PaulKreider
Valuable Member
Im really tempted to go cut up some egg crate in the garage real quick and check this out......
Dappled Light Theory
- Thread starter Akwarius
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icemountain
Well-Known Member
Interesting...might give it a try on my 6'. Cover up half and leave the other half as is.
I, however, have the opposite effect with my zoas and palys. I have optics on my led fixtures now and its pretty intense with the optics. I took the optics off for a month 2 different times to experiment if the better spread and lower par would make my zoas better in colors and in growth but it was the opposite. My zoas and palys started to become very dull with the optics off. I put the optics back on again and things started to color up much better. I guess my stock is used to the high light
I will definitely give this a try though.
I, however, have the opposite effect with my zoas and palys. I have optics on my led fixtures now and its pretty intense with the optics. I took the optics off for a month 2 different times to experiment if the better spread and lower par would make my zoas better in colors and in growth but it was the opposite. My zoas and palys started to become very dull with the optics off. I put the optics back on again and things started to color up much better. I guess my stock is used to the high light
I will definitely give this a try though.
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Tenor
Well-Known Member
They need at least a couple of months to acclimate after you removed the optics. And also your eyes need to acclimate to new light setting.Interesting...might give it a try on my 6'. Cover up half and leave the other half as is.
I, however, have the opposite effect with my zoas and palys. I have optics on my led fixtures now and its pretty intense with the optics. I took the optics off for a month 2 different times to experiment if the better spread and lower par would make my zoas better in colors and in growth but it was the opposite. My zoas and palys started to become very dull with the optics off. I put the optics back on again and things started to color up much better. I guess my stock is used to the high light
icemountain
Well-Known Member
So they will get dull first before they color back up after lowering the par? That doesn't make sense to me.
joshporksandwich
Zoa addict
Very interesting. I replaced my halides with leds and I have them 30" above the water because they're a lot stronger. Trying to replicate nature is super awesome I used to have a tank in my backyard that would get 4 hours of direct sunlight and everything that was hurt or about to melt on my tank I would put there and It would do great most of the time. You can tell when you find the right spot for a coral based on growth. Thanks, It sounds very cool keep us informed and lots of pictures please.
OP
OP
Akwarius
2500 Club Member
I didnt mean to drudge up a debate about led vs t5, but you raise some interesting questions. We all know that zoas do well under halides, which is a single-point light source, similar to an led cannon. By that logic, why would zoas adapt more easily to t5's which have a more artificial "light-box" appearance? The way I see it, t5's must be more forgiving, providing a larger "safe range" for zoas. For example, you can have a four bulb fixture or a ten bulb fixture over the same tank, and the zoa frag will probably be able to adapt to either situation over time. LEDs have a smaller range of safe output, and dialing in the sweet spot is much more challenging. It's really easy to over-light, and even possible to under-light with the same fixture. Those with non-dimmable fixtures are almost doomed for failure unless the hobbyist happens to buy the perfect fixture for the tank size and put the corals in just the right spot. Even with par meters a lot of guess work is involved.
Interesting...might give it a try on my 6'. Cover up half and leave the other half as is.
I, however, have the opposite effect with my zoas and palys. I have optics on my led fixtures now and its pretty intense with the optics. I took the optics off for a month 2 different times to experiment if the better spread and lower par would make my zoas better in colors and in growth but it was the opposite. My zoas and palys started to become very dull with the optics off. I put the optics back on again and things started to color up much better. I guess my stock is used to the high light
Great idea! Its easy to experiment with and you wont be out any money. I would start with covering a smaller area than half the tank, preferably over your less valuable zoas. Even better if you have two identical frags of the same morph to compare.
By the way, Im not suggesting to reduce the intensity of the leds by removing optics. If this theory is true, then optics are a good thing, but only if that concentrated light is scattered rather than beating down in the same spot. Thats where the screen comes in.
Unless your zoas are severely under-lit, they shouldn't change color that much. Removing blue and uv from the light spectrum would do this. In my system, if a zoa starts to stretch more than about 1/2", then I move it into more light. There are some exceptions though- mohawks and pink+golds look like garbage under all but the brightest light.
I also have my radions 30" above the water surface, which is way higher than you would expect, especially if youre following ecotechs par charts. Hmm...a couple of hours of natural light per day would do my zoas a lot of good. I would be afraid of excessive invasive algae with a backyard tank. How did you deal with it?
KoleTang
Valuable Member
Very clever idea Travis!
I think corals from shallower water (<15') will be affected by this more than corals from any deeper. Once your down 30, 40, 50 feet you don't see a whole lot of the dappling or shimmer. (I've been down there.
) Although, it may be refracted more or something after going through all of that water. Who knows, but this is perfect for Zoas since a lot of them come from much shallower areas and I'll be following along for sure!
I think corals from shallower water (<15') will be affected by this more than corals from any deeper. Once your down 30, 40, 50 feet you don't see a whole lot of the dappling or shimmer. (I've been down there.
) Although, it may be refracted more or something after going through all of that water. Who knows, but this is perfect for Zoas since a lot of them come from much shallower areas and I'll be following along for sure!
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joshporksandwich
Zoa addict
I had a lot of hermits and snails but the superstars were the stomatellas that thought of that tank as a spring break destination. I used to give them away to local reefers because at night I would see hundreds. I started that tank to grow locally collected pods to feed my tank and It was crazy seeing the life on it. I used to sit with my son there for hours with a loupe and a flashlight at night. It was a 30gal but when I had a fire in my house lost power for a few weeks and the clam I had there that doubled in size after 6 months died and messed everything up. A lot of people tell me to start it up again but I'm too lazy.
Tenor
Well-Known Member
That's true zoas will do well under halides but their "sweet spot" will be away from the light source, I mean the light come out from the reflector rather than direct light. They will do really well if we place it 6" or more off to the light source and also depend on the tank depth for 150, 250 or 400w. Zoas will not do well or will burnt if it goes direct under the light.
T5 is more forgiving for zoas because it isn't point light source, larger sweet spot for zoas because of it weak light source but more even light. T5 will do well in any tank up to 18" deep but failed me anytime on 24" tank (zoas place on sandbed). I think the 4 or more bulbs fixtures are designed for the width of the tank rather than the tank depth.
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Thanks for the photos!
icemountain
Well-Known Member
That looks amazing! BTW, I just tried to do the effect you made and I couldn't get it to work. I have my leds about 10" from water surface and I have good agitation from my 2 mp40s. Its not crazy agitation but its not still water either. I didn't really notice a difference with the egg crate. Am I doing something wrong? I plugged in a bunch of holes like you did with some small shipping foam.
OP
OP
Akwarius
2500 Club Member
brandon85, you had to come along with your perfect zoas and throw a wrench into my theory, lol!
Unfortunately, my t5 setup wasnt as successful. About 1/2 of my zoas loved it, and the others wasted away. There may have been other factors contributing to their demise though.
In reef keeping, we are always looking for shortcuts and easy answers. Im certainly not claiming to have any magic bullet that will work for everyone, but if you have LEDs, particularly with optics, its something interesting to consider.
Pictures can be misleading. Folks who frequent the forums (and I've been guilty of this) will see a nice picture and wonder what the "X" factor is that makes the coral thrive. We go out and buy "X", then wonder why our coral doesnt look as good. What theyre not always telling you is the array of other factors that contributed to the coral's health.
Unfortunately, my t5 setup wasnt as successful. About 1/2 of my zoas loved it, and the others wasted away. There may have been other factors contributing to their demise though.
In reef keeping, we are always looking for shortcuts and easy answers. Im certainly not claiming to have any magic bullet that will work for everyone, but if you have LEDs, particularly with optics, its something interesting to consider.
Pictures can be misleading. Folks who frequent the forums (and I've been guilty of this) will see a nice picture and wonder what the "X" factor is that makes the coral thrive. We go out and buy "X", then wonder why our coral doesnt look as good. What theyre not always telling you is the array of other factors that contributed to the coral's health.
icemountain
Well-Known Member
I am using optics. I have the 120 degree optic lens on it. Its not diffused completely like it would if I took them off.
