Strange...

[Ga Liverpool]

Hi all,

I went away for a few days and to keep the heat down and save some electricity i decided to reduce the lighting by 4 hours, my lights originally came on from 12pm til 10pm but reduced the lighting to 12pm to 6pm, i went away for 4 days and when i got back was surprised to find my corals have never looked better!! Acro polyps were FULLY retracted and most have had a little growth spurt which is making me think that maybe too much light isnt neccesarily a good thing (maybe its coincidence..), so just wondered how long you all have your tanks lit, by the way the lighting is 2 x 250w 10k BLV's.

Ga

[GTR]

That's been my thinking lately. I have reduced mine down to 8 hours the last week or so but not much difference if any. I'll go down another hour. It may be that the steady flood of MH may not be needed.

SteveU

[greg65]

Steve,

Im curious what makes you feel that way about the halides? (not that i disagree at all)

-greg-

[GTR]

I think it may be the combination of the nutrient condition of our systems, the water clarity and the intense light we provide at a constant level.
Prior to ZEOvit I had always run the MH for at least 10-12 hours.
In my previous system I had the lights turn on around noon and by the time I got home around 5-6 pm the corals all looked exhausted. I could notice on weekends that the corals always seemed to look best around 2-3 pm. What I gather from this is that at some point the corals are reacting to the intensity/duration and after some time change physically to take in what light they still need (extension, as in LPS and soft corals).
The changes we are inducing to the SPS in terms of overall lightening of the tissue IMO must somehow also change their abiltiy to absorb light.
Is this lightening a natural reaction to the nutrient level and somehow related to the refective qualities of a lighter upper tissue layer?
By no means is any of this in any way scientific, but these changes have made me think of the possible cause and affect relationships.
I know everyone says our lights still don't meet the sun's output but I've seen a few outdoor systems in which the corals look nowhere near as good as some in an indoor reef. Our bulbs are not the sun regardless of how they measure up using traditional testing methods. That difference could prove to be postive or negative IMO depending on what you ultimate goal might be.

SteveU

[nyfireman3097]

i juust changed my lights from 20k 400w for 10 hours to 12 hours and the 2 10k 400w from 8 hours to 4 hours and i noticed everything looks amazing i had g8 colors to begin with and polyp extension but its even better now i noticed
Nick

[Diesel3443]

I reduced mine from 10 hrs to seven hrs as well and things could not be better Remember that in the wild these guy only receive direct overhead light for about 5hrs a day.

[greg65]

Interesting theorys Steve.

I may go ahead and reduce the duration of my halides "on" period and see what the results are. Hey, if nothing else , it will make atleast a small dent in my PG&E bill!

To be honest, I actually like the look of my tank the very best after the halides are OFF , and i only have a vho daylight and actinic running. With the halides on , it just appears too "in your face" to me.

-greg-

[Aged Salt]

Greg, who needs all those free-radicals in our water anywayBob

[GTR]

Greg... I could be just full of it.
But I agree with Sean about the 5 hours of intense light.
SteveU

[greg65]

thanks !!

Ill try this out for a few weeks and report back what i find!
My wife is gonna be SOO happy with me!

Now i can talk her into that F/O since im saving so much electricity! :^)

-greg-

[7thheaven]

very interesting~~

Keep updating PLZ..~~~

[gqjeff]

Yea I am leaving sunday to golf for a week myself.. I am going to lower my 9 hrs a day to 7 and see how the corals look when I get back.. I will continue to run the vho and t5 combintation 12 hrs a day though.. My wife might give me something before I leave for the trip too if I tell her we are saving money hehehehehe... Who am I kidding I am married... I will report myself also...

peace, jeff

[GTR]

I hope everyone doesn't have a mass coral die off from light starvation because of what some jerk named SteveU says.

SteveU

[gqjeff]

Steve, I hope I will be ok pounding the corals with my 4-400 and vho and t5 hehehehe.... Now if I come home to a brown tank I am going to CRY hahahaha....

[nyfireman3097]

its like week 2 w/ my light change i havent been around the last 3 days my grandmother has fied i just got hom 10 minutes before my lights went out now i have been dosing everythin up to par since i was leaving at 630am every morning i and i would get home after 10 pm when they were out tonight i looked at everythong things look AMAZING BIG BIG growth in the last few days been insane
Nick