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dianatabor View Drop Down
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Joined: April 24 2003
Location: Layton, UT
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Points: 183 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote dianatabor Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 07 2004 at 11:53am
I just want to let everyone know that the tank Adam is speaking of is mine. (Thanks, Adam, for calling it "beautiful"!) I've been staying out of this thread, so I could see what others said without influencing the conversation.

I'm actually surprised that Renee and I are the only ones who turn our actinics off during the day. Before I got my tank up and running, I heard that I was supposed to do this (sunrise/sunset). Hmmmm... I guess I'm doing it wrong? Oh, well. I'm not going to stop now, since everything's doing so well.   

I've had my tank set up since August with the following lighting schedule:
  • 7:00 am - Moonlites On (so I can enjoy the tank before going to work; I feed night-feeding corals now)

  • 11:00 am - Actinic On

  • 11:30 am - Moonlites Off

  • 12:00 pm - Daylight On

  • 1:00 pm - Actinic Off

  • 8:00 pm - Actinic On

    • (This is usually when I feed phytoplankton and spot feed (every few days) my mushrooms, torch coral, frogspawn, button polyps, and gorgonian)
  • 9:00 pm - Daylight Off

    • (This is usually when I feed my fish and sun polyps)
  • 9:30 pm - Moonlights On

  • 10:00 pm - Actinic Off

  • 12:00 am - Moonlights Off
(FYI - My tank is 17 gallons; Actinic and Daylight bulbs are each 65W PC; this schedule is so late because I go to bed late, so I enjoy the tank mainly in the evening.)

Do you think that this schedule has anything to do with how well my macroagae does? My halimeda grows like crazy! I know other people have had problems keeping this stuff alive. Maybe it does better without the actinic light? I know that it stays whiter with only the actinic lighting and turns dark green with only the daylight lighting. I've never paid attention to what it looks like with both on. I'll do that and let you know what I observe.

Like my halimeda, my corals continue to grow like weeds. Since about September, I've had to frag my frogspawn, green stars, xenia, button polyps, and mushrooms. Even my acro frags continue to grow, so I don't feel like I've been depriving them. At least not too much. Everything is very healthy and since I only have a 17-gallon tank, I'd actually like things to grow a little slower.
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Travis View Drop Down
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Joined: September 23 2003
Location: United States
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Points: 621 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Travis Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 07 2004 at 5:47pm

Originally posted by chrisslc chrisslc wrote:

Doesn't the blue light reach the coral at a greater intensity than the same wattage light, the same distance, of a different color.

Yes I think your correct but our tanks are not very deep...  mine is 24" so the deepest coral is around 20" from the water surface.  I don't think in that short of a depth that the other spectrums get filtered out that much...  meaning our tanks are dominated by a full spectrum instead of just the blue.

Originally posted by Mark Peterson Mark Peterson wrote:

Isn't the real point here, what coral do I want to keep and what is the light spectrum and intensity in it's natural environment?

Not the way I see it...  My opinion is my tanks will never come close to their "natural environment".  I know we all strive to duplicate mater nature but the fact is we are trying to duplicate an ocean in an aquarium.  So, IMO, elevating above their natural environment in the areas we can will only help pick up the slack in the areas we are lacking.  That is one reason I run alk/ca above NSW.    

Originally posted by Adam Blundell Adam Blundell wrote:

I strongly believe in blue light, because of it's importance to plants.  Yes corals aren't plants I know. 

What is its importance to plants?  I know macro algae is not a "plant" but I've read several times that a spectrum around 5500k will grow macros like crazy.

Originally posted by dianatabor dianatabor wrote:

I'm not going to stop now, since everything's doing so well.

If it's working for you and your critters I see no reason to change.  Besides, your actinics will last a long, long time….

 

Anyway, JMOs

 



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