Ramping up to par

ajhudson15 · Jul 16, 2018

I have a t5 dimmable ati unit but was curious as to how purple have the schedule. Primarily how long do your lights stay at peak par. I've seen some say there's peaks and only stays the for an hour and some say there's peaks and stays that way all day

ajhudson15 · Jul 17, 2018

Ron Reefman · Jul 18, 2018

As I understand it, and I'm not an expert, the zooxanthellae in corals need the high PAR of midday for 4 to 8 hours. They can't start photosynthesis until the light gets bright enough. And then it takes about an hour for the process to really get going. The zooxanthellae can only do photosynthesis for a somewhat fixed time frame, like 4 to 6 hours. So midday light for more than about 8 hours doesn't help with photosynthesis.

However, corals do develop pigments based on how intense light is, what spectrum it is and how long it's exposure is. I have green zoas that I collect in the Florida Keys and under higher PAR in my tank they morph into pretty blue zoas over about a month. Lower the PAR and over time they go back to being green. And while they are blue they open and grow just the same as their green relatives that are at lower PAR deeper in the tank.

jda · Jul 18, 2018

The most common setup is just on/off for 8-11 hours... no ramping. Ramping of T5s is a fairly new thing.

The more complex answer will depend on what you are keeping and what your goals are. There is some research on "corals" and lighting but what works for colonial 'nems (Z&P) is different than that of real nems, stonies or even clams which can never get too much light. If you do want to ramp, then I would get most stuff solid full-strength lighting for at least six hours.

ajhudson15 · Jul 18, 2018

Ron Reefman said:
As I understand it, and I'm not an expert, the zooxanthellae in corals need the high PAR of midday for 4 to 8 hours. They can't start photosynthesis until the light gets bright enough. And then it takes about an hour for the process to really get going. The zooxanthellae can only do photosynthesis for a somewhat fixed time frame, like 4 to 6 hours. So midday light for more than about 8 hours doesn't help with photosynthesis.

However, corals do develop pigments based on how intense light is, what spectrum it is and how long it's exposure is. I have green zoas that I collect in the Florida Keys and under higher PAR in my tank they morph into pretty blue zoas over about a month. Lower the PAR and over time they go back to being green. And while they are blue they open and grow just the same as their green relatives that are at lower PAR deeper in the tank.

Thanks that's just what I was looking for. as of right now mine hits peak intensity and stays for 4 hours. maybe ill crease that a little while keeping my total light period at 12 hours

ajhudson15 · Jul 18, 2018

jda said:
The most common setup is just on/off for 8-11 hours... no ramping. Ramping of T5s is a fairly new thing.

The more complex answer will depend on what you are keeping and what your goals are. There is some research on "corals" and lighting but what works for colonial 'nems (Z&P) is different than that of real nems, stonies or even clams which can never get too much light. If you do want to ramp, then I would get most stuff solid full-strength lighting for at least six hours.

I believe I am on to off for 12 hours but that's ramping and for the first 2 hours and last 2 hours I am ramping my blues down and up so the par isn't high at those times.