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I am in the early stages of my tank maturation. i have had live rock and dead sand and a couple of corals in the tank for about two months now.
on a recent sunny day PAR values reached 1504 for periods as the sun went across the sky. as the sun moves across the sky the light will be intense for a while and then taper off down to 2-4-600 PAR and then high again as the sun is directly on the corals. the sun is now high enough in the sky to shine directly down on the corals without bouncing off the sides of the shaft. these values were at the bottom of the tank. i don't have much attenuation like with halides.
the corals i want in this tank are mostl SPS and some LPS as well, including Montipora's, Acropora, Millepora. euphyllia's, fungia, and a few others which can be in a shadier area. no soft corals. i have some areas of the tank i am shading with eggcrate on an angle and this seems to be helping the few corals acclimate, Acropora Yongei, montipora capricornis, birdsnest, and a couple Pocillipora. the monticaps lightened up considerably in this tank compared to a few inches under a 400 watt MH, both the green and orange morphs turned pastel shades.
most of the time the PAR values are at lower levels.
acclimating corals to this tank seems like it could potentially be a problem. however, i have not had any corals bleach but only lighten up, that's when i shaded some of them.
my tank seems like it will be lit almost like the reef crest.
Dana Riddle's work seems to show that corals get light saturated at values below what i am seeing in my tank. at values around 2-400 for different corals. is there an advantage for coloration or other advantages to the higher values?
again, most of the time the values are less and days are longer now than in the tropics but winter will come again. but then it is not summer solstice yet either.
i am hoping to be able to run my tank without supplemental lighting.
i live about three miles from the beach and for June and July we have many overcast days from the marine layer, now and in the fall are probably the sunniest days.
the color from sunlight may not give the look many people like for their corals but that is another discussion. it seems like if the coral is brightly colored it will remain so under this more intense light, after all this light has all the wavelengths. the perceived color may be different but the color is still there.
they are all growing well.
what do you think?
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Carl
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Excellent start to a thread and I hate I probably can't get really involved as I am leaving town for awhile. But, the first thing I need to know is how long do you have peak readings. I know it will vary greatly depending on clouds, etc. but, let's just say a perfectly clear day, give me a rough estimate of PAR values over the day. I am curious as to how long those peaks are through the tube as I would think they would be relatively short compared to the dropped off levels by comparison with the reef and an open sky.
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thanks for the quick response.
i will take some readings over the day tomorrow. it is supposed to be clear and hot and i should be around all day. some parts of the tank are brightly lit while others are not at the same time as the sun moves around the shaft. there are hours though where most of the tank is brightly lit.
the shaft is lined with the same stuff HD reflectors are made from.
you can read MUCH more about the tank on my build thread by clicking my www icon.
i have been working on this for a couple of years now and going very slowly as things mature through the various phases. so however long you are gone is ok. i will be patient.
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Carl
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the day turned out not to be totally sunny, partially sunny only. this is what it looked like all day. it was almost record temps though, about 92 degrees here. no chiller or real sump yet. tank temps went from 82-86 over the day. everything seems fine today. tanks is still 86 today as i write this at 6pm. cooler tomorrow.
you can see some glitter lines in this video and when a mysid runs across the Montipora it contracts it's polyps for a few seconds.
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i had the PAR readings spaced out for easy reading but it all got condensed. sorry about that. the software took out all my spacings.
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Carl
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the last two feet of the shaft is open on three sides and a lot of light spills out. i like the access but think i should continue the reflective material down to the top of the tank.
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Carl
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| Hey Carl, Those readings are what I would want to emulate and are most likely right on par (pun intended) with what I would expect to see on a real reef at depth. I seriously believe you have nothing to worry about and I can only wish for such intensity, free intensity at that! I really like the way the sun "rises" and "sets" per your par readings. The water temps are fine per what I see of the reefs here, 82 - 86 is the daily norms (including my tank). However, given that just about everyone else runs their tank at near artic levels, you may have some acclimation issues with new corals. By the way, I totaly revamped the website and believe it is much easier on the eyes, including mine... Chuck
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[quote]charlesr1958 (4/29/2008)
Hey Carl,
Those readings are what I would want to emulate and are most likely right on par (pun intended) with what I would expect to see on a real reef at depth. I seriously believe you have nothing to worry about and I can only wish for such intensity, free intensity at that! I really like the way the sun "rises" and "sets" per your par readings.
The water temps are fine per what I see of the reefs here, 82 - 86 is the daily norms (including my tank). However, given that just about everyone else runs their tank at near artic levels, you may have some acclimation issues with new corals.
By the way, I totaly revamped the website and believe it is much easier on the eyes, including mine...
Chuck[/quote]
i like the new website look too!
i am glad to hear i am on the right track with the lighting. you think it is not too low and too high? do you have a PAR meter that you dive with?
i wonder if i can't just leave the three sides open that last two feet. i hate to waste the light though and it would hide the returns around the top of the tank that will go in when i have a sump.
the sump should be able to help with the heat some. it will be a few hundred gallons in the garage wich is partly below grade,
i too am a bit concerned about acclimating corals to the temps and the higher light levels. i have had some of them lighten up after going in the tank. Monti caps, both green and orange that were 6" under a 400 watt halide turned pastel at first but have now started to get a bit darker now and are resumming growth. about 6 weeks in the new tank.
what do you think about the swing in the temp of 4 degrees over the day? the 86 degrees was only with our recent near record temps for this early in the year. we will have temps this high again but not for a while. temps should be about 20 degrees less today.
up until this past weekend the tank temps have only been running around 79-80. so that is a big jump suddenly over just a day or so. all looked well last night although it is still early here and i haven't looked in on them yet today. i do have a flashlight by the tank for after dark viewing.
how much daily variation can they take? i have a 2hp chiller on order and think i should have it for insurance. i wish i could figure out a way to use the 1200 gallon cistern in the ground as a heat sink through an exchanger.
should i enclose the other three sides to capture more light that would more evenly light the tank?
you can see some of the spillage in this picture.
the sun is now coming stright down the shaft into the tank for a few hours each day.
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Carl
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i am glad to hear i am on the right track with the lighting. you think it is not too low and too high? do you have a PAR meter that you dive with? Personaly I think your par levels are good, going by what I remember of natural par level readings in a general sense as there are numerous factors that affect it. I wish I had such a par meter, not so much for my own use or needs, but being where I am, it would be nice to take some readings and be able to show the hobby what a great many corals actualy do well in. Blew my mind the other day when I was seeing acropora on the reef wall at 100' deep! But that area is a lot less turbid than "my" reef.
i wonder if i can't just leave the three sides open that last two feet. i hate to waste the light though and it would hide the returns around the top of the tank that will go in when i have a sump. Again, I don't think you are in need of or wasting any light, a simple screen material would suffice to hide what you want hidden, I say screen type material as I am thinking that if you close of that area you would most likely create an oven and push your water temp over the edge, unless that area is also vented.
what do you think about the swing in the temp of 4 degrees over the day? the 86 degrees was only with our recent near record temps for this early in the year. we will have temps this high again but not for a while. temps should be about 20 degrees less today.
up until this past weekend the tank temps have only been running around 79-80. so that is a big jump suddenly over just a day or so. all looked well last night although it is still early here and i haven't looked in on them yet today. i do have a flashlight by the tank for after dark viewing.
how much daily variation can they take? i have a 2hp chiller on order and think i should have it for insurance. i wish i could figure out a way to use the 1200 gallon cistern in the ground as a heat sink through an exchanger.
Such a temp swing is perfectly normal, and would be more concerned if there were no swings. Stable to me | | | |