Photoperiod and color

ctripi · #1 12/31/2007, 05:15 PM

I'll give this post a try here; no bites in advanced topics. Is there a possible link between duration of photoperiod and coral coloration. Could shorter photoperiods (6-8hr) contribute to brown sps coloration by inducing the coral to harbor a denser zooxanthellae population? Conversely, could longer (10+hrs) photoperiods contribute to better coloration? Any thoughts ? I currently run 14k 250w hamiltons for about 8 hours, 10" above the water of a 20" deep tank. My sps have good colors but mostly at the more actively growing branches.

kev apsley · #2 12/31/2007, 05:32 PM

In my own personal experience I have found that by increasing my photperoid from 7 to 10 hrs my colors has begun to pop again after getting dull and brown. I think it all depends on what kind of light and wattage you have over your system, depth of tank and light spread you have, it all plays a role in the length of the photoperoid but imho less wattage means longer photoperiod to acheive decent coloration

ctripi · #3 12/31/2007, 10:44 PM

What is your light set-up?

kev apsley · #4 12/31/2007, 10:52 PM

150 watts over a 24g nano , not a ton of wattage so it seems only logical to bump up the photoperoid in my case but I am sure this philosophy can be applied to in many other instances. I don't know why many aquarist lean toward shortened photoperiods for their tanks, we can only begin to scratch the surface in duplicating the energy of the sun in our home reefs these days, why should we cut down on the photoperoid where in the tropics it's closer to a 12/12 on/off duration