Whiter light, higher par tolerance?

[Doctorgori]

I’m wondering if 400 Par natural Sunlight has the same metabolic effect as 400 Par from a typical reef LED

I know corals have a wide tolerance but these lords are getting sun blasted; low December Sun has angled into the window/ tank and pours in for about 1-2 hrs direct.

My MQ210 reads 404 whether pointed up or tangent, is that the upper range for acans?
… granted because the light has increased slowly/ seasonally, it’s not as if the coral is adjusting to a brand overhead new LED

I might cross post over on the LPS forum if I should move these acans, but my main question is I’m wondering if “ wide spectrum” sunlight is tolerated at higher par levels in general for photosynthetic corals ( as opposed to subjecting same corals to 400 PAR readings under a Kessil

Here is the profile of the tank relative to sunlight exposure

 

[Lavey29]

ive only had success with acans in lower level par 150 and below but have seen noticeable color changes between higher and lower pars with acans.

 

[Doctorgori]

ive only had success with acans in lower level par 150 and below but have seen noticeable color changes between higher and lower pars with acans.

as in more light = more color ?
…these guys look nice n puffy but will they bleach?

 

[Rick's Reviews]

I’m wondering if 400 Par natural Sunlight has the same metabolic effect as 400 Par from a typical reef LED

I know corals have a wide tolerance but these lords are getting sun blasted; low December Sun has angled into the window/ tank and pours in for about 1-2 hrs direct.

My MQ210 reads 404 whether pointed up or tangent, is that the upper range for acans?
… granted because the light has increased slowly/ seasonally, it’s not as if the coral is adjusting to a brand overhead new LED

I might cross post over on the LPS forum if I would move it, but my main question is if “ wide spectrum” sunlight is tolerated at higher par levels in general for photosynthetic corals

Here is the profile of the tank relative to sunlight exposure

I noticed that direct sunlight from my main window on my aquriam made all my mushrooms grow/open up so much... They was loving it. I was worried about algae growth but at the same time my mushrooms was grabbing the natural light, it's winter time in UK but sun still strong, my corals loved it

 

[Lavey29]

as in more light = more color ?
…these guys look nice n puffy but will they bleach?

Not sure because of the sunlight affect versus LED. The ones I had in higher par mid tank lost color and eventually declined. I have some in the bottom corner now that are always puffy and great color but low par and low flow. I have some bottom front of the tank in about 125 par and they are healthy and well colored too so for my tank lower par and flow worked best.

 

[Doctorgori]

Not sure because of the sunlight affect versus LED. The ones I had in higher par mid tank lost color and eventually declined. I have some in the bottom corner now that are always puffy and great color but low par and low flow. I have some bottom front of the tank in about 125 par and they are healthy and well colored too so for my tank lower par and flow worked best.

So yeah I’m wondering if the 1-2 hr of high par exposure will negatively affect them; this should only last till mid Jan I would think… maybe ….

 

[Doctorgori]

I noticed that direct sunlight from my main window on my aquriam made all my mushrooms grow/open up so much... They was loving it. I was worried about algae growth but at the same time my mushrooms was grabbing the natural light, it's winter time in UK but sun still strong, my corals loved it

someone, somewhere has a “ natural sunlight” vid in the youtube -verse ….. Could be something to it

 

[jda]

Red and Far Red (IR) help move energy between the photosystems... meaning that they handle more light and make more energy.

This goes beyond the visible spectrum and into light that we cannot see and LED does not have.

In my experience, I had corals under sunlight in Missouri and they thrived. For MH, best to stop at 1200-1500 PAR if you can even get there. T5 is 900-800. Most LED at 400, but some can go higher with more daylight and good acclimation.

As for acans, those are collected in waist deep water at low tide - 2000 PAR, or more, of daylight. While they don't need that much, they can grow faster with more light.

 

[Spare time]

Imo par is incomplete without considering spectrum. For example it should take far less blue light to achieve photosaturation than something like yellow.

 

[Bpb]

Most of the special stuff in sunlight that artificial lights are lacking has been heavily filtered out by window glass and tank glass

 

[blecki]

Anecdotal evidence only - before I moved, my tank was in a spot that got direct sunlight about 4 hours a day, but only across one half of the tank. Everything on that side of the tank absolutely exploded. I had no SPS or LPS at the time, only zoas/palys, leathers, and GSP, so nothing that required high par - but they all grew like weeds and their colors didn't fade, they got better. The other side of the tank barely grew at all.

Back wall was an algae farm though. GHA everywhere.

 

[Doctorgori]

Anecdotal evidence only - before I moved, my tank was in a spot that got direct sunlight about 4 hours a day, but only across one half of the tank. Everything on that side of the tank absolutely exploded. I had no SPS or LPS at the time, only zoas/palys, leathers, and GSP, so nothing that required high par - but they all grew like weeds and their colors didn't fade, they got better. The other side of the tank barely grew at all.

Back wall was an algae farm though. GHA everywhere.

it’s night but tomorrow around 3ish the sun will be hitting the corner of the tank; not shown are the other LPS (bowerbanki, lords, favias, et) …the other side: not nearly as “ puffy”

 

[djf91]

They should love it and continue to thrive in the natural sun light. No need to worry about par. I’ve experienced this in sun lit sections of my own aquariums. Higher quality light than what LEDs can produce. The closest you’re going to get to this is Metal halides.

 

[jda]

I have some tropical plants here in Colorado - Ice Cream Banana, Birds of Paradise and some Plumeria... not what some of you are thinking. We have high quality, Low E windows in the room where these go for the winter and 1200-1500 PAR of light in a pretty good spectrum gets through. There is no UVB, but UVA still gets through - the meter stops at 1000nm and there is light all the way up that high.

This is right now and the number will almost double when the sun gets higher:

 

[oreo54]

I have some tropical plants here in Colorado - Ice Cream Banana, Birds of Paradise and some Plumeria... not what some of you are thinking. We have high quality, Low E windows in the room where these go for the winter and 1200-1500 PAR of light in a pretty good spectrum gets through. There is no UVB, but UVA still gets through - the meter stops at 1000nm and there is light all the way up that high.

This is right now and the number will almost double when the sun gets higher:

How do you figure the sensor goes to 1000nm?
This sensor does..

Quantum Light Pollution Sensors | Apogee Instruments

www.apogeeinstruments.com

The Quantum Light Pollution Sensor uses a detector that is sensitive to radiation up to about 1100 nm, well beyond the range of wavelengths that influence photosynthesis and plant responses. This means this particular sensor should only be used for photon flux density measurements under LEDs.

And don't forget about the underwater conversion factor.

The Apogee Full-Spectrum Quantum Sensor (model SQ-500) is more spectrally accurate than the Original X Quantum Sensor (model SQ-100X), but the unique optics (mainly the shape) cause the immersion effect to be larger for the new sensor. Underwater PAR measurements collected using a full-spectrum sensor can be corrected by multiplying by 1.25; measurements collected using an original X Apogee sensor should be multiplied by 1.15*.


*The MQ-210X and MQ-510 Underwater Quantum Meters already apply the immersion effect correction factor to the meter readings through the meter firmware. Additionally, the SQ-420X and SQ-520 have an "Immersion Setting" that applies the immersion effect correction factor to the sensor readings through the ApogeeConnect Software. These sensors do not need post-measurement corrections applied to their measurements.

Underwater PAR Measurements | Apogee Instruments

www.apogeeinstruments.com

Divide the above by 1.25 I believe..
Still high. 598

 

[djf91]

@jda remember the display tank in the front window at Clayton Pet Emporium back in the day? Those SPS colonies glowed in the afternoon sun. It also created a unique algae community on the live rock. Corallines you don’t see too often anymore.

 

[Doctorgori]

@jda remember the display tank in the front window at Clayton Pet Emporium back in the day? Those SPS colonies glowed in the afternoon sun. It also created a unique algae community on the live rock. Corallines you don’t see too often anymore.

I’ve never figured out what gives with whiter/lower kelvin light… granted color temp isn’t spectrum but that whole thing about sunlight/white light causing hair/pest algae is bunk/misplaced logic
… and good observation about the coralline; I see greens, reds and pinks in addition to dark purp and violet types in the sunlit tank….