Natural Sunlight vs AI Prime

[driciladr]

My tank is near a window and gets AM sun when I open the blinds. I noticed my corals are LOVING the AM sun. But when the sun leaves the window spot, and then it's just the AI Prime (set at BRS settings) they just look, okay happy not SUPER happy. Is it the white spectrum the corals were loving from the AM or was it the UV? Trying to figure out what to add to the light to make them that happy all day. I'ved tried multiple presets from AI website and one combo BRS/AIsite from here on Reef2Reef and coral haven't any of them as much as BRS with AM sun.

BRS: UV is 116/118 at peak, white is 46

 

[oreo54]

My tank is near a window and gets AM sun when I open the blinds. I noticed my corals are LOVING the AM sun. But when the sun leaves the window spot, and then it's just the AI Prime (set at BRS settings) they just look, okay happy not SUPER happy. Is it the white spectrum the corals were loving from the AM or was it the UV? Trying to figure out what to add to the light to make them that happy all day. I'ved tried multiple presets from AI website and one combo BRS/AIsite from here on Reef2Reef and coral haven't any of them as much as BRS with AM sun.

BRS: UV is 116/118 at peak, white is 46

Maybe just the # of photons.

As a data point my 55 in the winter (low sun) would get 8000-12000 lux easily which is approx 184-276 PAR.

Use a luxmeter or phone app to see how much par you "may" be adding in those morning hours.

Can convert using this:

Convert Lux to PPFD - Online Calculator | Waveform Lighting

Online calculator to convert illuminance (lux) to PPFD (micromoles per second per meter squared).

www.waveformlighting.com

 

[rhitee93]

My tank gets a bit of sun in the afternoons for a few weeks each year when the sun is really low on the sky. This year, when a particularly bright sunbeam hit the tank, I used a phone app and "measured" 1300par. I have no idea how accurate the app is.

 

[X-37B]

Pic?
I ran first 4 @100% and the rest at 50%. Plenty of light for anything you want to grow if you use enough pucks.
I ran 2 on this 20g cube.

 

[oreo54]

My tank gets a bit of sun in the afternoons for a few weeks each year when the sun is really low on the sky. This year, when a particularly bright sunbeam hit the tank, I used a phone app and "measured" 1300par. I have no idea how accurate the app is.

Full sun in the tropics is about 2000 par. 1300 is possible.

Imitating Natural Light Quality, Intensity, and Dosage in a Reef Aquarium – Do We Really Want To?

When it comes to reef aquariums, Mother Nature has always been the de facto benchmark aquarists aspire towards. Dana investigates in great detail the quality and quantity of light over natural reefs in order to lay the groundwork to answer the age-old question: what is the best light for...

reefs.com

 

[MnFish1]

My tank is near a window and gets AM sun when I open the blinds. I noticed my corals are LOVING the AM sun. But when the sun leaves the window spot, and then it's just the AI Prime (set at BRS settings) they just look, okay happy not SUPER happy. Is it the white spectrum the corals were loving from the AM or was it the UV? Trying to figure out what to add to the light to make them that happy all day. I'ved tried multiple presets from AI website and one combo BRS/AIsite from here on Reef2Reef and coral haven't any of them as much as BRS with AM sun.

BRS: UV is 116/118 at peak, white is 46

It is the white (probably) and the spectrum. There is probably not much UV reaching through windows and and aquarium glass. I had the same experience with my tank - however, during the day I did not use a blue setting but rather at peak all light color types were at 100%

 

[blecki]

Before I moved my tank got about 4 hours / day of direct sunlight only on the left hand side. Everything on the left grew like crazy. There's really nothing that compares to natural sunlight.