Red Light - Good or Bad for Corals?

[Lasse]

You're right to say that I've escaped the purpose of the topic, I apologize for it.

Best regards

Me too :)

Sincerely Lasse

 

[reeferfoxx]

Hey guys, I'm revamping my LED layout. What was the consensus of 650nm red diodes? I don't have the ability to adjust brightness. The number of diodes dictates that.

This is where i'm at with my layout. I do have a couple question marks and i'm open to opinions. :)

 

[Lasse]

IMO (or the way I should have done it with present knowledge :))

? mark - green 530

Red square 660 - not 630

Reasons: The importance of green light has been shown for terrestrial plants and there is strong reason to believe that’s the same for corals.
With green in the array - you can change some 6500 to 20 000 K

I have use red for a long time and I´m not afraid of it. Corals do not have Chlorophyll B, hence no need for a peak at 630 is necessary.


Sincerely Lasse

 

[Brew12]

Guys, I hope you don't mind my reviving this thread. I feel the information I am looking for is in here, it is just beyond my ability to understand at this point. So many things in this hobby to try and learn in depth and photosynthesis in coral hasn't been my focus "yet". Is there a practical application from this discussion on the role of red lighting in a reef tank?

For instance, what impact would high levels of red lighting have on coral shape and growth? For instance, would high red lighting encourage corals to stop growing up and start growing out (or down) since it may think it is close to the surface?

Will high amounts of red lighting adversely impact the coloration of some corals more than others?

 

[Dana Riddle]

Guys, I hope you don't mind my reviving this thread. I feel the information I am looking for is in here, it is just beyond my ability to understand at this point. So many things in this hobby to try and learn in depth and photosynthesis in coral hasn't been my focus "yet". Is there a practical application from this discussion on the role of red lighting in a reef tank?

For instance, what impact would high levels of red lighting have on coral shape and growth? For instance, would high red lighting encourage corals to stop growing up and start growing out (or down) since it may think it is close to the surface?

Will high amounts of red lighting adversely impact the coloration of some corals more than others?

Yours are some good questions. As far as I know, there have been no studies investigating coral morphology and spectrum and I can only relay personal observations I made during my time in Hawaii. Porites corals in shallow tide pools grew in flattened shapes while those in deeper waters were mound-like, which seems contrary to the thought of self-protection from red light. In other corals (Pocillopora damicornis) morphology has been linked to environment - probably water motion.

 

[Brew12]

Yours are some good questions. As far as I know, there have been no studies investigating coral morphology and spectrum and I can only relay personal observations I made during my time in Hawaii. Porites corals in shallow tide pools grew in flattened shapes while those in deeper waters were mound-like, which seems contrary to the thought of self-protection from red light. In other corals (Pocillopora damicornis) morphology has been linked to environment - probably water motion.

Thank you Dana.

I am observing a few things in my tank which make me think the red LED's could be a contributor. My green and dark purple monti cap's tend to grow down but my orange monti cap grows in a more traditional manner. That had me wondering if the orange color was reflecting more of the red causing a smaller impact.

My tank also doesn't show much in the way of green corals with the exception of Pocillopora. The green corals tend to turn purple or brown but the red and blue corals hold their colors better.

 

[Dana Riddle]

Thank you Dana.

I am observing a few things in my tank which make me think the red LED's could be a contributor. My green and dark purple monti cap's tend to grow down but my orange monti cap grows in a more traditional manner. That had me wondering if the orange color was reflecting more of the red causing a smaller impact.

My tank also doesn't show much in the way of green corals with the exception of Pocillopora. The green corals tend to turn purple or brown but the red and blue corals hold their colors better.

Interesting observations. Could you share some photos - you definitely have my attention!

 

[Brew12]

Interesting observations. Could you share some photos - you definitely have my attention!

I have some older photo's (March) handy but I can take some new ones soon. Not the greatest but it does show the shape they are taking.


Orange

Purple

Green - you can see this one growing back into the shaded area and up, instead of out into the light

This is a recent photo of the orange monti. Couldn't find any of the other 2 that happened to be in the background.

 

[Brew12]

For reference, this is where they are located in the tank.

The other purple monti is new and has no new growth in my tank yet.

 

[Dana Riddle]

I was talking with Nick at Fluence Bioengineering, and he mention how they build horticultural LEDs to get growth, bushiness, flowering and even sugar content in terrestrial plants. In a very general way, aquatic environments are the opposite of terrestrials (on land, lots of red light equals shade, while it is the opposite in water - red is high light, and blue is deeper or shaded areas. We have a lot of learn. Thanks for sharing the pics - interesting! Would you keep me posted on these corals' growth? Thanks!

 

[Brew12]

I was talking with Nick at Fluence Bioengineering, and he mention how they build horticultural LEDs to get growth, bushiness, flowering and even sugar content in terrestrial plants. In a very general way, aquatic environments are the opposite of terrestrials (on land, lots of red light equals shade, while it is the opposite in water - red is high light, and blue is deeper or shaded areas. We have a lot of learn. Thanks for sharing the pics - interesting! Would you keep me posted on these corals' growth? Thanks!

I will... I have been very tempted to cut way back on my reds because of concerns about coral growth and coloration but I may let it ride another month to collect data. Not to mention that I feel previous lack of success was due to changing light settings too often and my coral never adjusting. Hoping to do a 1 and done when I do make the change. LED's are wonderful... and dangerous for tinkerers.

When I do make the change I can continue to track the growth and see if it changes from the current almost plating they do now to more of the cupping.

 

[Lasse]

My green and dark purple monti cap's tend to grow down but my orange monti cap grows in a more traditional manner

I´m sorry to say - in my aquarium - It is the opposite. This two is situated below the most red part of my aquarium (around 10 cm from the surface) In this part - one of my modules in my fixture are broken and produce less blue that the other modules. There is also around 12 - 15 watt red of 745 nm hitting this part, IMO - the downward growth of the red is rather depended of the intensity than colour. I have seen the same in another aquarium with high intensity (and a lot of red)

I´m just want confuse you a little bit more :)

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Brew12]

I´m just want confuse you more :)

When the confusion leads to learning, I'm good with it!

If I have time tonight I will do a good job documenting my current light schedule. I will also take new pictures of the other two monti caps. Then I will put in a new lighting program and photo document the changes.

Any input on if I should dial down the white channels and leave the red high, or if I should dial back all 3? Or should I dial back just the red?

 

[Lasse]

I have no experiences with your light but you can do a short test.
Turn down your white to zero.
Max your white, green and blue around 460 nm. Look what you get. Turn up your other blues. If it still look like rather white - turn up them till you think its too blue. Just look at how the corals look like (and the fishes) Next step - turn up the white with highest K. Stop when the colours of the corals fade away. If this is enough intensity for the coral growth - i do not know but you maybe get better looking corals without running to blue (for your eyes) Test.

But its impossible for me to give any good advises - different aquaria is just - different. But the path I always try go by - is to use as low intensity of the white that i can afford and still get a growth.

Probably I will change my light to Mitrax Light Bars 2 in the future

Sincerely Lasse

 

[jda]

I have a good amount of red coming from the MH and orange cap and the flower petal (or whatever cap) can grew like for me too. Only Leng Sy and the other purple rimmed varieties consistently grow up and cup. Idaho Grape was the worst.

 

[Dana Riddle]

I´m sorry to say - in my aquarium - It is the opposite. This two is situated below the most red part of my aquarium (around 10 cm from the surface) In this part - one of my modules in my fixture are broken and produce less blue that the other modules. There is also around 12 - 15 watt red of 745 nm hitting this part, IMO - the downward growth of the red is rather depended of the intensity than colour. I have seen the same in another aquarium with high intensity (and a lot of red)

I´m just want confuse you a little bit more :)

Sincerely Lasse

It is impossible for me to be more confused. :D But thanks for sharing Lasse!

 

[Dana Riddle]

I will... I have been very tempted to cut way back on my reds because of concerns about coral growth and coloration but I may let it ride another month to collect data. Not to mention that I feel previous lack of success was due to changing light settings too often and my coral never adjusting. Hoping to do a 1 and done when I do make the change. LED's are wonderful... and dangerous for tinkerers.

When I do make the change I can continue to track the growth and see if it changes from the current almost plating they do now to more of the cupping.

Yes, agreed. Constant tinkering with lighting is probably not beneficial for photosynthetic organisms. Please keep us posted!

 

[Straight.Reefin]

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think that Sanjay joshi’s tank runs all radions and all colors are on at 100% including the red......and his sps tank looks amazing

 

[oreo54]

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think that Sanjay joshi’s tank runs all radions and all colors are on at 100% including the red......and his sps tank looks amazing

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2532072

 

[Straight.Reefin]

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2532072

I am definitely not trying to be sarcastic with this statement, but obviously the red light isn’t that bad then right?? Or is the Radion red a better or different type of red or something?