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Unread 02/14/2018, 08:31 PM   #1
Ruu
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Light Striping a Refugium

My newly setup tank has a relatively small refugium (about 20 gallons), and a stupid overpowered light over it (a Kessil H380). More research would have shown that this light has no dimmer (unlike every other Kessil I have owned over the years) and I was assuming I could lower its intensity, but what is done is done.

My chaeto (of which there is a significant quantity, thanks to a massive chaeto donation) is not in love with the light - there is significant bleaching and I am concerned that it will cause problems if I have significant die-off.

I don't want to run a very short photoperiod, since in my mind that would allow a much longer time for nuisance algae to start getting a foothold in the tank.

Are there any views/research on photosynthetic recovery periods, striping the light across a longer photoperiod? By this I mean running it for an hour/two/three then shutting it down for an hour/two/three and repeating over 10 hours or so to both allow growth, and give the chaeto some recovery time between beatings from the little pink sun I just bought?

Dave


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Unread 02/14/2018, 10:27 PM   #2
Scrubber_steve
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If the kessill is too intense, and cannot be positioned further away from the chaeto to reduce intensity, a shorter on period probably won't fix the problem.

I know with a scrubber that the light intensity recommended is quite specific - 0.25 to 0.5 watts per square inch of screen, 660nm. Its the photoperiod predominantly, & flow rate over the screen, that determins how much filtering (inorganic nitrogen & phosphate removal) the algae does.

With light intensity, as it increases, the rate of photosynthesis increases. But only to a point.
Then comes photo-saturation, where the rate of photosynthesis peaks at a particular light intensity.
If the light intensity continues to increase, this can cause photo-inhibition, or in other words, the rate of photosynthesis starts to decline, & it can decline significantly. If your kessil is too intense your chaeto will struggle for this reason.

And with chaeto, I remember reading Dana Riddle's comment that chaeto requires very little light.


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Unread 02/14/2018, 11:08 PM   #3
Ruu
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To a certain extent, the inch or so of bleached mass at the very top is probably giving the chaeto beneath a little sunscreen, and at least somewhat alleviating the issue of photo saturation (at the cost of simply wasting power, although hopefully some of that will go into heat). As you say, turning the lights on and off may not help with that though.

I may switch to my dimmable 360 once I tear my other system down, but I really like the spectrum on the h series.

dave


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Unread 02/15/2018, 09:27 AM   #4
jimbow
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I bought an LED grow light from Amazon. It is the size of an outside spot light and I put it into a cheap fixture with a clamp. It has a purple light and I run it all night. My chaeto has never looked so good. When I shine a white light in there it is a very deep green.


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Unread 02/16/2018, 11:28 AM   #5
Ruu
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My backup plan is my spare 360W right now, since it is essentially free.

Assuming I go with the backup for the time being, is there an ideal (or at least best available) color setting for chaeto? Right at the low end? More blue? I've grown it successfully under one in the distant past, but I am curious if there is a spectrum setting consensus for the Kessils for refugium use.

Dave


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Unread 02/16/2018, 12:35 PM   #6
jimbow
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I'm not sure this will be entirely helpful. Someplace (on here I think but I can't find it) I read an article on this. Basically, there are 2 fairly narrow light spectrums that help growth. They are in the Red and Blue zones. They recommended a grow light or light settings that covered these light ranges. The grow light I bought scored very good in both wavelengths. I'd guess you could set your 360W to those spectrums (providing you can find out what they are).


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