Lighting and Coral Growth

[McGene]

I have a very old light as noted in the attached file.

​

I have it on my JBJ45 and so far things are growing well (not fast but steady). Most of my corals are softies with one bird's nest that is doing well -- I had two but one didn't make it.

I've been playing with the settings and trying to run a bit more blue. I was wondering if that spectrum of light supports coral growth? The two "whites" are 6500K and 10,000K (I think).

Thanks for your thoughts.
-gene

 

[blasterman]

108 watts of Cree XT-E LEDs is hardly old or obsolete. That light will easily smash any of the 160watt black boxes based on 2watt chinese LEDs.

I doubt that light is limited on a 45 JBL.

Birdsnest corals are some of the most under stated / fussiest SPS corals there are and in my experience with them not as light demanding as acropora or digipora. This is also my personal experience, but every birdsnest I've owned was fussy about nutrients being too low and alk not being stable. Far more fickle than half a dozen acros I have; slimer, blue stag, etc.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Blue is very much needed but whites are essential to planktonic food regeneration and coral food source.
20% white and 75% blue seems to be the Happy medium but you must let your corals speak to you and tell you what they want.

 

[McGene]

Thank you guys for your thoughts. I’ll keep an eye on my corals for any adverse reactions to my lighting changes.
I am running the white but have added more blue mostly for looks during the early morning and late evening hours.

 

[Dana Riddle]

I tested 4 LED strip lights (6500K, SolarMax, 20,000K and 'custom') from BuildMyLED years ago. PAR was matched using a LiCor quantum meter. Porites corals were weighed on an analytical balance. Although the corals grown under the custom lamp demonstrated the most weight increase, the result was not statistically significant. It is possible that other corals would respond differently.

 

[Ab Kouign Amann]

I tested 4 LED strip lights (6500K, SolarMax, 20,000K and 'custom') from BuildMyLED years ago. PAR was matched using a LiCor quantum meter. Porites corals were weighed on an analytical balance. Although the corals grown under the custom lamp demonstrated the most weight increase, the result was not statistically significant. It is possible that other corals would respond differently.

Out of curiosity, is there a thread about this experiment?
If not do you mind sharing the data with us (PAR and weight gain?) ?

 

[Dana Riddle]

Out of curiosity, is there a thread about this experiment?
If not do you mind sharing the data with us (PAR and weight gain?) ?

It was published on the Advanced Aquarist website which is now defunct. I'll see if I managed to keep a copy of that article.

 

[Dana Riddle]

Out of curiosity, is there a thread about this experiment?
If not do you mind sharing the data with us (PAR and weight gain?) ?

I found the article and have submitted it to R2R for publication.

 

[RedSea500MaxS]

I am using three AI 26 LEDs on my Red Sea 500.

Settings.....100% RB, 118% B, 10% R & G, 85% V, 2% W, 85% UV

How far off am I from what is really needed. Multi purpose reef, LPS, some SPS (still ramping SPS up), shrooms in sand and a few fish Gem Tang, Tomeni, Blues, Clowns. Tank new with aged live rock and live sand....April 2019.

HELP??? Please.

 

[Dana Riddle]

I am using three AI 26 LEDs on my Red Sea 500.

Settings.....100% RB, 118% B, 10% R & G, 85% V, 2% W, 85% UV

How far off am I from what is really needed. Multi purpose reef, LPS, some SPS (still ramping SPS up), shrooms in sand and a few fish Gem Tang, Tomeni, Blues, Clowns. Tank new with aged live rock and live sand....April 2019.

HELP??? Please.

The article I've submitted for publication showed that spectral qualities (at least the 4 LED lights I tested) didn't play much of a role in coral growth. Intensity, on the other hand, can play a major role. Measure your light with a meter, preferably a quality PAR meter. Maintain about 150-200 PAR at the bottom of the tank.

 

[fredk]

The article I've submitted for publication showed that spectral qualities (at least the 4 LED lights I tested) didn't play much of a role in coral growth. Intensity, on the other hand, can play a major role. Measure your light with a meter, preferably a quality PAR meter. Maintain about 150-200 PAR at the bottom of the tank.

This seems to be a recurring theme whenever there is actual testing involved.

There was a video posted in another recent thread here where the results were similar with respect to spectrum and coral colouration.

Maybe we are a little too attached to our favourite light sources and spectrum mixes?

 

[McGene]

Just for grins I visited WWC in Orlando recently and learned that they run almost all blue light on their display coral tanks -- mostly for the appealing look it gives. I've heard (3rd hand) that they only run the "daylight" (6500K) for a few hours each day. Of course, this could be just in their display tanks and the tanks that really "grow" their corals are operated differently.

 

[Midrats]

I miss BuildMyLed

 

[Dana Riddle]

I miss BuildMyLed

Nick Klase has invited us to visit Austin. He and partners sold BML (as Fluence Bioengineering). Not sure if they will get back into the aquarium market.

 

[ingchr1]

Something that got me thinking. When running a schedule of full spectrum for a couple of hours then dropping down the whites for the duration. The full spectrum will have a higher PAR. If one has the ability to dial up the intensity on their light when the whites are turned down, should they do so to try to maintain a constant or as high as they can PAR?

 

[Midrats]

Nick Klase has invited us to visit Austin. He and partners sold BML (as Fluence Bioengineering). Not sure if they will get back into the aquarium market.

Maybe you can talk him into it

 

[blasterman]

A lot of reefers have this habit now of running zoa / paly tanks with royal blue only so their tank looks like something from 'Avatar'. When I've run royal LEDs on my softie tanks for a period of time -vs- more common color mixes something isn't quite right in terms of how they respond to light.

The presence of green is likely the regulation color in some instances. The difference between a typical royal blue LED and cool white LED is just that...a bit of green (and even less amber and red).

 

[Dana Riddle]

Maybe you can talk him into it

Nick had a reef aquarium in this Fluence office, so there might be some interest. They made good lights, I have some that have been in service for years.

 

[Midrats]

There is hope! I have one of their 20K units that's been going strong for years. As far as strip lights go I think the color blending is pretty good with the lens they use.

 

[ingchr1]

Something that got me thinking. When running a schedule of full spectrum for a couple of hours then dropping down the whites for the duration. The full spectrum will have a higher PAR. If one has the ability to dial up the intensity on their light when the whites are turned down, should they do so to try to maintain a constant or as high as they can PAR?

Interested in thoughts on this question and if there are any concerns with running this type of program to keep the PAR constant throughout the day?

In my case I run my light (GHL Mitras LX7) for a couple of hours with this spectrum at 54%, which gives me 120-130 PAR on the bottom. The PUR is 70-72%. Measurements taken with a Seneye.

I then run the following spectrum for the rest of the day. If I keep the light at 54% the PAR will be drastically lower (~80). To get it back to 120-130 PAR I need to run the light at 85%. The PUR is 77-79% with this spectrum.