Everyone is burning their lps! - Jason Fox

[revhtree Verified Admin]

I didn't say it, Jason Fox did! I loved what Jason said recently after he returned from his Indonesian diving trip that I had to share a few of his comments in a separate thread for us to discuss.

Jason was asked: How much sunlight gets down there to 130'?

Jason's response: Not much everyone is burning their lps!!!!

Then Jason was asked: So how little light do you think you could get away with when growing chalices and such?

Jason's response: My best guess is they get less than 20 par of light for 12 hours at 130 feet. Remember they get food always down there also. We have slowly adapted lps to some more light in captivity. Every time I get back from a dive trip I find myself turning my lights to less time or less light!!!!

Here is Jason's Indo Diving thread: https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/ja...here-i-am-back-indo-craziest-corals-ever.html

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

So what are your thoughts on this? I tend to agree and my lights have already been dialed back as of last night!

 

[FaviaFreak]

I've been preaching this for a while, LPS do exceptionally well under very low light conditions and the bluer the light the better imo

 

[ritter6788]

I agree but I think many of these LPS can adjust or be acclimated to bright aquarium lighting. Plus the brighter light is what gives many LPS their nice color.

 

[jedimasterben]

You'd be surprised how much light actually makes it down to 130'. 20 PAR is a stretch. Give an aquarium 20 PAR and you'll have LPS that most likely will not grow.

LPS can handle quite a bit of light, depending on the species, some are more adaptable than others, but given enough time, most can acclimated to enormous amounts of light, which increases the amount of energy they have and can put forth towards growth, as long as sufficient calcium and carbonate are available, along with food.

 

[RalphsReef]

Interesting. What about flow? Is the water turbid at all, or is it clear? I have read the water is not totally clear where a lot of LPS is.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Jason also said they were getting a lot of flow down that deep.

 

[stylaster]

Well i think that they make up for in a lack of light by food capture. IF where he is diving is along a cliff wall facing oceanic currents you will get an upwelling of food from down deep that the corals can use instead of light. Like others have said if you accimate them slowly to artificial lights they will do fine

 

[droblack]

I agree. Even diving here in South Florida and the Keys, have found many lps growing on the edge or under reef heads, others down in holes where they don't get much direct light at all. I kept lps for months with nothing more than a single blue Reefbrite strip.

 

[NeverlosT]

I agree that there is likely far more than 20 par reaching corals at 130 feet of depth. In most tropical locations where I have been diving the only noticeable difference in the light at 100 feet or 20 feet is perhaps the loss of the red spectrum.

I agree that LPS require much less light than SPS obviously, but unless you are signing up for a strictly LPS reef, you will have to make a compromise or utilize shady areas. I personally keep my lights likely slightly dim for my SPS and a bit bright for my LPS, with the blue spectrum and white spectrum having strong hours at different times of the day.

 

[OceanMinded]

the sun is a lot more powerful then the mH and LEDs we run. So yeah..

 

[Gladfelter]

Either way Jason has some sick corals. Just met him and saw some of his stock in Nashville.

 

[FX CharityCorals Verified Sponsor]

It makes sense. They are LARGE POLYP corals. Look at how big all of the feeding mechenisms are for these corals. Form follows function. They get more nutrition from capturing prey than they do with photosynthesis.

 

[Mike Cruz]

I have had best success with LPS in low-very low lighting, especially my rainbow acans and exotically colored chalices. When I put them in too much light they tend to start morphing, while the colors / patterns they morph into aren't all that bad (some actually quite nice), when you pay $$$ for a rainbow, you want it to stay a rainbow! I also direct feed at least once every day or two. Mysis + cyclopleeze.

 

[spspirate]

Like stylaster said. These corals have two ways of getting their metabolic needs. If their not getting the needs from photosynthesis then their going to rely more on what they can get from the water column. Having good flow down there makes it all the better for them to thrive.