Too much lighting?

[lilrobb]

So,

is it possible that even after proper lighting acclimation the amount is simply TOO high?
Meaning, can a 400W on a 12" deep tank do any harm if the inhabitants are acclimated and the temps are fine?

Robb

 

[mockery]

The corals could be harmed if they were from a T5 tank. I've noticed that corals struggle going from T5 to MH

 

[johnr2604]

IME yes. There are corals that don't like being blasted with light. Some Blasto's and ricordia come to mind. I also had problems in my 6" tank with some acros however I cant trace it to having too much light or the fact that they were on the mover. When I moved everything to a deeper tank without the mover everything did much better. Only thing I changed was the deeper tank and the mover. All lighting sump, skimmer, etc stayed the same

 

[kayakatl]

I would assume in theory yes. Just like some plants can get too much sun in some climates or weather. With days like we have been having i can say there is such thing as too much light for us too. I think there is always a balance. Some coral may love the extra light, but every species may react differently.

 

[lilrobb]

*paging Jeremy, Dave etc..."

 

[skriz]

Absolutely.

Just taking sps into consideration, there are certain sps corals that have a very high level of saturation and others that have a very low level of saturation. I saw this all the time in my tank. Some sps just coloured up nicer lower in the tank. Others wouldn't look good unless they were practically mounted inside the reflector.

Check out some of Dana Riddle's work for a more in depth explanation with charts and stuff.

 

[jmaneyapanda]

Photoinhibition. Many red corals have a very low tolerance for high light, and many blue corals much higher. And clams do not photoinhibit. As Raj said, google "Dana Riddle photoinhibition" and you the buckets of research on it.

 

[lilrobb]

Correct me from wrong,
Photoinhibition simply means the coral cannot USE more light - now does it hurt it?

R2

 

[misu]

I think that's correct, here's the wiki part that's interesting:

How often does damage occur?

Photosystem II is damaged by light irrespective of light intensity.

 

[jmaneyapanda]

LilRobb;549870 wrote: Correct me from wrong,
Photoinhibition simply means the coral cannot USE more light - now does it hurt it?

R2

Most definitely. Its not photosaturation, its inhibition. It often is a precursor to bleaching.

 

[smoothie]

jmaneyapanda;549869 wrote: Photoinhibition. Many red corals have a very low tolerance for high light, and many blue corals much higher. And clams do not photoinhibit. As Raj said, google "Dana Riddle photoinhibition" and you the buckets of research on it.

+1. Great way to kill an afternoon.
Here's one

 

[snowmansnow]

short answer in my limited exp = YES

I had 400w HQI over a 24" tank and nearly fried everything over the course of a YEAR.

B

 

[acroholic]

LilRobb;549739 wrote: So,

is it possible that even after proper lighting acclimation the amount is simply TOO high?
Meaning, can a 400W on a 12" deep tank do any harm if the inhabitants are acclimated and the temps are fine?

Robb

I don't think you can say a definitive yes or no to this. I think it depends on the type of coral being kept.

Many acroporas would probably do well with this. If anyone ever saw Sailfish's 75 gallon SPS tank with 400 watt halides with LumenMax reflectors 6 inches off the surface with flourishing millies, acoporas and other SPS corals you'd say no problem with Robb's setup.

But other corals, like ricordea, blastos, chalices, would most likely bleach and or die. At the VERY least they would not look very good.

My personal opinion is that this would be a waste of money and electricity, whereas a 250 or 150 halide would probably grow anything you want at a depth like 12".

 

[lilrobb]

Reason I am asking,
My green slimers look way better under T5s than under this 400W 20k XM.
They almost seem to be bleached and that after a good acclimation period gradually introducing them to this supernova...

 

[skriz]

LilRobb;550220 wrote: Reason I am asking,
My green slimers look way better under T5s than under this 400W 20k XM.
They almost seem to be bleached and that after a good acclimation period gradually introducing them to this supernova...

My green slimer liked a little less light. It was a much deeper/brighter colour lower in the tank. It looked almost white if placed too high.