normalizes the PPFD, in contrast to the Schlacher experiment. The corals were grown under these conditions for 14 months. All bulbs were replaced after 12 months of continuous use. The experimental setup is illustrated in Figure 1.

The corals colored up and grew at appreciable rates under this experimental regimen.

80 to 100 PAR?? Did I read that correctly? IS PAR mE/m2 or is there a conversion?

Yeah, I read that study a while back, and while its better than most studies as far as trying to equalize differences, its obvious that the corals were not thriving in the sterile setups that they provided. Anything higher PAR-wise was probably damaging the corals.

After 14 months that should have had thriving mini-colonies, not the small nubs that they show. If I was setting up such a study I'd use a single system sump distributed to three tanks and I wouldn't rely on so much phosphate remover.

 

[markalot]

Hi Matt,

I was thinking this was unusually low but I was wrong about what a newer article (accuracy unknown) inferred:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2012/10/aafeature

We can safely call 80-100 μmol·photons/m2/s low light, 150-200 - medium, and 300-400 - optimal. The saturation limit of photosynthesis is about 600-700μmol·photons/m2/s.


At least these articles seem to find the same general low end range, though the newer one seems to infer colors will be barely perceptible in low light while the 2008 article calls colors good, whatever good means.

I'm just thinking about the general theme that we may be blasting acros with more light than they need which, in a captive environment, might lead to more stress. Anyway, no conclusion, just something I thought was interesting to think about. :reading:

 

[reefmutt]

Hey Matt.. Been scarce lately.. But I have been reading your thread with interest. Great info here!
I wish I had a par meter..
How's the new wrasse and how much of a mess do they make with their bowl of sand?

 

[mhucasey]

Hey Matt.. Been scarce lately.. But I have been reading your thread with interest. Great info here!
I wish I had a par meter..
How's the new wrasse and how much of a mess do they make with their bowl of sand?

Kosmo is doing very well and took to the sand hottub right away. It was pretty over-full at first and there was a bit of sand scattered but I don't see much being scattered these days

 

[Alex Costa]

I present Kosmo, the Vermiculate Leopard Wrasse:

Ohhhhhhhh....
I need one of that!!!!!:fish1::fish1::fish1:


Alex.

 

[Reefvet]

Yeah, I read that study a while back... its obvious that the corals were not thriving in the sterile setups that they provided. Anything higher PAR-wise was probably damaging the corals.

That's a typical university level study for that era. It's a little surprising that Sanjay's listed as an author on it. It's probably a group of students and he was their oversight.

"Livestock consisted of nothing more than a few turbo and astrea snails and a peppermint shrimp, per tank. "

That's the only livestock and they're running carbon and GFO continuously while feeding the tanks once a week. It's a testament to the coral that they survived at all. Any higher light level I'm sure led to bleaching and death.

If I was setting up such a study I'd use a single system sump distributed to three tanks and I wouldn't rely on so much phosphate remover.

Why close the system at all ? If you're trying to replicate a natural environment you need constant water change, even if it's ASW. 10% a day would have been 3 gals..

Kosmo is doing very well and took to the sand hottub right away....

You're a brave man to keep that fish in a 16" deep tank.

 

[mhucasey]

That's a typical university level study for that era. It's a little surprising that Sanjay's listed as an author on it. It's probably a group of students and he was their oversight.

"Livestock consisted of nothing more than a few turbo and astrea snails and a peppermint shrimp, per tank. "

That's the only livestock and they're running carbon and GFO continuously while feeding the tanks once a week. It's a testament to the coral that they survived at all. Any higher light level I'm sure led to bleaching and death.



Why close the system at all ? If you're trying to replicate a natural environment you need constant water change, even if it's ASW. 10% a day would have been 3 gals..




You're a brave man to keep that fish in a 16" deep tank.

I agree on the first two points wholeheartedly. However, I've never had a leopard wrasse jump or even break the surface- they dive down to the sand when scared or startled. I had one leopard bully another so much that I didn't see the victim for days at a time until he starved to death. Every time he got chased he dived into the sand and stayed there for hours. The bully leopard met some karma when the the green wrasse did the same thing to him. Fairy wrasses - almost guaranteed to jump, as are a few other varieties. I expect the yellow Coris to make an attempt at some point as well, hopefully with the wide tank he won't be near a wall when he does.

 

[mhucasey]

PAR testing loses its cool factor surprisingly quick, especially with T5 bulbs. I had a super ambitious plan to test every 4" square across the tank. It rapidly became clear that T5s compensate for for different heights naturally based on the type of diffuse light source that they are, so a million readings were not necessary.

What I mean by this is that with a panel of T5 bulbs, par increases as you bring the light closer to the water, but not as much as you might think. This is because as you get lower, the bulbs that are horizontally farthest away contribute less and less to the PAR at the test point. High up you get more additive PAR as all the bulb's outputs overlap. I also found out that the specific combination of bulbs had almost no effect on PAR at a given measuring spot. For the purposes of testing, a Blue+ was really no different than an ABS.

I modified my plan for testing to get some basic info and I mostly tested from the outside edge to the middle of the tank, since the other side has the identical fixture with mirrored bulb configuration. I tested on the bottom just against the glass, every 4 inches to get a worst case scenario:

I then tested 6" below the water line and 6", 10", 12" and 18" from the outside edge:

Finally, i took readings at specific corals:

Validia: 390
Sarmentosa: 408
Solitaryensis: 421
Pink table: 405
Blue Tort: 305
Red Planet: 320


I then repeated the whole thing with the lights 6" AWL, but Ill post those results some other time.

 

[mhucasey]

I was able to talk my LFS owner into fragging a branch off of one of the two gorgeous SSC colonies that he had, this is one of the corals I have been wanting to get. I have a AquaSD SSC that is a different coral species with the same color but this is the original and best:

 

[Reefvet]

I have a AquaSD SSC that is a different coral species with the same color but this is the original and best:

Are you going for Good, Better and Best ? It worked for Sears :bounce3:

The form of that one looks like it's been grown in slightly high alkalinity and light.

Nice coral. It'll be interesting to see how it morphs in your tank. I'll put money on it transforming to more compact and deeper color.

 

[cFloor]

That sure is a nice SSC frag you got! It'd be a good one to do progression shots with.

 

[mhucasey]

Are you going for Good, Better and Best ? It worked for Sears :bounce3:

The form of that one looks like it's been grown in slightly high alkalinity and light.

Nice coral. It'll be interesting to see how it morphs in your tank. I'll put money on it transforming to more compact and deeper color.

Thanks, it was from a softball sized wild colony that my LFS has had long enough that the cut base had encrusted over and was sending out new branches. It was under a whole mess of Radions there.

Oh the "best" comment was in regards to it being the Microclados - there are other "Strawberry shortcake" corals that are nt that species, the original. There are a ton of cool color morphs of Microclados out there and its becoming a favorite species.

 

[mhucasey]

That sure is a nice SSC frag you got! It'd be a good one to do progression shots with.

Thanks, its awesome to have a digital camera - i take tons of pictures and seeing progression is sometimes pretty shocking when you compare

 

[mhucasey]

Hopefully I will be able to add more later today, I have been experiencing a very busy couple of weeks, installing wood floors on my stairs and upstairs by myself(ouch), Having a second toot pulled from Woody, then one week later Dinky was in a tussle with Buddy and his ear was bitten. It peeled the skin away in the middle of the ear and they had to surgically remove a piece of his ear. So two Vet appointments for surgery in two weeks, a dog in a cone, lots of doggie drugs, etc.

At the beginning of the last couple of weeks I took some advice from a local store and went to all Blue bulbs except two Fiji purple and one coral plus(The "Half Purple" bulb). The colors that are appearing are pretty awesome. I have some shots to share later but in the meantime here is a FTS:

I also went back to Lugol's and did a cool tweak on the pellet reactor.

 

[reefmutt]

That's some rough dog issues! Vets are NOT cheap to visit even for one dog..
I hope the pups heal up well.
Love the fts.
Curious to see how the new bulb combo plays out.

 

[mhucasey]

That's some rough dog issues! Vets are NOT cheap to visit even for one dog..
I hope the pups heal up well.
Love the fts.
Curious to see how the new bulb combo plays out.

Nope - about 2200 bucks for both of the dogs...yeesh

 

[mhucasey]

Here is Mr. Dinkus, relaxing in his drug induced haze:

He's actually doing very well, just wants the cone of shame gone

I've had some pretty good coloring up lately, here is one specific example:
Cinderella Acro Sept 15:

Cinderella Acro Sept 22:

Without further ado, a big picture drop:

 

[mhucasey]

 

[mhucasey]

And a Video for you all:

 

[reefmutt]

Beauty, Matt!
Love the pe, love the colors and every time I see a vid of your tank, I love the scape.
Looking great!
What are your params these days?
Also, there's a coral in the shot of cosmo which is obscuring the powder blue tang's face... What is that?