Lighting suggestions?

michaelabellz · Dec 24, 2020

So I currently have an ai prime light and am using the David saxby schedule. But I notice that every night around a certain time from 8-9 my pulsing Xenia’s close? They only stay closed for about an hour but I find it odd that they do. So my question is if you guys think that I should keep my light schedule the same or if I should change it? And if you guys know any light schedules that you find better for coral growth and colour. All suggestions are very much appreciated!

michaelabellz · Dec 24, 2020

this is his schedule.

Saltyreef · Dec 24, 2020

I use the saxby schedule on my Ais though i dont correlate any issues with the corals to the schedule itself.
I get good growth when my water parameters are on point.

Uncle99 · Dec 24, 2020

michaelabellz said:
So I currently have an ai prime light and am using the David saxby schedule. But I notice that every night around a certain time from 8-9 my pulsing Xenia’s close? They only stay closed for about an hour but I find it odd that they do. So my question is if you guys think that I should keep my light schedule the same or if I should change it? And if you guys know any light schedules that you find better for coral growth and colour. All suggestions are very much appreciated!

Never change the light. That’s usually starts making corals unhappy as they must re-regulate their photosynthetic process.
The Xenia would grow anywhere, in almost every lighting condition, and any indirect flow.
The more stable you make your environment, the more you will have happy corals.
That schedule you have looks good to me.

Pico bam · Dec 24, 2020

michaelabellz said:
So I currently have an ai prime light and am using the David saxby schedule. But I notice that every night around a certain time from 8-9 my pulsing Xenia’s close? They only stay closed for about an hour but I find it odd that they do. So my question is if you guys think that I should keep my light schedule the same or if I should change it? And if you guys know any light schedules that you find better for coral growth and colour. All suggestions are very much appreciated!

Many corals close during the night. If they close during the light is on then its very possibly to much light.

garbled · Dec 24, 2020

It looks like there is a blip in some spectrum around 9? Maybe they don't like that blip?

Pico bam · Dec 24, 2020

Also even though you have the ramp up and down ive found that 12 hours of light is alot. I was running my lights for 10 hours and my mushrooms would all close up around hour 9. So I've bumped it down to 8 hours of light over time. I believe my xenia was doing something similar to yours and the answer? The lights were on to long.

Oldreefer44 · Dec 24, 2020

Pulsing Xenia is pretty bullet proof as long as water parameters are good and thrive under most lighting conditions so well that many consider them as a pest similar to GSP so wouldn't worry about it.

Uncle99 · Dec 24, 2020

garbled said:
It looks like there is a blip in some spectrum around 9? Maybe they don't like that blip?

This is very interesting, a jump in the red around the time your Xenia is going shy. Perceptive of garbled.....

blasterman · Dec 25, 2020

Corals don't care about light ramping. This has been proven again and again by biologists. LEDs have these features for your own enjoyment. Corals don't care. No one has a light ramp program in their metal halide or T5.

Corals close up and and stop converting light to energy at a certain saturation level. Doesnt matter if its a light ramp or just on and off with constant intensity. So, if you want to run your reef lights 12 hours a day you will likely need to turn them down.

Also, there is no programmed preset to grow corals better. Water clarity, nutrient conditions, surface agitation, mounting height etc all affect how much light you need.

WetSquiggle · Feb 12, 2021

blasterman said:
Corals don't care about light ramping. This has been proven again and again by biologists. LEDs have these features for your own enjoyment. Corals don't care. No one has a light ramp program in their metal halide or T5.

Corals close up and and stop converting light to energy at a certain saturation level. Doesnt matter if its a light ramp or just on and off with constant intensity. So, if you want to run your reef lights 12 hours a day you will likely need to turn them down.

Also, there is no programmed preset to grow corals better. Water clarity, nutrient conditions, surface agitation, mounting height etc all affect how much light you need.

How do surface agitation and nutrient level effect lighting requirements?