Does 5 hours a day of light really increase growth?

[Stuartmercer]

Jason fox only run 4 hrs full spectrum and 8 hrs all blue same as wwc and their corals are dope. I run the same 444 and I'm pretty satisfied with my tank.

when im done my experiment, I will run all blues but do all the same prosedures.

 

[ycnibrc]

when im done my experiment, I will run all blues but do all the same prosedures.

Even blue light still produce 350par on top so it doesn't mean the intensity drop only different spectrum than white and blue together.

 

[Dana Riddle]

english pls?

Beg, borrow, steal, or rent a PAR meter in order to ensure light intensity doesn't burn or bleach your test corals (a PAR value of 200 or so should work.) Also make sure light intensity is the same - or at least reasonably close -over all test corals. Water motion can also affect coral growth but is difficult and expensive to measure, so do the best you can in coral placement. Growth measurements can be done with an inexpensive analytical balance. See here for details:
https://www.advancedaquarist.com/2011/1/aafeature

 

[Dana Riddle]

when im done my experiment, I will run all blues but do all the same prosedures.

This $10 meter is better than nothing.
https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/a-light-meter-for-less-than-10.667/

 

[FREAKINRICAN69]

BUMP

 

[Stuartmercer]

Beg, borrow, steal, or rent a PAR meter in order to ensure light intensity doesn't burn or bleach your test corals (a PAR value of 200 or so should work.) Also make sure light intensity is the same - or at least reasonably close -over all test corals. Water motion can also affect coral growth but is difficult and expensive to measure, so do the best you can in coral placement. Growth measurements can be done with an inexpensive analytical balance. See here for details:
https://www.advancedaquarist.com/2011/1/aafeature

Oh I think I will steal

 

[ReeferB28]

Why does the experiment have to mimic your lighting setup exactly?

It doesn't. Since not all lights are created equally, I'm just saying what I used when I saw the results I mentioned.

 

[Stuartmercer]

It doesn't. Since not all lights are created equally, I'm just saying what I used when I saw the results I mentioned.

I should though if your having success with that

 

[ReeferB28]

I'm by no means an expert at this, nor did I ever claim to be. Just sharing my experiences, and what I've learned my reading and doing. That's all. You should be successful with this, but different corals have different growth rates, even with different morphs of the same species. All I ever said was this method got them to grow faster that regular 8 hour cycles. I never gave exacts. I also read on a different forum about increasing Ca,Alk and MG to elevated levels,and getting more growth from that too. So, you should consider combining the two down thr road as well. Good flow is key to stimulating coral growth as well.

 

[Dennis Cartier]

Umm, I am not sure if I am understanding this, but are you planning to use a nursery tray as the test vessel? In other words, you are not using a tank? No one else has commented on this, so I am not sure of I am picking up on a detail that everyone else missed, or that I missed something myself. Please elaborate.

Dennis

 

[Lingwendil]

Yeah, I find that a bit strange too. Maybe a standard 20 gallon long with a center divider would work well, or a pair of 10 gallons plumbed to a common sump would be a better setup? That way both tanks have identical water parameters and large enough volume to rule out issues related to flow and size...

Dual 10 gallons would be cheap and easy to rig- a third ten gallon (or a 20 long) as a sump with a pair of cheap Jebao return pumps would be a good solution. Throw a single cheap "wave" circulation pump in each main tank to supplement and you're golden.

 

[Stuartmercer]

I'm by no means an expert at this, nor did I ever claim to be. Just sharing my experiences, and what I've learned my reading and doing. That's all. You should be successful with this, but different corals have different growth rates, even with different morphs of the same species. All I ever said was this method got them to grow faster that regular 8 hour cycles. I never gave exacts. I also read on a different forum about increasing Ca,Alk and MG to elevated levels,and getting more growth from that too. So, you should consider combining the two down thr road as well. Good flow is key to stimulating coral growth as well.

Yeah i have read about increasing water chemistry levels to increase growth too.

 

[Stuartmercer]

Umm, I am not sure if I am understanding this, but are you planning to use a nursery tray as the test vessel? In other words, you are not using a tank? No one else has commented on this, so I am not sure of I am picking up on a detail that everyone else missed, or that I missed something myself. Please elaborate.

Dennis

nursery tray? Im using a planter as the tank because its shallow

 

[cobast]

This $10 meter is better than nothing.
https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/a-light-meter-for-less-than-10.667/

Hey Dana, I read your post on the $10 metre and the issue of it not being waterproof. Have you considered a waterproof phone pouch which are also about $10? Would it be possible to simply redo your initial in-air test/ comparison using the pouch to obtain a new averaged divisor. Then carry out submerged tests with your $10 unit?

 

[willow659]

Following

 

[Dana Riddle]

Hey Dana, I read your post on the $10 metre and the issue of it not being waterproof. Have you considered a waterproof phone pouch which are also about $10? Would it be possible to simply redo your initial in-air test/ comparison using the pouch to obtain a new averaged divisor. Then carry out submerged tests with your $10 unit?

There are various ways to waterproof that meter. The best seems to be spraying it with a clear waterproof 'Flex-Seal' product. @bigcheese describes the procedure in the 'Discussion' section of this article. I like this approach since it avoids dealing with the 'Immersion Effect.'

 

[CodyBot]

Well, I just happen to have a system in my fish room that's well established, has two 48"x12"x12" tanks, and they're plumbed together with the same flow rate. The return pump flows to the top tank, the top flows to The bottom tank, and the bottom tank to The sump. The top one has never had lights on it, so I will have to put lights over it to run this experiment. I also have access to a par meter so I can dial in the lighting. I use Chinese black boxes so the experiment would be for leds. I don't really want to frag any of my LPS but I've got plenty of sps and zoas that I can work with. I'd need the rest of the week to deal with eliminating light pollution, get lighting set up, etc. I'll keep yall posted.

Here's the setup.

 

[CodyBot]

Oh, also, I don't have fish in this system. I have about six large peppermint shrimp and I feed it twice a day to keep nutrients up. I'm not worried about it stressing out the shrimp, although I saw someone in the other thread wondering if it would effect inverts. We will see.

 

[CodyBot]

Additional powerhead order today. I'll be using the exact same powerhead on the same setting and level.

 

[Stuartmercer]

Sorry I havn't posted in a couple days. I was gone doing a school field trip. today I have 1 of my finals so I will post something for the project in a couple days.