Light ramping no benefit?

[Reefs anonymous]

It’s a hoax. I turn mine on/off. No ramp and everything looks great. Fish gets used to it. Just like if you use an auto feeder, fish know when to expect the next food drop.

 

[ReefJunky]

Years ago when I had 12 to 15 crocea clams (various colors and patterns) I don't remember the corals being very colorful. The crocea clams were gorgeous, but the corals had more of a brown hue. After about 18+ years the clams slowly died and after the last was gone I switched over to T5 lighting. I have ATI dimmable fixtures with 8 bulbs and use 6 ATI Blue+ and 2 ATI actinic bulbs. It's blue but not the Windex blue that you'd think it would be. I have LPS corals, a few mushrooms, one WWC bounce that has split on its own, some leather corals, and a blue ridge coral that was a hitchhiker. To me, I think the corals, both soft and hard, have colored up a lot more since I have programmed the lights to simulate the suns intensity over the day. Since I think the amount of reflected sunlight according to the angle of incident light is important as is the amount of UV the light bulb mix changes. First two ATI blue+ bulbs turn on at 10% and ramp up to 91%. Then they turn off. The second set 4 blue+ and 2 actinics turn on at 33% then ramp up to 60%. They are only at max intensity for 20 minutes then the lights ramp down and finush off the day with the two blue+ bulbs. My corals are happy and thriving with this lighting and schedule. I used to only ramp up to 60% intensity and keep it there for the day with a ramp down before the lights turn off. My corals are doing great and they're growing. Given the success I'm seeing I'll keep my lighting as it is. I think there is definitely a benefit to simulating a dawn to dusk light cycle and having more actinic during the central portion of the day.

 

[Jeffcb]

Get a snorkel and a mask. Flop around out on some reef some day. That's how it is for them. The sun comes up and the sun goes down, clouds and rain. Wear a t shirt because your back will get burn otherwise. That's how it is for corals!

 

[A. grandis]

What?!?! How come so many people are visiting this thread right now?
WOW!

No need ramping your lights, people! No need!! LOL!

 

[Squidmotron]

I ramp lights up and down because it benefits me. I get to see different looks throughout the day.

 

[A. grandis]

I ramp lights up and down because it benefits me. I get to see different looks throughout the day.

Just make sure you have the part that actually benefits your corals is included in the lighting over your reef then. LOL!

 

[Tjm23slo]

I posted on a Facebook group on Sunday/Monday that I just hung 2 orpheks over my tank and replaced the Viparspectras. Viparspectra were instant on, blue or white and no adjustments. Orpheks have ramp, clouds and 4 channels that can fluctuate during the day.

I mentioned that 2 days into the new lighting I thought my corals were extending their polyps more. I thought well maybe it waybthe Orphek vs Viparspectra. I am now thinking that the ramp time vs instant tanning bed might have something to do with it. Thanks for making the post. I need to keep looking at this . Yes it is anecdotal. But I noticed and didn’t even think about the ramp

 

[rossco]

I saw no harm or benefit when I ran Metal Halides. They go from off to full tilt in 30 seconds.

I ended up running actinics for a period of time before and after just so I could view the corals longer. I still do that today, again so I can view the corals longer.

 

[A. grandis]

The biggest problem is to attribute "ramping lights" to any good or bad thing happening. It does not make any difference for corals, really.

 

[Jeffcb]

The biggest problem is to attribute "ramping lights" to any good or bad thing happening. It does not make any difference for corals, really.

Maybe, maybe mot.

 

[Trever]

Red Sea and other sources claim that corals can only use about 3 hours of light a day. If that's true, the benefit to my mind of ramping up and down is that the tank is lit throughout the day but not overly lit- max intensity is only for ~3 hours and falls away pretty quickly before and after that.

 

[Thales]

I saw no harm or benefit when I ran Metal Halides. They go from off to full tilt in 30 seconds.

I ended up running actinics for a period of time before and after just so I could view the corals longer. I still do that today, again so I can view the corals longer.

That MH ramping time seemed to be plenty of ramp up for fish in my care not to freak out

 

[afqu]

I only have shrooms, a few zoas, a frogspawn, and a small cluster of Duncans. I have a 2 hour ramp up and 2 hour down. My corals are all starting the closing up about an hour to hour and a half prior to my ramp down. Don't know if it matters, but they do start to prepare for night.

 

[vanpire]

Interesting subject. I have two tanks. One with semi ramping and one without.

Both tanks, fish are awake before the first tank lights come on as the sun is up and the house is pretty bright in the morning, even now in the winter. Fish will still eat immediately after the lights are off but will "go to bed" within an hour, except for the copperband butterfly.

Tank one: only T5s come on for a few hours. Then halides for 5 hours and then T5s only for three more hours. Halides are only on for 5 hours because I was testing for light inhibition, and if shorter time with high light intensity might be better for growth. At least in my case, this doesn't seem to be the case but then max intensity is only 450 pars for SPS. Tank is only up for about three months though so continuing to run and see.

Tank two: Halides come on in about 1 to 2 minutes and lasts a whole day. It takes about 1 minute on the new ballasts and about 2 minutes on the older ballasts for the halide bulbs to fully fire up. Shuts off immediately in the evening but there is still ambient room light.

I can't tell the difference for the fish. Tank one, SPS and Zoas are not growing as fast, but LPS are growing faster and seem more healthy. SPS and Zoas are definitely growing better in tank two. This could be due to higher light intensity is and/or tank is more mature.

It could be that I have ambient room light before and after the lights come on so the fish and corals have ramps indirectly. But I do not see any real differences due to ramping.

I also have a copperband, and I have never seen that fish sleep. I can wake up in the middle of the night and turn on the room light and it will be swimming around.

 

[Steve9333]

I think ramping up and down is a great idea as I can run my lights for 12 hours with only 4 at 100% intensity. Isn’t that kinda how the sun works?

 

[A. grandis]

The question is if the corals care. They don't.

 

[chris_pull]

I’ve been wondering about this myself. I’ve been using ramping options as I just like it, but a few things I wondered about that I don’t think anyone else has mentioned:

- ramp up and ramp down means you can have your lights on for longer, without worrying so much about algae/coral bleaching
- As above, algae is possibly less of an issue
- There’s possibly less of a risk of burning corals, especially new ones to the system, as they’re not blasted with light 8 hours of intense light straight away.

 

[atoll]

The question is if the corals care. They don't.

Yep that was my question lol.
However so far all we don't have anything but opposite experience so far and nothing scientific. I would have thought some research would or should be done.
I was always told corals derive no benefit from ramping of light but have never seen any real proof of it.

 

[Mark Novack]

Its an interesting subject. So many variables. On a reef there is dusk, dawn, low and high sun angle, sun movement shading, and water surface refraction that changes with the surface action. Then there are tropical storms with thick cumulus clouds giving low UV penetration that last for days. It would seem that variable lighting better replicates nature. How to use it best? I don't know. I ramp up for 4 hours, steady for 4 hours, and down for 4 hours. I do this only because it seems to relate to my Maldives experience where I tried to observe every detail from sun, surf, depth, rock shade, cloud cover, restaurants and Shirley Page massage packages.

Those Shirley Page massages are given in an over water villa with a glass floor so you don't miss a thing. Fish, sharks, octopuses all around to keep you awake while madam turns you into gelatin.

 

[A. grandis]

Yep that was my question lol.
However so far all we don't have anything but opposite experience so far and nothing scientific. I would have thought some research would or should be done.
I was always told corals derive no benefit from ramping of light but have never seen any real proof of it.

Corals simply adapt as much as they can to most light situations within the pattern we offer in captivity and they simply get used to what is available cause they have no choice.
NOW...
Changes will entail in different results, regardless of what we wish. Short term results are very noticeable, and that is what people report.
Is polyp extension a good reward in any situation?
What about tissue extension?
I don't think we should be too worried about the subject of ramping. It's totally unnecessary.
The health of corals in captivity will depend on proper nutrition (including optimal lighting), water movement and water parameters. That is what we should worry about. Instead, more and more people are offering absurd spectrum, intensity and photoperiod using less than optimal artificial lighting conditions to their captive corals in an unstable manner. People don't have nature as a guide anymore, but look for their pleasures sicking fluorescent protein under reflective blue diodes and PAR numbers as the ultimate guide for "coral health" (?). What a shame!
Stores and Youtube channels are preaching such thing and the market now is flooded with less than acceptable fixtures. Poor coverage, poor spectrum, cheaply made lighting systems for an arm and a leg!?!? This is the reality of our hobby today. And people think that should be the norm just because the market says!?! Time to wake up.
Oh well...