Ace25's 75G Build Thread
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welcome flomojo. I take it that you are out West and know Ace... Any friend of Ace is a friend of mine, lol. Make sure you post some pictures of your tanks as if they are anything like Ace's i would love to see them...
Ace, is it really your birthday? And here I was pickin' your brain without even singing you a birthday song... hahaha.
Ace, is it really your birthday? And here I was pickin' your brain without even singing you a birthday song... hahaha.
Ya, Flomojo is a fellow local reefer that I like to bounce ideas off of. Really great guy and very passionate reefer. He got into SPS corals just a couple months after I did. We have been talking about how to work this new PAR meter I have coming into some test setups. I have some crazy theories on lighting that I want to try out. Unfortunately we have realized I need much more specific equipment than just the PAR meter to do testing to any real accuracy. Still, I can do some generalized tests to figure out a few things. Plus I will be able to compare Guillo1's 3 Solar Tubes he has over his tank for lighting vs metal halide lighting to see which one works better. I bought a PAR meter back in the late 90's for a different hobby, but that broke on me years ago. Finally get a new, updated one that does logging to play with soon.
I changed out another bulb on my 29G yesterday and I think it helps. Now I have 2 420nm Actinics, 2 460nm Actinics, 1 UV Aquasun (red tint), and 1 CurrentUSA 10k (white). Seems like a good 14k look to the tank and things looked more perked up (as you can see by my zoa pics). I have a strong feeling there is a "balance" to be found with lights in regards to photosynthesis, and the more I read and learn, the more I think that in order to equal the intensity of the 440nm side of Chlorophyll B to the 680nm side of Chlorophyll A you need to add 3-4x the actinics per 10k bulb. 440nm=blueish side, 680nm=redish side of light spectrum. It is harder to get the same intensity of 440nm compared to 680nm, so you need to put in 3-4 actinics per every aquasun bulb in order to match the different "peaks".
Picture shows what I am saying:
I changed out another bulb on my 29G yesterday and I think it helps. Now I have 2 420nm Actinics, 2 460nm Actinics, 1 UV Aquasun (red tint), and 1 CurrentUSA 10k (white). Seems like a good 14k look to the tank and things looked more perked up (as you can see by my zoa pics). I have a strong feeling there is a "balance" to be found with lights in regards to photosynthesis, and the more I read and learn, the more I think that in order to equal the intensity of the 440nm side of Chlorophyll B to the 680nm side of Chlorophyll A you need to add 3-4x the actinics per 10k bulb. 440nm=blueish side, 680nm=redish side of light spectrum. It is harder to get the same intensity of 440nm compared to 680nm, so you need to put in 3-4 actinics per every aquasun bulb in order to match the different "peaks".
Picture shows what I am saying:
Oh boy. If we're going be bouncing ideas off each other here we'll scare all the noobs out of your thread from fear of contracting ubergeekitis.
BTW, did you get my last email about the MACNA presentation by Tyree? I'm sure it'll be enlightening. It would be interesting though to see if chlorophyll in terestrial plantlife and symbiotic Symbiodinium algae really utilize the same wavelengths. The more I think about it, seems like most studies on PAR has revolved around green plants. Although the priciples of photosynthesis may be universal, I suspect coral requires varying and limited exposure of spectrums beyond the PAR range in order to obtain the natural pigmentation coded in their genetic makeup. So, I think if you were limit the spectral exposure to only the 2 "ideal" nm's it'll lead to optimum growth, but far less than optimum pigmentation. The cool part would be establishing the control methods we recently spoke of.
Okay, I've done it now. Nice knowing you guys. LOL
And yes, it really is Ace's birthday...so lay it on him!
BTW, did you get my last email about the MACNA presentation by Tyree? I'm sure it'll be enlightening. It would be interesting though to see if chlorophyll in terestrial plantlife and symbiotic Symbiodinium algae really utilize the same wavelengths. The more I think about it, seems like most studies on PAR has revolved around green plants. Although the priciples of photosynthesis may be universal, I suspect coral requires varying and limited exposure of spectrums beyond the PAR range in order to obtain the natural pigmentation coded in their genetic makeup. So, I think if you were limit the spectral exposure to only the 2 "ideal" nm's it'll lead to optimum growth, but far less than optimum pigmentation. The cool part would be establishing the control methods we recently spoke of.
Okay, I've done it now. Nice knowing you guys. LOL
And yes, it really is Ace's birthday...so lay it on him!
That is true, but not difficult to determine/reproduce with a PAR meter and spectral specific bulbs (such as your T5's). All you'd need to do is add the number of actinics bulbs needed to equal the isolated PAR value emitted from the number of 680nm bulbs you're using. No need for an expensive and time consuming experiment. Just reproduce the values. Now you'll have your general formula for success (3/1/1 or whatever). However, you'll want to know the spectral signature of the bulbs you're using so that you can determine and manage the level of "noise" being emitted.
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Ok, just read your posts. Ya, I checked out the VideoCD of Steve Tyree's. Tried to order it but it required a Paypal account, wouldn't just let me buy it through paypal like some other sites let you do without actually having a paypal account.
I was reading further into the spectrums on corals and it appears for the "color" aspect, you are correct, other spectrums, actually in the UV range, stimulate certain algae at that wavelengths and this is where you can actually get certain floresence within the corals to come out and become prominent. There are so many minor variations to lighting you can do to bring out or receed certain colors, but my goal isn't to figure that part out, I just want to know more of a general area of PAR values for corals, and which bulb combination will give equal amounts of 440nm vs 680nm spectrum. You pointed out how I should be able to do that with the meter to get a ballpark figure, but obviously without being able to break down the spectrum, 10k bulbs are going to put out some 440nm light as well, unlike atinics which isn't going to spill into the 680nm area.
I was reading further into the spectrums on corals and it appears for the "color" aspect, you are correct, other spectrums, actually in the UV range, stimulate certain algae at that wavelengths and this is where you can actually get certain floresence within the corals to come out and become prominent. There are so many minor variations to lighting you can do to bring out or receed certain colors, but my goal isn't to figure that part out, I just want to know more of a general area of PAR values for corals, and which bulb combination will give equal amounts of 440nm vs 680nm spectrum. You pointed out how I should be able to do that with the meter to get a ballpark figure, but obviously without being able to break down the spectrum, 10k bulbs are going to put out some 440nm light as well, unlike atinics which isn't going to spill into the 680nm area.
BTW, here is what a 14k Phoenix SE bulb on a HQI ballast looks like new. Definately blue, but no where near Radium 20k blue. May just be a touch too blue for me right now, but I know with burn in it will get whiter so it may be perfect for my tastes, which I think for my eyes around 12k color looks the best. Colors of corals really pop out more though, which is to be expected as you move up away from 10k spectrum. As you can see, haven't got to tearing down/redoing my tank yet. I have Friday-Sun off now, 4 day work weeks during the summer, and I needed some more supplies so I will start and hopefully finish all that on Friday.
