Reef photocycle - nature vs artificial reef

[SixtyFeetUnder]

I've been in the hobby a little while and of late have been thinking about how long we run our lights vs a natural photocycle. Generally speaking I seem to see most people list running their full sprectum w whites for 8 hours and actinics for an hour on both ends. So essentially a 10 hour day of sunlight w peak of 8 and 14 off/moonlights.

 

To me this jumps out as a mimic of the human 8-10 hours workday which seems odd. I have always run my lights on a similar program as it keeps algae to a minimum and seems "standard". But if I think about summer here we generally have 14 hours of light, in the winter quite a bit less. How does this compare to the tropical reef climates? Is there less fluctuation in those climates? Should we be altering on on/off times along with the seasons?

 

And would it behoove me/us to run our lights on a longer schedule than seems standard (12-14 hours per day) or have our aquacultured corals adapted like poison arrow frogs loosing their toxicity after generations of captive breeding? Love to hear the thoughts and opinions of a lot of much more educated minds on the subject at hand, thanks!

[Origami]

Bill, studies that I've read indicate that total photon dosage is a key factor here and that, at the light levels that are typical in our tanks, that we can easily get away with an 8-hour photo period. Also, that the dark, recovery cycle time is also very important to coral growth. It's been a while, but I know that we have a post here in the forum that points to some of those references.

[Origami]

Here you go:

 

http://wamas.org/forums/topic/51425-photo-period-question

 

This link points to other, earlier posts, too.

[sen5241b]

If you increase photo period, increase it gradually

[mling]

With LED lights we can now play with the combination / intensity of different colors. How does that play into this discussion ?

As the speaker in our most recent meeting mentioned,  often the natural reef is rather dull but under LEDs things change.

 

I am contemplating spending over $1500 to use highly configurable Radions to light my 156G.  While I think I can see different coloration by configuring different combinations of light, what would the adverse effects be, if any ? 

 

When is artificial for beauty too much ?

[Origami]

With LED lights we can now play with the combination / intensity of different colors. How does that play into this discussion ?

As the speaker in our most recent meeting mentioned,  often the natural reef is rather dull but under LEDs things change.

 

I am contemplating spending over $1500 to use highly configurable Radions to light my 156G.  While I think I can see different coloration by configuring different combinations of light, what would the adverse effects be, if any ? 

 

When is artificial for beauty too much ?

Dana Riddle did a very good series a few years ago (2009) about the different color clades in corals and their responsiveness to light. You may find it interesting to apply his information to the tunability of LED lights which have arrived on the scene since then.

 

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2009/1/aafeature1

[Bruleyii]

With LED lights we can now play with the combination / intensity of different colors. How does that play into this discussion ?

As the speaker in our most recent meeting mentioned,  often the natural reef is rather dull but under LEDs things change.

 

I am contemplating spending over $1500 to use highly configurable Radions to light my 156G.  While I think I can see different coloration by configuring different combinations of light, what would the adverse effects be, if any ? 

 

When is artificial for beauty too much ?

 

Here is another thread on reefcentral that was pretty interesting about LEDs and the colors. It doesnt get into duration at all but its a good read. If you can get past some of the bickering. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2315500

[SixtyFeetUnder]

Thank you for the links; helpful information sharing as always.

[mling]

Thank you for the links; helpful information sharing as always.

+1

Thanks Tom and others, I now see the light !

[s2nhle]

great information. Thank you for sharing.