Do Corals Need a Night Period?

[Shep]

Would having a longer/constant photoperiod increase the amount of growth in corals or would having too little nighttime negatively impact corals? I always see people talking about this subject in regards to algae growth but not corals. Anyone have any idea? I know there is a lot of research published about this subject in plant models but corals and plants are pretty different so I don't know if you could carry over the data.

 

[Nano sapiens]

Corals do need a rest period. One major reason is that an excessively long photoperiod will disrupt the reproduction cycle of the zooxanthellae.

Feature Article: A Different Look at Lighting: Effects of Prolonged Photoperiod, Spectral Quality, and Light Dosage ? Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog

 

[miamiangler]

I say yes , looking out my window no moon tonite !

 

[Shep]

Corals do need a rest period. One major reason is that an excessively long photoperiod will disrupt the reproduction cycle of the zooxanthellae.

Feature Article: A Different Look at Lighting: Effects of Prolonged Photoperiod, Spectral Quality, and Light Dosage ? Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog

Awesome! thanks for the article

 

[Mr. Microscope]

I've read that corals do most of their growing at night. During the day, they're putting energy more into metabolizing.
There was a paper published showing that corals can only photosynthesize for four hours at a time. After that, sunlight is not beneficial. Using this data, the researchers came up with optimal growth utilizing two photo periods in 24 hours (4 hours light, 8 hours dark x2). Granted the experiment was done with 400w MH lighting. So, less intense lighting may produce different results.

 

[gettaReef]

I've read that corals do most of their growing at night. During the day, they're putting energy more into metabolizing.
There was a paper published showing that corals can only photosynthesize for four hours at a time. After that, sunlight is not beneficial. Using this data, the researchers came up with optimal growth utilizing two photo periods in 24 hours (4 hours light, 8 hours dark x2). Granted the experiment was done with 400w MH lighting. So, less intense lighting may produce different results.

Interesting. Do you know, did they yield more growth using that lighting schedule? Have a link to the article? Thanks

 

[Mr. Microscope]

Haven't look at the paper in years. I think they used pocillopora though. Yes, the overall results were better growth.