Research supporting my next LED project
- Thread starter Crit21
- Start date
Scarce? No. More like scary.
I questioned Dana as to whether he was only using deep water corals in his experiments where red light caused bleaching, because this study (http://jeb.biologists.org/content/213/23/4084.full) suggested that shallow water corals do better when exposed to full spectrum than when exposed to a deep water (blue) light source. Since full spectrum includes red, it would make me wonder just how bad red really is. His reponse: "Re: Red light and coral depth. I've bleached many corals and zoanthids with red light, including Pocillopora meandrina, Porites lobata, Pavona varians, and an unidentified zoanthid. P. meandrina and Porites lobata were collected in shallow water. Pavona varians was collected in shallow water, but lives in crevices and overhangs to avoid light (it is in essence a deep water coral). The zoanthids were collected in a surge area and are exposed to the atmosphere for a good portion of the water."
His other experiments, documented on AdvancedAquarist.com, showed that the growth rate of corals was directly linked to the amount of red (or lack of).
I think there's enough evidence to suggest that supplementing with red is, at a minimum, not good for my corals.
I questioned Dana as to whether he was only using deep water corals in his experiments where red light caused bleaching, because this study (http://jeb.biologists.org/content/213/23/4084.full) suggested that shallow water corals do better when exposed to full spectrum than when exposed to a deep water (blue) light source. Since full spectrum includes red, it would make me wonder just how bad red really is. His reponse: "Re: Red light and coral depth. I've bleached many corals and zoanthids with red light, including Pocillopora meandrina, Porites lobata, Pavona varians, and an unidentified zoanthid. P. meandrina and Porites lobata were collected in shallow water. Pavona varians was collected in shallow water, but lives in crevices and overhangs to avoid light (it is in essence a deep water coral). The zoanthids were collected in a surge area and are exposed to the atmosphere for a good portion of the water."
His other experiments, documented on AdvancedAquarist.com, showed that the growth rate of corals was directly linked to the amount of red (or lack of).
I think there's enough evidence to suggest that supplementing with red is, at a minimum, not good for my corals.
I have no personal experience growing corals side-by-side under red vs. non-red. I'm just going by what I've been reading in scholarly articles. There seems to be enough evidence for me to make an informed decision.
There's a guy in SCMAS who's planning to do an experiment with lighting. Maybe he'll come up with different results.
There's a guy in SCMAS who's planning to do an experiment with lighting. Maybe he'll come up with different results.
Can I get cliff notes?
Great job so far... Wish I had more input for you as I have had great results with my LED's, but before that all I ever had was CF lights.
They only thing I have noticed from seeing others with similar leds to mine, are some difference in led coloration. I assume this is due to the doping process from the the different led manufactures. And from what I have read places like reef leds are doing testing on their leds to try and sell the best batches to consumers. This of course leads to higher prices for the tested leds, so in a sense it seems to me that we are going backwards in the pricing stage. But forward in the over all technology to get the best full spectrum leds to us, the consumers.
I think one of the best things to happen is Sinjay finally putting out some real number results, so that aquarium fixture manufacturers can pass that knowledge on to us. Maybe even your results can lend a hand in the struggle to get the best full spectrum out of leds.
Great job so far... Wish I had more input for you as I have had great results with my LED's, but before that all I ever had was CF lights.
They only thing I have noticed from seeing others with similar leds to mine, are some difference in led coloration. I assume this is due to the doping process from the the different led manufactures. And from what I have read places like reef leds are doing testing on their leds to try and sell the best batches to consumers. This of course leads to higher prices for the tested leds, so in a sense it seems to me that we are going backwards in the pricing stage. But forward in the over all technology to get the best full spectrum leds to us, the consumers.
I think one of the best things to happen is Sinjay finally putting out some real number results, so that aquarium fixture manufacturers can pass that knowledge on to us. Maybe even your results can lend a hand in the struggle to get the best full spectrum out of leds.
Sure.
-Most corals come from depths where the majority of light comes from the 400-500 nanometer (nm) wavelength range (violet through blue). Red light is nonexistent below 10 meters depth, so corals below that depth have obviously adapted to life in the blue light region.
-Photosynthesis in corals occurs primarily as a result of light energy collected in the 400-500nm range by a series of pigments. Those pigments pass their collected energy (electrons) to chlorophyll a, where photosynthesis occurs.
-It makes sense to me that I need to duplicate the range of light that most corals receive in their natural environment.
-Since some corals grow and are harvested in shallower water where a broader spectrum exists (violet through red), I plan to include some white LEDs in my system to provide a fuller spectrum of light. If only corals came with labels showing their natural depth!
-Blue and white light also gives me the visual look that I like.
-Most corals come from depths where the majority of light comes from the 400-500 nanometer (nm) wavelength range (violet through blue). Red light is nonexistent below 10 meters depth, so corals below that depth have obviously adapted to life in the blue light region.
-Photosynthesis in corals occurs primarily as a result of light energy collected in the 400-500nm range by a series of pigments. Those pigments pass their collected energy (electrons) to chlorophyll a, where photosynthesis occurs.
-It makes sense to me that I need to duplicate the range of light that most corals receive in their natural environment.
-Since some corals grow and are harvested in shallower water where a broader spectrum exists (violet through red), I plan to include some white LEDs in my system to provide a fuller spectrum of light. If only corals came with labels showing their natural depth!
-Blue and white light also gives me the visual look that I like.
Thanks. Me too. One question I want to answer is what the corals will look like under the full spectrum between 400 and 500nm. I've only seen blue/royal blue.
One thing I didn't do was determine the range of light that results in pigment fluorescence. I think I found something once and posted it in an RC thread. If memory serves, only a couple of pigments flouresce under UV, and 400-500nm produces the biggest response.
One thing I didn't do was determine the range of light that results in pigment fluorescence. I think I found something once and posted it in an RC thread. If memory serves, only a couple of pigments flouresce under UV, and 400-500nm produces the biggest response.
