Here's some of what I took from the talk, this may be a long post. Happy reading, and let me know if I'm wrong.
The bulk of his talk was about the relationship of Electron Transport Rate(ETR), Photosynthetically Active Radiation(PAR), Photoinhibition, and the point of light saturation.
PAR is micromol photons x m^2 x second. Surface PAR at the equator is 2100. A study of his was that the average aquarium has a PAR value of 233.
1 PAR = 50 lux.
ETR is the rate of photosynthesis.
Photoinhibition is the point at which a coral will shutdown due to excessive light.
Light Saturation Point is the point at which a higher PAR value benefits the coral less, causing inefficient use of light.
Corals contain color protein pigments. There are just over 100 of these pigments identified. They believe there are thousands. They are classified by number. I was not able to jot down the numbers of the pigments...
There are 3 types of color proteins. Fluorescent, Non Fluorescent, and Chemical Oxidation.
Fluorescence - When the molecular absorption of a photon triggers the emission of another photon with a longer wavelength. In essence, one color is absorbed and another is released. Or, Activated by light.
Non Fluorescent - These are chromoproteins. They merely reflect light, typically in shades of blue or red.
Chemical Oxidation - He didn't really touch on this one enough to make it into my notes... If I can find out more on this one, I'll post it, unless someone else can fill it it.
He gave a lot of examples after explaining the relationships. Here are most of the acceptable and saturation points. These get very specific, as you'll see variance within a species.
Dinosaur Egg - Acceptable: 175 PAR
Yellow Orange Fungia - Acceptable: 110 PAR - Saturation: 290 PAR
M. capricornis (standard color) - Acceptable: 100 PAR Saturation: 160 PAR
M. capricornis (sunset) - Acceptable: 100 PAR Saturation: 180 PAR
Acropora tortuosa - Acceptable: 241 PAR - Saturation: 450 PAR
The two oddballs..
M. undata - Saturation: 125PAR - Best color: 180 PAR So in the range of lower ETR due to excessive PAR, this species showed better color. It is VERY important to note, that this is the exception in this case, not the rule.
Purple Monster - He stopped reading the saturation point at 450. He could not get this coral to reach a point of saturation.
He emphasized that two of the most important things to get better colors from your coral is a stable proper alkalinity level and proper water flow.
So Ouling, according to him, your 1000 PAR was just a waste of money with your power bill, as most corals will grow just fine and have good color with a PAR reading less than 1/10th the level of the sun.
He mentioned using LED spot lamps as a way of cheating to target a specific color to illuminate. He also said LEDs systems are much better than halides, and that VHOs are better than T5s. Then there was the short section on U.V. light.
The case he used was a red coral turning green in the presence of U.V. light. In a small amount, a green protein would receive the U.V. and transfer the energy to a red receptor protein. In excess, the red protein would bleach, causing only the illumination of the green protein.
