New pics...haven't posted in a while...

[nightOwl]

Well my tank had a pH crash back in October or so and now the color is starting to come back to my corals and some of my zoas so I figured I would post some pics. I used my top down box to take the pictures. Any tips are appreciated.

Thanks

 

[melev]

Very nice pictures. The middle acro - do you ever see any polyp extension? The last image seems a bit pink to me, or maybe a tad too blue...

What lighting does your tank have?

 

[nightOwl]

Hey Melev,
I have never seen any polyp extension on the purple tipped acro. I might be that I have it in an area that gets too much flow. Any tips would be greatly appreciated. The last picture might have an issue...its right under the blue plus bulb. I tried to adjust the WB . I am running T5's and VHO's on my tank. I run 2 VHO's, 2 T5 ATI Blue Plus, 1 GE 6500k, and 1 ULV 10,000k for growth. I also run a combination of 2 VHO's, 2 T5 ATI Blue Plus, and 2 ULV 10,000K.

Thanks

 

[melev]

Try looking at that coral later in the night, such as 11:00 pm. Using a flashlight during lights out, you might be surprised.

Corals may hide their polyps if they are being pestered. That's a beautiful coral, and if it has red bugs on it (not that I can see), that could be one cause. Fish nipping is another, but the coral looks untouched to me. Flow usually isn't a problem in our tanks, unless you see the skin being blown right of the skeleton. Again, I don't see that in the picture.

 

[nightOwl]

Melev
I will check later tonight after all the lights go off and my moonlights come on. That should be around 12:30 or so. My lights are on till about 12:00 or so. I dont get home till late so I have my photo period set so the fish can entertain me .

Glad its not the flow. I have already been through the flesh being blown off phase when I had the pH issue. Very depressing to watch as money flies right before your eyes.

Yea no red bugs in the tank . Every other acro I have I have seen the polyps extended on at some point. There is a small crap that lives in that colony. He came with the colony and looks like he wears a black Zoro mask. Not sure if he is the cause or not.

Thanks

 

[melev]

No, bandit crabs are fine. I had a feeling your lights ran later when I posted that. So you'd want to check about 1 hour after lights out.

Do your moon lights turn on, or are they on 24/7?

 

[nightOwl]

Yea thats the name of the crab. Ok I will check on that tonight. Should I make sure there is no lights on at all or just the moonlights? My moonlights run from 12:30 AM - 2:00 PM each day. My lighting schedule is

2:00 PM - VHO Super Actinics - ON
3:30 PM - T5's - ON
10:30 PM - T5's - OFF
12:00 AM - VHO Super Actinics - OFF
11:55 PM - HOB Refugium - ON
12:30 AM - Moonlights - ON
10:00 AM - HOB Refugium - OFF

Thanks,

 

[thor32766]

wow incredible detail

 

[thor32766]

wow incredible detail

 

[melev]

Try turning the moonlights on only when you need them, and let the corals sleep for a few hours in total darkness. Having the corals under 24/7 lighting of any kind is problematic, and some can even bleach from the intensity of LEDs. In this case, maybe have the moonlights on from midnight to 2am, and then off while you sleep.

 

[nightOwl]

melev,
I made the adjustments as you described. By letting them "sleep" should I notice better growth or anything like that?

thor32766,
Thanks for the compliments. I try to get a good shot every now and then. Lately I have been more focused on getting better shots.

Thanks

 

[breutus]

if you don't mind me listening in and asking,

does it matter how small your moonlights are? I just have three-half watt moon lights over a 72 gallon. I leave them on 24/7 though. I would gladly shut them off part of the night or even leave them off entirely twive a month if something that simple would make my corals happier

Lucas

By the way amazing shots! by top down box do you mean a submersible that goes part of the way in the water? I wish I had room around my lighting to do that, it would take care of my bowfront issue

 

[nightOwl]

Hey bretus,
Not sure if it matters on the size of the moonlights. I have 5 over a 90. I built it myself so i was pretty happy with the way they turned out. I ordered the LEDs in the 420 spectrum of light so it gives a pretty cool look to the tank. melev might be a better person to ask though. I like you leave mine on 24/7 until last night when I changed the schedule.

Thanks for the compliments on the shots. Like I said I have been trying harder lately.

A top-dow box basically allows you to put your camera in the water a certain depth. I found out about it looking on melev’s website. He has an article on one he made Top Down Box . I made mine by looking at his picture. Melev has a great site if you have not visited it before. I built my own canopy when I upgraded my lights. I not only have two doors that open, but I can open the top as well so it gives me pretty good access to my corals and fish.

Melev,
This morning before coming to work, I finally saw some polyp extension. The little lime green polyps were extended farther than I had ever seen. Not too sure the fish were happy being woke up from complete darkness with the red light though. I could actually see my clown fish’s eye dilating.

Thanks

 

[breutus]

Thanks alot Night owl great information! I have the day off so I know what I'm going down to my acrylic pile to build! I just have to see if I can get it around my lights. It would definitely work out my problem with the distortion of the the bowed glass.

 

[nightOwl]

breutus,
Any updates on the top down box?

 

[melev]

Dana Riddle did a presentation about lighting at MACNA a few years ago, and pointed out that corals that are in the direct path of the LED moonlights were bleached exactly where the light hit, because they never got any rest.

Allowing the tank some dark time is a normal cycle. While moonlights are neat and kind of fun, I don't know why we don't just turn them on when we need 'em and skip it the rest of the time.

Red light is pretty much invisible to livestock, but the intensity of the LED may still be something they see. I don't necessarily try to center the beam on the animal I'm observing; rather I light up that area for a short duration. Blue LEDs work as well, but they see it better than the red spectrum.

 

[nightOwl]

Thanks for the update melev. Anything that makes them happy campers is a plus for my tank. It was weird this morning going to my basement and seeing complete darkness. Whatever it was worked because the polyps were out early this morning. Are some corals more sensitive to the darkness? I guess it be a factor in where they were collected from. Further down would have more darkness in the ocean.

I thought red light was supposed to be invisible to them as well. I brought a led headset for that specific purpose. Like you said maybe its the intensity they notice. I don't plan on hitting them directly with the spot light anymore as it seemed to startle them pretty good .


Thanks

 

[melev]

From what I've observed, some corals will extend their polyps the furthest in total darkness. Odds are that is because nothing can see them to prey upon 'em. And taking pictures in a beam of flashlight can be very interesting too.

 

[nightOwl]

melev,
That is totally sweet. Are you just using a regular flashlight?

 

[melev]

Well, yes. It is a wind-it-up LED flashlight. If you can call that regular.