Canary in the tank coral?

[AdamNC]

Is a Red Planet a good canary coral to indicate your lights are too bright? No access to a par meter but my iPhone lux meter app reads 61.5k lux at 2 inches above the surface of the water with a piece of white paper for reading. When I had this same colony in a deeper tank with a different light at a little bit deeper depth with the lux reading about 52k it had a full bright green base. Now it’s all but pink and red with just a hint of green.

 

[Crabs McJones]

I'm not a lux expert by any stretch of the imagination, but my understanding is to take the lux number, and divide it by a constant (usually anywhere from 50-70, that is chosen based off which lighting you're using) @Dana Riddle may be able to help.

 

[Dana Riddle]

Is a Red Planet a good canary coral to indicate your lights are too bright? No access to a par meter but my iPhone lux meter app reads 61.5k lux at 2 inches above the surface of the water with a piece of white paper for reading. When I had this same colony in a deeper tank with a different light at a little bit deeper depth with the lux reading about 52k it had a full bright green base. Now it’s all but pink and red with just a hint of green.

What lighting are you using? LED (brand or royal blue, blue, etc.?), metal halide (kelvin?). T5 (brand?) Is the Red Planet fluorescent (glows under violet/blue light) or non-fluorescent (drab under violet/blue?)

 

[Dana Riddle]

Generally, orange & red *fluorescence* is an indicator that the coral lived in a deeper environment.

 

[AdamNC]

What lighting are you using? LED (brand or royal blue, blue, etc.?), metal halide (kelvin?). T5 (brand?) Is the Red Planet fluorescent (glows under violet/blue light) or non-fluorescent (drab under violet/blue?)

I was using the Maxspect R420R 160watt 16k on a standard 29 gallon. Now I’m using the Maxspect R5X R5-150 on a 40 breeder. Under the new light it doesn’t glow like the old light. The green base used to be real bright and stand out against the red tips and polyps.

In the new tank, upper left on the big rock.

In the old tank on a rack, not quite the best pic. iPhone pic.

 

[AdamNC]

Also I lowered the lux down to 54k.

 

[ncaldwell]

I use a red planet as well. Lfs in town has a 1ft colony so frags are cheap and different colors depending where you frag from. Good canary for me so far

 

[Dana Riddle]

I have to guess at the lux to PAR conversion, but we're looking at a PAR value of at least 800-900. You'll lose about 10% due to the water surface reflecting light (if it isn't agitated.) Other than that, I can't really tell how much light your coral is receiving. I'm assuming the coral is fluorescent - if so, it is likely absorbing violet/blue light and fluorescing it in red wavelengths to enhance photosynthesis - a classic example of a deep water coral.

 

[DEWreefing]

I have 2 red planets in my tank one gets about 650 par mostly red, orange, and pink with a light hint of green at base. The second fell of its rock and encrusted the floor it gets about 120 par it is all GREEN with red polyps.

 

[Dana Riddle]

Here's PAR data I made while in Hawaii (Honaunau, Big Island.) These were taken at noon on a cloudless July day at noon. This is some of the clearest ocean water in the world (probably Jerlov Type I Oceanic.) Note that what we might consider high intensity light is that seen at about 40 feet.

 

[DesertReefT4r]

Red Planet is known to be a red to pink with no green under intense lighting. Under lower light it gets a green base and red tips.