shorter photo period = faster growth

[RockyMtnReef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14551051#post14551051 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MarcoPolo
can I ask a dumb question? everyone is speaking abt number of hours/day? What abt height - I mean, height Vs. water level. I keep my MH 25 cm (~10 inch) above water level. Is that good, too high or too low? Will a few inches higher or lower make a big difference?

I think regardless of what bulbs you have or what reflector you use you should vary your lighting now and then and see what your corals do.

Watching your SPS closely I think is the best way to judge a tanks health. I have checked my params and temp maybe 10 times in the last year (aside from sticking a finger in the water). I think you can get too caught up in trying to make your tank grow with the exact same set up and parameters as someone else. Watch your animals and do what works right for your tank. Every single tank is different.

FYI; I switch bulbs (between 20K Radiums and 10K Reeflux) and the hight my lights are above water every few months (+/- 3" or so). I think it "keeps the corals on their toes". Frankly, I dont think it is a bad idea to play with your tank temp now and then either. I know that these corals are all captive grown for the most part but they had to have come from the ocean at some point? The changes they would see in the ocean daily are a lot more than we see in our tanks.

Check out my gallary if you are curious how this is working.

 

[Ace1]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14548080#post14548080 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by gaetanocallista
Yes, 24 hours of dark.
No problems with corals. Obviously this is possible one time only before photograph. The sps lost zooxantelle and are more bright and colored

very interesting.. never thought of zooanthelle dying off during this time which should result in more "instant" color for better pix

 

[gaetanocallista]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14555564#post14555564 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MarcoPolo
...thus is 10" is too close to water surface?

I am getting water splashes so will probably need to raise height any way

thanks for helping me

No, many reefers with lumenarc and other have 8 - 10 cm (4 inch) to water surface!
In IMHO the best height is 10 -15 cm (4 - 6 inch) to water surface

 

[Oldude]

I recently dropped my light cycle down to 6 hours and lost colour, especially my greens & reds faded big time. I am bumping it back to 9.5 hours like it was before. I am always looking for new ways but should I know better....if it ain't broke- don't fix it.

 

[Obi-dad]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14578654#post14578654 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Oldude
I recently dropped my light cycle down to 6 hours and lost colour, especially my greens & reds faded big time. I am bumping it back to 9.5 hours like it was before. I am always looking for new ways but should I know better....if it ain't broke- don't fix it.

Just curious, what lighting do you have, and what size tank?

 

[jrpdriver]

Check out my gallary if you are curious how this is working. [/B][/QUOTE]

holy star polyps batman!:eek2:

 

[RockyMtnReef]

No doubt. Thanks goodness they play nice with my SPS. I bought my Live Rock from another reefer who had PSP and GSP in his tank. I cooked the rocks for a month and they came right back like nothing had happened. Lesson learned however. Dont be a cheap skate, get good live rock without a bunch of hitchhikers.

 

[Oldude]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14578953#post14578953 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Obi-dad
Just curious, what lighting do you have, and what size tank?

My lighting is 4x 250 w hqi, 2x 150w hqi & 12x 54w T5 bulbs. My tank is 400 gal.

 

[agsansoo]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14578654#post14578654 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Oldude
I recently dropped my light cycle down to 6 hours and lost colour, especially my greens & reds faded big time. I am bumping it back to 9.5 hours like it was before. I am always looking for new ways but should I know better....if it ain't broke- don't fix it.

I'm with Oldude on this. I up my lighting cycle during this winter from 6 hours to 8 hours and notice growth increasing. Winter electricity rates are cheaper. Not sure I'm going drop my light cycle for summer now.

 

[fred fishstone]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14584241#post14584241 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by agsansoo
I'm with Oldude on this. I up my lighting cycle during this winter from 6 hours to 8 hours and notice growth increasing. Winter electricity rates are cheaper. Not sure I'm going drop my light cycle for summer now.

It seems to me that a temporary increase in growth rate can be stimulated by changing the length of the photo period (up or down) or even by the occasional "lights out" to help with algae issues.

 

[kev apsley]

it all boils down to how much light (ppfd) your corals are receiving and how high your lights are off the surface etc...I believe there has to be certain variables in place in order to get something out of reducing your photoperiod, it's not gonna work for everybody

 

[gaetanocallista]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14584789#post14584789 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kev apsley
it all boils down to how much light (ppfd) your corals are receiving and how high your lights are off the surface etc...I believe there has to be certain variables in place in order to get something out of reducing your photoperiod, it's not gonna work for everybody

This is an important point. Some variables change the results :sad2:
First is height vs water level
Second is how many watt (150, 250, 400)
Third is stability (Has the tank stable parameters?)

 

[ticocuban]

Shorter period is not working for me. I had decent red and green balance on an ORA Red Planet and it is a very dark purple/brown now. Growth seems stunted as well with several montis that were growing rapidly and now have stopped. A green acro was doing fairly well and still is but growth seems to have slowed as well. Increasing back to 10 hours Actnic and 8 hours full lights.

 

[ReefEnabler]

not meaning the nitpick, but if we are talking about PAR or ppfd, then the ppfd is whatever the ppfd is, any other factors such as lighting height do not really need to be considered since raising the lights would mean lower ppfd. in other words the information is already contained in the number.



so if you say a specific coral gets 700 µmol·m²·sec , then it doesn't really matter what watts the bulb is or how high its mounted; its getting 700 µmol·m²·sec ! the amount of par is more descriptive than the watts or height of the bulb.

if we are talking about halides, it could be 700 µmol·m²·sec from a 175w bulb mounted 1" above the water or it could be from a 400w bulb mounted 36" above the water, either way if the PAR is the same I don't see a difference.

T5s vs MH there could be more difference because of the diffused vs point source nature of the two sources. T5s will be illuminating more surface area more evenly than MH in most cases.


if you are talking about bulb height to estimate PAR since you aren't actually measuring PAR then that's different.

 

[Ace1]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14589024#post14589024 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ticocuban
Shorter period is not working for me. I had decent red and green balance on an ORA Red Planet and it is a very dark purple/brown now. Growth seems stunted as well with several montis that were growing rapidly and now have stopped. A green acro was doing fairly well and still is but growth seems to have slowed as well. Increasing back to 10 hours Actnic and 8 hours full lights.

How long have you had your photo peroid cut? 1-2 week ??

With a 6.5 hr photo period
My ORA red planet has bright growth tips and the greens and reds are good, it has been reported by many that the ORA red planet will lose colour under tooo much light so if it too high then thats normally the cause, just ask around on this one appearently it happens all too frequent, dont think that has anything to do with a short photo period.

 

[BangkokMatt]

Well, I am 10 days into shortening my photoperiod from 9 1/2 hours to 7 hours. 4 of my sps have had amazing growth spurts. Unbelievable really. I can't say that color has improved a great deal but time will tell (it has only been 10 days).

I just wonder whether this is an initial reaction or if it will be sustained over time. So far...I am VERY happy.

 

[ticocuban]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14590332#post14590332 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Ace1
How long have you had your photo peroid cut? 1-2 week ??

With a 6.5 hr photo period
My ORA red planet has bright growth tips and the greens and reds are good, it has been reported by many that the ORA red planet will lose colour under tooo much light so if it too high then thats normally the cause, just ask around on this one appearently it happens all too frequent, dont think that has anything to do with a short photo period.

2 weeks. The only other change is I began dosing brightwells coralamino. If anything I would have thought that would have helped growth. I have no growth and colors aren't as vibrant.

 

[Ace1]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14594639#post14594639 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ticocuban
2 weeks. The only other change is I began dosing brightwells coralamino. If anything I would have thought that would have helped growth. I have no growth and colors aren't as vibrant.

Yea i think every tank is different but i would give it more time before trying a different
time cycle.

I seen results at photoperoids of 6.5-7 hours, you to have find what works for your system.

 

[kmacartney]

I don't remember if I read it here or some where else but the main theory behind restricting the photoperiod is that coral basically take in energy from light for so long. How does this relate to how strong or intense the light is? Can you have more intense light for less time? Does that matter?

 

[stlrams88]

I took out my moonlights and since I did that I have notices more rapid growth, especially on my millis and digis, but at the same time I started really keeping on top of my CA and ALK, and also started dosing Mag. Could just be a coincidence