Color/Growth Heres how I do it, How can I do it better?

[Reef Pets]

Interesting. I never thought of my tank as under lit. Would love to hear some other thoughts on this. You say atleast 10 hours, how long are you running your lights and what lights?

Your lighting is adequate for your reef but I think that 7 hours is not nearly long enough. Most people will suggest a 12 hour light cycle just as swannyson7 posted. I do not use any type of actinics therefore I cut the dusk to dawn effect out and run 10 hours of full light per day. I use 400 W metal halides.
I think you would notice a HUGE difference if you run your lighting at least 10 hours per day. If you have separate cords and can run your T5's 12 hours a day would be best. For example, have your blue bulbs come on at 9am then all bulbs on at 10am. At 8pm turn off all bulbs except your blues and all lights off at 9pm. If you have two cords that control your light this can be accomplished by using two separate timers.

 

[Aquaph8]

Thanks for the tips reefpets. I used to run a longer light cycle but cut it back when I bought my current fixture cause I was scared of torching everything. I'll slowly bring it up and report back. I have 3 cords with 4 bulbs on each cord. I can use my RKL to time it out. If any of you guys feel like posting pics, please do so. Id also love to continue this light disscussion if anyone has any more to include.

 

[Aquaph8]

What about flow rates? How much does flow have to do with color and growth? What do you do for flow, lighting, dosing. Please share, pics are great too.

 

[Aquaph8]

Here are some pics of what Im working with. Maybe you guys can give me some tips on certain corals. Most troublesome being blues. Blue Hoek, Steve Elias stag, palmers blue milli etc....... The torts all seem to do really well though.

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Here is where my biggest issue is. The top left coral is an Steve Elias stag and it always looks kinda brown as apposed to blue.

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[Alpha Aquaculture]

Interesting. I never thought of my tank as under lit. Would love to hear some other thoughts on this. You say atleast 10 hours, how long are you running your lights and what lights?

Do you remember Steve, I-Kandy? He was running his lights for a very short photoperiod, shorter than yours, and had a ton of success with LPS like chalices. We run our lights for about 10 hours a day with 2 hours or so of actinics dawn/dusk before and after.

Do you grow macro algae? If so what photoperiod are you growing them under and what types?

Your lighting is adequate for your reef but I think that 7 hours is not nearly long enough. Most people will suggest a 12 hour light cycle just as swannyson7 posted. I do not use any type of actinics therefore I cut the dusk to dawn effect out and run 10 hours of full light per day. I use 400 W metal halides.
I think you would notice a HUGE difference if you run your lighting at least 10 hours per day. If you have separate cords and can run your T5's 12 hours a day would be best. For example, have your blue bulbs come on at 9am then all bulbs on at 10am. At 8pm turn off all bulbs except your blues and all lights off at 9pm. If you have two cords that control your light this can be accomplished by using two separate timers.

I was speaking with another local reefer friend of mine a few weeks ago and he mentioned noticing that his corals (he has a ridiculous collection) looked stressed whenever the lighting changed to this dawn/dusk period. He hypothesized eliminating this period to minimize this stress. We discussed whether the stress would still be there with the now more drastic full lighting to complete darkness. We also discussed the idea of using dimmable lighting so instead of a bam! no lights, its a gradual thing mimicing nature better. How do your corals look after the full lighting to no lighting transition?

 

[Aquaph8]

Do you remember Steve, I-Kandy? He was running his lights for a very short photoperiod, shorter than yours, and had a ton of success with LPS like chalices. We run our lights for about 10 hours a day with 2 hours or so of actinics dawn/dusk before and after.

No I dont remember him other than corals that are named after him. Seems like 10 hours is the norm. What lights are you running?

Do you grow macro algae? If so what photoperiod are you growing them under and what types?

Only Chaeto under a CFL but it doesn't grow very fast. Its on a reverse cycle from the main tank.

Here's a few shots of the underside.
The front section in front of the return pump where you see all the cord is my little fuge.

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I was speaking with another local reefer friend of mine a few weeks ago and he mentioned noticing that his corals (he has a ridiculous collection) looked stressed whenever the lighting changed to this dawn/dusk period. He hypothesized eliminating this period to minimize this stress. We discussed whether the stress would still be there with the now more drastic full lighting to complete darkness. We also discussed the idea of using dimmable lighting so instead of a bam! no lights, its a gradual thing mimicing nature better. How do your corals look after the full lighting to no lighting transition?

I used to do a dawn/ dusk period but never saw any difference. Ive never noticed any obvious stress. I also used to run moon lights and didn't see any bennifits to them. Corals look the same and my fish still spawn on occasion.

 

[Aquaph8]

Thoughts on Carbon dosing?

 

[Aquaph8]

Who feeds their Corals and what do you feed?

 

[shred5]

Your temps are fine. Higher temps can actually speed growth.

As for photo period a friend of mine used a 6 hr photoperiod on his t-5 tank and had really good color. As lights get more intense photo periods will come down.

Flow can affect growth and growth pattern. Faster flow can actually slow growth because corals in stronger flow have to lay down more calcium to make them selves stronger. Stronger flow will create a more dense colony and less flow a more stragly, thin colony.


Again I think most of the problems are because people are keeping and mixing such a wide range of corals there really is no real right answer. Some corals like lots of light and some less, Some like lots of flow and some very little, Some corals come from reefs with higher temps and some with lower. There is really no right answer. Each person has such different reefs and what works for one person may not work for the next. It is really hard for people really to say why they are succesfull, they atribute it to lighting when it could be something totally different.

Nothing can compair more to great husbandry.

Dave Polzin

 

[VegasRick]

I think the dust to dawn and moonlight are more for our benefit, longer viewing times. I use the sunrise/sunset timing on the APEX and add 1/2 hour on each end for the actinics vho. second set of vho come on at exactly the times. Then MH staggered one hour after each other. Think each MH is on for about 7 hours each. Now I have some leds on one end of the tank for the corals who couldn't handle the 400w MH.
Your corals seem ok to me. Stability, patience and observation

 

[shred5]

I think the dust to dawn and moonlight are more for our benefit, longer viewing times.

I tend to agree with this. There is no proof that dusk to dawn makes any difference on corals, but there is on fish. Lights coming ON full intensity can startle fish. I have to think it might have some affect on a corals. Imagine going from 0 to 100 percent photosynthesis. Imagine Instant food and oxygen for the coral to have to deal with. It may not affect growth or color but to me it should have some affect on the coral. But then again unless you are using a dimmer on your lights it is still a big jump in light.


Moon lighting I also agree are more for our benefit but most people use to much.. Corals need a rest period and I see way to many tanks with way to much moon lighting and leds directly aimed at the tank. Moon lighting is supposed to be a soft glow. Moonlighting should be used indirectly.

Dave Polzin

 

[shred5]

Another thing I have found that can reduces color and growth is mixed tanks, softies and sps. The amount of impact really depends on the amount of soft corals to the size of the tank and if you take measures to reduce the chemicals. It is believed polyfilters and carbon can help reduce the chemicals in the water. Different types of algae in the fuge or tank can also have the same affect.

Dave Polzin

 

[myzislow]

Your temps are fine. Higher temps can actually speed growth.

As for photo period a friend of mine used a 6 hr photoperiod on his t-5 tank and had really good color. As lights get more intense photo periods will come down.

Flow can affect growth and growth pattern. Faster flow can actually slow growth because corals in stronger flow have to lay down more calcium to make them selves stronger. Stronger flow will create a more dense colony and less flow a more stragly, thin colony.


Again I think most of the problems are because people are keeping and mixing such a wide range of corals there really is no real right answer. Some corals like lots of light and some less, Some like lots of flow and some very little, Some corals come from reefs with higher temps and some with lower. There is really no right answer. Each person has such different reefs and what works for one person may not work for the next. It is really hard for people really to say why they are succesfull, they atribute it to lighting when it could be something totally different.

Nothing can compair more to great husbandry.

Dave Polzin

+1 Very well said man.

I run my tank at peak intensity, with the MH on for a period of 5 hours, from 4pm to 9 pm. My four 24w T5s stay on for 10 hours, from 1 pm to 11 pm. My growth and colors are pretty good, especially considering how bad of shape most of my SPS were in. To be honest, I attribute most of my success over the years to diligent maintenance and doing my best in keeping my parameters stable. In my experience running long photo periods of peak intensity really isn't needed for good growth and coloration. The added savings in energy consumption, combined with less heat and thus less algae growth are just a few pluses to a shorter photo period as well.

 

[Aquaph8]

Thanks for sharing everyone, Im gonna stick with my photo period for now and see how it goes. My tank is still really young and Im seeing good things so far. Im pretty happy with my colors in most but I do have a couple that I have issues with if anybody has any tips. The corals I seem to have issues with are the Steve Elias stag and Blue Hoek. It seems that blues are the hardest for me.

 

[Gamble]

I have a friend that has unbelievable colors in all of his sps, and his photo period is pretty short (5 hours or less). He always tells me that the corals can only use so much light before they need to recover, and that in the ocean, the sun only penetrates the water's surface for a couple hours in the middle of the day, and then reflects off the surface. He also gets great growth out of everything, even with the short time the halides are on. He does run actinics for a good part of the day for his own enjoyment.

 

[myzislow]

I have a friend that has unbelievable colors in all of his sps, and his photo period is pretty short (5 hours or less). He always tells me that the corals can only use so much light before they need to recover, and that in the ocean, the sun only penetrates the water's surface for a couple hours in the middle of the day, and then reflects off the surface. He also gets great growth out of everything, even with the short time the halides are on. He does run actinics for a good part of the day for his own enjoyment.

^^^Pretty much this!!!

 

[splitkooks]

I cant grow sps, so you win lol