Lighting tank from the side

[Project1004]

I think there are merit to having Light lit from the sides. I’ve don’t this when I initially started my tank and noticed it helps with shaded spots. I’ve consideeed sun up and sun down effect but never got to it….

Only reason I stopped/changed was because I didn’t want to shine a light into my fishies from all directions.

I ran this way for 3-4monthes with no issue until I changed back to regular way and ended up with too strong of light and lost quite a few corals, I think about how I should have left it as it was. Probably cool experience.

 

[X-37B]

I think there are merit to having Light lit from the sides. I’ve don’t this when I initially started my tank and noticed it helps with shaded spots. I’ve consideeed sun up and sun down effect but never got to it….

Only reason I stopped/changed was because I didn’t want to shine a light into my fishies from all directions.

I ran this way for 3-4monthes with no issue until I changed back to regular way and ended up with too strong of light and lost quite a few corals, I think about how I should have left it as it was. Probably cool experience.

Interesting test.
Light only comes from above in nature but does move east to west. Very hard to simulate that in a reef tank.
However a slow ramp up/down like we do with leds could come close. Say 4 seperate fixtures running a designed program left to right would be an interesting experiment.

 

[KrisReef]

I have fond memories of snorkeling on reefs with white coral sand (or rubble) substrate that acts as a reflective surface that lights up the underside of large table corals. They don’t necessarily have to turn over to get baked evenly in the tropical sunshine.

The table coral could be used as a sundial as the shadow would move around as the sun swung overhead. It rises in the east and sets in the west most days, but it never actually moves as much as the world turns around to also stay evenly exposed.

The earth is either a sphere or a flat surface, I don’t recall how that inquiry ended?

 

[dvgyfresh]

I get the sun on my tank for about an hour every day (from the side ) haven’t seen positive or negative effect yet , maybe a lot more algae lol

 

[twentyleagues]

I think quite a few people got on the light mover to save $ on electricity and fixture cost. Had a reefing friend back in the day do this with a 400w mh on a curved light rack with a mover over an 8' 300ish g tank. It took 10hrs to complete the crossing. His corals looked nice and grew in a more "natural" form but didnt really grow a lot. He eventually removed the mover and added 2 more 400w mh and some T5 support, growth exploded. So I guess it can work but I guess it depends on what you want to accomplish. I do feel its important to provide a "wrap around" lighting set up, hitting the corals from multiple angles is important especially with sps (sticks).

 

[twentyleagues]

I have fond memories of snorkeling on reefs with white coral sand (or rubble) substrate that acts as a reflective surface that lights up the underside of large table corals. They don’t necessarily have to turn over to get baked evenly in the tropical sunshine.

The table coral could be used as a sundial as the shadow would move around as the sun swung overhead. It rises in the east and sets in the west most days, but it never actually moves as much as the world turns around to also stay evenly exposed.

The earth is either a sphere or a flat surface, I don’t recall how that inquiry ended?

The earth is flat and everything revolves around us. Just ask AI it will tell you the truth. We all know AI is always right.

 

[exnisstech]

The earth is flat and everything revolves around us. Just ask AI it will tell you the truth. We all know AI is always right.

I had no idea that a flat earth is a thing until recently when my Gals sister said her husband believes it's flat. I thought she was kidding but she wasn't. I really need to get out more

 

[Dom]

I'm bored and have extra gen 4 xr15s sitting around so I decided to try lighting some coral from the side. This miyagi tort is growing great but looks pitiful underneath. The acro above and to the left is starting to look poor down low as well so I decided to add a light to the side and see how it goes. It makes sense to me that it should help since I always read about shadowing being a concern. I'll follow up later with results good or bad. Top is lit with two photon 32

This is a nice idea.

I've experimented with lights pointed up from under a bare bottom tank to get light to the underside of the Hammer corals I own. Promising, but I needed a better way to secure the lights to the bottom. So I gave up.

Ultimately, I settled with securing a mirror under the bare bottom tank, which worked, but the results didn't justify the effort.

 

[exnisstech]

This is a nice idea.

I once used a chamber in an AIO to grow Chaeto using a grow light on the outside of the glass, which worked well.

I've also experimented with lights pointed up from under a bare bottom tank to get light to the underside of the Hammer corals I own. Promising, but I needed a better way to secure the lights to the bottom. So I gave up.

Ultimately, I settled with securing a mirror under the bare bottom tank, which worked, but the results didn't justify the effort.

I used to light my chaeto from the top and 2 sides. It grew very well.

 

[Crabs McJones]

Everyone please play nice. Profanity and personal attacks will not be tolerated.

Thank you

 

[twentyleagues]

I had no idea that a flat earth is a thing until recently when my Gals sister said her husband believes it's flat. I thought she was kidding but she wasn't. I really need to get out more

Yeah unfortunately it is a "thing". The real question is it a square or circle because pics indicate its a circle but Flatearthers seem to picture it as a square. Does this mean cylinders, spheres, and circles dont actually exist?

 

[SoWhatNow]

the 'hotspot' is moving, it means much higher par levels can be targeted, no 'bleaching' from photoinhibition (too much static light causing growth to slow then stop and die) as the angle changes the areas undergoing photosynthesis changes, the areas not undergoing photosynthesis begin a growth phase.

 

[exnisstech]

Yeah unfortunately it is a "thing". The real question is it a square or circle because pics indicate its a circle but Flatearthers seem to picture it as a square. Does this mean cylinders, spheres, and circles dont actually exist?

 

[Reefering1]

These responses show you haven't read and comprehended. So, simple words.... because the 'hotspot' is moving, it means much higher par levels can be targeted, no 'bleaching' from photoinhibition (too much static light causing growth to slow then stop and die) as the angle changes the areas undergoing photosynthesis changes, the areas not undergoing photosynthesis begin a growth phase.

It really isnt that difficult.

You're right, It isn't difficult to read and comprehend. The title of this thread, for example, "Lighting tank from the side." The concern here is shadows and lack of light on the corals side/ underside. Turning off, dimming, ramping, or otherwise cycling fixtures on/off does nothing to solve that issue. Comprende?

 

[twentyleagues]

These responses show you haven't read and comprehended. So, simple words.... because the 'hotspot' is moving, it means much higher par levels can be targeted, no 'bleaching' from photoinhibition (too much static light causing growth to slow then stop and die) as the angle changes the areas undergoing photosynthesis changes, the areas not undergoing photosynthesis begin a growth phase.

It really isnt that difficult.

I am guessing that you are not replying to me and that you probably didnt even read what I wrote above (ignore the flat earth jokes). How is it that my reefing friend years ago increased total par over the entirety of the tank the entire light cycle and saw much more growth with no bleaching? I dont know how much par a 400w mh puts out but its probably much more than most leds. This light on a mover grew coral but very slowly which I dont think is a bad thing, but if you can do the same thing with constant lighting for the entirety of the tank during the entire lighting cycle and get 2-3x growth without any issues why opt for the moving scenario? We dont know where or when photoinhibition happens until stuff starts to go south, so how do we dial this into a set up that moves and produces the same or better results than just lighting the tank. In the scenario I posted above this was not his first rodeo or last he had many tanks full of sps corals. That was his biggest. Probably his "nicest" tank was a custom 120 lit with T5s No mover no dimming just full on for 10 hrs a day 10- 4' bulbs. Again no photoinhibition or slow growth, just vibrant colors and lots of growth.

 

[SoWhatNow]

the lighting system im talking about CHANGES THE ANGLE. Verstehe? Its not about ramping,

I am guessing that you are not replying to me and that you probably didnt even read what I wrote above (ignore the flat earth jokes). How is it that my reefing friend years ago increased total par over the entirety of the tank the entire light cycle and saw much more growth with no bleaching? I dont know how much par a 400w mh puts out but its probably much more than most leds. This light on a mover grew coral but very slowly which I dont think is a bad thing, but if you can do the same thing with constant lighting for the entirety of the tank during the entire lighting cycle and get 2-3x growth without any issues why opt for the moving scenario? We dont know where or when photoinhibition happens until stuff starts to go south, so how do we dial this into a set up that moves and produces the same or better results than just lighting the tank. In the scenario I posted above this was not his first rodeo or last he had many tanks full of sps corals. That was his biggest. Probably his "nicest" tank was a custom 120 lit with T5s No mover no dimming just full on for 10 hrs a day 10- 4' bulbs. Again no photoinhibition or slow growth, just vibrant colors and lots of growth.

Pretty easy to PAR map a tank, if i wanted to i could target specific locations with different intensity, colour etc as it moves through the arc, piece of cake - its already in the .aip mapper (can tag locations of sps within your tank along the spatial timeline.....)

As for your friends tank, without any data its hard to say - the inverse square law is brutal, the point of movers was to go super low, almost touching, probably not what was going on.

People may try to mock, but the science is very strong, go read the papers referenced in my proposal, try the AI profiles i put on that sub...

btw, the lights dont actually move, they mix between LCR (one for the soundies out there) giving the effect of movement at higher intensity. It means you can actually run those high PAR levels safely, because you’re distributing the load across the colony over time, rather than baking the same tissue continuously.

Not long to wait for the experiment to begin....