Info on sawtooth or zigzag light pattern?

RamsReef

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I've seen it used and mentioned here and there but no research or articles. Can anyone provide more info? /\/\/\/\
 
No like the UV and Blue channel ramping up and down every couple hours by 20% or so. I've had a heck of a time finding info on it.
 
I saw that article too. Really interesting. The stuff people come up with...

I just finished reading one of the 16 page threads on people who dose stump killer into their tanks.

Anyway, no....I don’t have it. But I’ll be following.
 
The zig-zag lighting pattern is based, as best I can tell, on a misunderstanding of dynamic photo-inhibition. Dynamic photo-inhibition (DP) is a natural process where protective xanthophylls (diadinoxanthin and diatoxanthin in zooxanthellae) absorb blue light and shunt it away from photosynthesis - in other words, it is a pressure relief value when corals are exposed to too much light. On natural reefs, DP kicks in as early as 9 am when light intensity exceeds the amount needed for a maximum rate of photosynthesis. Hence, the rate of photosynthesis begins to slow and prevents damage to the zoox/coral. In the afternoon, as the amount of light begins to drop, and the amount of light needed for max photosynthesis is not exceeded, the pressure relief valve is no longer needed.
I think some believe the ramping up and down of light is some how needed and beneficial. Granted, there could be situations where an aquarist is blasting corals with light intensities approaching natural sunlight and a reductions in light would be beneficial. But I think this would be the exception, and not the rule.
 
That's what I figured but in caveman terms.

I was looking to see if it had any validity behind it. Thanks Dana.
 
I had a discussion with the creator of a zigzag led program for one of the major brand of led which gets very popular. It turned out that the creator of this zigzag program misunderstood the basic science of how data were collected and analyzed. Well, it sticks on.
 
How legends are born lol.
Agreed. I think it was Ron Shimek who coined the term 'myth-information' for the hobby. Techniques (such as the zig-zag lighting pattern) fall into the flavor of the hour/day/month (your choice.)
 
It can be called fake science, and it is still going on.
 

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