too much light

[cilyjr]

I've decided that since switching to the ai sol blues back in 2012 I have had them too bright. I have been using 4 units and they have been around 75% 80% 80%. things have been ok but sometimes not as vibrant as I have wanted and like all tanks some coral does better then others. After reading a bit I started reducing the lighting intensity. I'm now at 48% 60% 55% and things are responding well. Its only been a month and the ramp down has been over a few weeks but I am happy with the initial results. I am now pretty confident that my coral dullness has been an excess of light.

 

[reefkeeper2]

I am surprised that your corals would be getting too much light with the Sols unless they are LPS. I ran mine at 100%. How far are they from the water line?

 

[cilyjr]

How many do you have? I have 4 over a 180. They are about 12 inches above the waterline

 

[reefkeeper2]

I had 14 of them but over time upgraded them to mix of Hydra52 and Vega. They also ramp up to 100% for 4 hours each day. How long is your daylight cycle? Duration, especially how long at maximum intensity is also important. I found that if you don't go over 4 hours at max and have a 12 hr day they do the best. I just tried increasing the duration of all the blue wavelengths to six hours at max and that did not work out well.

 

[cilyjr]

4hrs up 4hrs max 4hrs down. No complicated programs in use. My tank is only 24 inches deep. A lot of why I did this was due to the riddle article from a few months back.

 

[fishmommy]

I am struggling with pale colors as well but am pursuing the theory that light and nutrients must be in proportion. More light can be tolerated if nutrients are available. So I am feeding the corals aggressively and supplementing stuff like K and Fe. I will let you know if it works.


Sent from my gadget using Trippytalk HD

 

[cilyjr]

I've always heard the opposite. That ulns tanks do better with stronger light and nutrient rich tanks do better with less. Nothing to back that up just what I've heard the carbon dosers say.

 

[delta]

i've always heard the opposite. That ulns tanks do better with stronger light and nutrient rich tanks do better with less. Nothing to back that up just what i've heard the carbon dosers say.

lol

 

[dannyp02908]

To my knowledge, with ULNS systems, too much light becomes a factor when alkalinity is higher than natural sea levels. You end up with burnt tips.

 

[fishmommy]

yes that's what I have heard also. My alk is above 8 so I am trying the nutrient addition route. My lights are bright but others have had good success at the same levels so I am thinking food. mmmm....foood......

just an experiment. welcoming all comment.

 

[cilyjr]

lol

Care to elaborate?

What I think people believe is that the low nutrients inhibit algae growth including zooxanthellae. Less algae allows the host organisms to respond differently in higher light environment. But Again this is just anecdotal I'm not even sure if I believe in this. I've simply heard it.

This kind of LOL stuff is the reason I don't often post on reefcentral and prefer to have discussions on the local forum.

 

[reefkeeper2]

I think Greg's LOL was just to point out that two people heard the exact opposite thing which can happen a lot in this hobby. I don't think he was trying to be a wise guy. I know what you mean about RC and have experienced it myself but that is not the case here.

 

[cilyjr]

Paul I'm more interested on your opinion on the lighting. And would rather this thread not get derailed....

So I have been going 4 hrs up 4 max and 4 down. I'm seeing really positive response from 2 or 3 acros a stylo and all birdsnest. Not that things were bad before just things seem happier

 

[reefkeeper2]

Hey if it works keep going with it. There is no way we can take into account all the differences and variables between our tanks. There might be something else about your system that makes a lower light setting work better. It's problems like these that makes reef keeping so hard sometimes. The lights that make the corals of one tank look great make another look bleh. No one can yet explain it.

It just occured to me that I have the parts to upgrade Sols to Vegas. I have been slowly upgrading my Vegas to Hydra 52. So basically I have parts to upgrade 6 Sols. You might like the colors of the Vegas better and they have an 80 degree spread.

 

[fishmommy]

glad to hear things are looking better!
I hope I can do the same.

My PAR is at about 150 max for about 3 hours and ramp up and down over the rest of a 12 hour light cycle. They're LEDs, so the PAR could actually be as high as 190 I guess.
I'd love to know what your PAR is to compare notes.

 

[cilyjr]

I never put a par meter under my led as the measurements are too inaccurate.

 

[fishmommy]

I hear ya. I don't know what to make of the numbers.

 

[ro_nicu]

I believe i'm in the same bucket; had a couple of pieces higher up in the tank look so bad I thought they are dead, broke them off the rock in the idea they will become part of the substrate, today I am looking and to my surprise all of them actually picked up and look better than ever while being partially shaded on the sand, at the bottom of 30in of water, ....
Time to raise the lights a good 6 inches and see how things progress, unfortunately mine are not dimmable due to drivers - cheap Taotronics.
I actually put a PAR meter in the tank - 1200PAR in about 6 in of water directly underneath the lights that are 8-10in above water.