Relation between coral color and lighting - Info

tinman

Well-known member
I am recently feeling not soo good about color of one of my corals and i know its got something to do with the lighting issues i had recently. So contacted elderly and more knowledgeable on this forum and they lead me to interesting articles about relation between lighting we provide and the color of the coral ..

A newbies thoughts on lighting would be ... provide more lighting than what is required by the coral and they would sustain .. but as i started reading there is soo much more than that ..


i have read soo much in the last couple of days and would like to read more .. so let this thread be informative on that topic .. Everyone please provide us with articles, Urls ..... related to this topic..

Just to keep the thread from being cluttered with numerous urls, we can keep t the format...

Topic discussed in the article : xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
URL : xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Summary/Gist (optional) :


Please keep the thread informative and no snide comments or remarks or fighting please ..
 
Can you please start by adding some articles you have read? i have a really good one on the effects of lighting and feeding, but i have to find it.
 
Most of the article do stress relation between three things 1. lighting, 2. zooxanthellae 3. Coral Pigment. Even if they all say same thing its still worth a read i believe


and Thanks to Jorge and Mai for starting me on this.
 
Lol, I think I've wasted all week reading up on stuff like this... let me find some...

Topic: Making Corals Colorful: New information on Acropora Species
URL: http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2012/12/corals#disqus_thread

Topic: PUR vs PAR in aquarium lighting (led); spectographs
URL: http://www.aquarium-pond-answers.com/2012/03/pur-vs-par-in-aquarium-lighting.html

Topic: Wet Web Media FAQs on LEDs (great resource, in particular in relation to specific issues other aquarists have experienced)
URL: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/LEDSciRatF.htm

Topic: LED Light Review (heavily biased, author denies claims of being associated with the company, but admits bias). Interesting article due to LED discussion.
URL: http://aquarium-digest.com/2010/06/30/led-light-review-tmc-xg-1500-maxspect-more/

Topic: LED Lights, Lighting; How they work, DIY (Similar bias as previous author, maybe the same author, same publication in any case)
URL: http://aquarium-digest.com/2010/04/11/led-aquarium-lights-lighting/

Topic: Purchase LED lighting, what to know (Again, a bias towards one manufacturer, but also interesting due to the discussion of PUR instead of PAR)
URL: http://aap.atrixnet.com/?tag=tmc-led


Sorry, if the last 3 have more of an emphasis on LEDs (one brand in particular :() instead of being directly on LEDs and coral colors. I liked their discussion of the wavelengths being addressed, though, and how PUR (Photosynthetically Useable Radiation) is more important than PAR (Photosynthetically Active Radiation). The critical difference between the two (from my weeks reading, so I may be wrong here) is that PAR is classified as anything between 400 - 700nm, whereas PUR varies species to species due to their different pigmentation. Further, while the general bulk of the upper range of PAR (yellows, oranges, and reds) are photosynthetically active radiation for many terrestrial plants, many of our corals do not use that wavelength as much. This is due to water filtering out these wavelengths as you get deeper and deeper. In other words, PAR is useful, but not as useful a tool as we might think, since you could load up a light with a heavy amount of upper wavelength visible light, the LEDs would be bright as can be, and still not have very much PUR.... That'd be an extreme case, but it makes looking at spectrographs that much more intriguing when deciding on LEDs.

There are a lot of articles, and many more threads of people who have been using LEDs experiencing color shifts, and corals losing color due to the limitations of the light spectrum that many fixtures provide. More often than not, especially over here in the US apparently, deep blues are favored, and so LEDs are designed accordingly (basic market principle, make what people want). This results in certain upper wavelengths (yellows, oranges, reds) being ignored or toned down for our viewing pleasure, but this can limit certain types of photosynthesis. Most corals do fine, but apparently some lose certain colors (hence they color shift). From the many threads I have read up on, this is particularly true of red acan coral (eg. brain coral). Hope this provides some interesting reading for someone else too!
 
yea i know :damnmate: looks like my that week just started
Thanks Bud

Heh! It's a good read, but has left me throwing my hands up and considering metal halides instead, lol. The only 2 reasons I won't do that is 1) they would blind me while I sit in my living room, and I'm not about to make a canopy for them, and 2) My tank already runs 80 without any heating..... Really interesting reads though, just... there's a lot out there, and I think it boils down to simply that we aren't 100% sure just which wavelengths, and in which quantities we should be supplying them! Then factor in that most tune lighting to look good instead of thinking of the corals, and the market is loaded with LEDs that aren't nearly as effective as they should be. One reason I'm considering AI Vegas now... lol. Their interchangeable 'puck' system sounds promising.... But their price point is a little too high, lol!
 
In relation to this topic - and because now I am curious what the spectrograph of my tank would be, I found a cool DIY Spectrometer utilizing a webcam and some software.... Well, I found a thread linking me to it. Supposedly it has a 5 - 10nm accuracy once calibrated.

The original thread (Atlanta Reefing Forums): http://www.atlantareefclub.org/forums/showthread.php?t=66297&highlight=photosynthesis

Where you can find instructions to make one yourself or buy a kit for $40: http://publiclaboratory.org/tool/spectrometer

Sadly, I was looking for an awesome thread that I forgot to bookmark that listed LEDs by their bin number, and where to find said LEDs, along with their wavelengths, peak wavelengths, and then matching all of that to types of chlorophyll and other photosynthetic reactions. That was like the be-all-end-all guide for me in terms of DIY leds... not that it matters, I'm buying premade due to surgery soon (aka no DIYs for a while :()

Check out the link though, cool idea, I may do that once I recover!
 
this is an interesting thread. i believe i have been having problems with my tank because of the lighting. i have 7 rb and 7 warm white cree leds. the few coral i have tryed to keep have been unsuccessful. befor they did not have any optics as i was waiting on 60 degree lenses to come in the mail. they are on a dimmable driver but it seems to be to intense. my fish are doing fine, and my perameters are about perfect. i now put the optics on and have the light dimed but my se polyps still have not opend. i find it very interesting that plants will suck up all the light you can through at them but the zoozanthallea do not. i thought algae was a plant. at what point does the led cause bleaching? o my tank is 10 x 36 by 30 tall
 
Found another great article on leds, this one also essentially in support of DIY or custom leds. ((Oh, how i wish I didn't have to have surgery and could take on a DIY project! Well, that, and I already wish I could use my left arm again, lol...))

Article: Product Review: Build My LED 48" Strip Light: Custom LED Lighting for Freshwater and Reef Aquaria

Summary: Review of a custom led provider, although what makes it interesting is the incorporation of relevant wavelengths for particular chlorophyll and the photosynthetic process.

Link: http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2013/3/review/?utm_source=nivoslider&utm_medium=slider&utm_campaign=clickthru
 
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