shorter photo period = faster growth

[Reef Stallion]

Wow! :eek1:
That's a 75G tank? It looks great. That landscape designing really comes in handy in "Reefscape designing."

 

[macreefster]

thanks stallion! my reef is my underwater garden. for some reason my tank photographs bigger than it is. it's 3'x2'x 20".

 

[JDigital]

Well I am going to try this theory on my 75G tank. I will take some shots later today of a couple piece of "test" coral while they are still on my old schedule. I think I will use 3 different pieces to watch over the course of 4-6 weeks.

Previous Lighting Cycle:

MH - Ushio 14K : 2-11pm Mon-Sun
T5's - Gmann Actinic+/True Actinic : 12pm-1am Mon-Sun (T5's only added last week)

I have gotten what I think is good growth up till now... Average at least IMO.


New Lighting Cycle (as of March 23):

MH - Ushio 14K : 3pm-10pm Mon-Fri
MH - Ushio 14K : 5pm-11pm Sat-Sun

T5's - Gmann Actinic+/True Actinic : 2pm-12am Mon-Fri
T5's - Gmann Actinic+/True Actinic : 4pm-12am Sat-Sun


Let you guys know how it goes.

 

[gaetanocallista]

yesterday I cut back photoperiod from 8 H to 6H (actinics 2 hours before and after the halides)

 

[robot2222]

i think if you shorten photo period and increase gradually will be the best . like in nature when it aproaches equinox the longest photoperiod.

 

[ReefEnabler]

kmacartney, not much luck posting today???

 

[kmacartney]

I guess so...

Anyway I was just going to suggest that daylight hours do not vary that much in tropical regions like they do at higher latitudes.

 

[basser1]

O.K. gang, it's been a couple of weeks since anyone has posted any updates, anyone have any?

As for me, after reading this thread, I decided to shorten my photoperiod. I went from 10 hrs of MH to 6 hrs. After a couple of days, I noticed a definite improvement in polyp extension and the colors, especially the blues, seemed darker. So far, I'm pleased with what I'm seeing!

 

[Harley-J]

Major growth spurts...the best coloring and growth I have had so far...I will try and take pics...

 

[kev apsley]

definite growth spurts and color improvement...definitely a good move on my behalf!

 

[Reefun]

I'm getting better color but cant tell if I'm getting better growth yet.
My red planet is looking better than it ever has before.

 

[kmacartney]

Better color and better growth for me.

 

[murfman]

What I have noticed is that corals like Zoas want a lot more light than my SPS. They literally reach for the front glass, trying to get sunlight, till the 400s come on.

 

[scribble]

I have played around a lot with my photoperiod in the past and also found that when I first go to a shorter photoperiod the corals look much happier, better colors, polyp extension and growth. But after a few month they start to brown and growth slows. I’m thinking it’s a cyclical thing like someone stated earlier in the thread. Maybe its some sort of reaction to what the corals think is a change in seasons. Maybe what would work best is a cyclical ramping up and down of the photo period.

 

[kb27973]

Well I have been convinced. I'm going to lower my photo period by a couple of hours.

You guys with the Hanna meters you mean P04 = .01 and .02 and not .001/.002 right?

Ken

 

[panic]

I was at 8 and dropped to 7 about 6 mo ago when I changed bulbs, and down to 6 hours a day around when this thread started. I have been leaving the lights off one day per week totally except for ambient light indirectly from a south window. I definitely don't see any better growth, maybe less. What I do see it better color - meaning more color variation from base to tip, and some better PE in a few of my sps that have always had stubby little polyps. Some of my sps that had whitish tips now have a sky blue tip, which is awesome, ie. tenuis, licorice loripes, skittles mille, grapejuice

 

[kmacartney]

Colorwise, my acros look better while my branching montiporas look duller.

 

[Reefun]

Some of my corals have more color and my montiporas are showing much better growth.

 

[RedTC]

I have read through the whole thread and was wondering if anyone has or can post before and after photos. I decided that I would give this a shot so I changed the hours yesterday and did a full set of photos today. I figure every ten days or so I will take a set and see what happens.

 

[fernandokng]

Great Theory! That's what happens on my end, since I'm never home all day, I just want to look at the tank at night.

Dilemma!

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14527744#post14527744 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ReefEnabler
very interesting thoughts.

Would be really awesome if somebody like Dana Riddle did an extensive study on this with various controls, like changing duration of both intense lighting AND ambient lighing.

Alot of people seem to run their MH lights closer to night time. What this means is that during the day when the MH is off, the room might still be getting a fair amount of ambient light. I wonder how this affects things. If the MH are turning off after midnight, the tank might not be getting nearly as much "darkness" as a natural reef.