spectrum specific acrylic or plastic sheets?

[oceanicsquire]

Hey RC!

Ive been curious about the possibility of farming live rock and coral and came across a thread in which it was mentioned that using a blue shade cloth to filter natural sunlight to increase the blue light spectrum would be beneficial.
Here is a link to one supplier of one such shade cloth that also linked in that thread:http://www.signaturesupplyonline.com/

Okay so onto my question, do you guys know if there are any acrylic sheets that could be used for increasing blue light spectrum? Would any blue acrylic sheet work for this or does it need to be a special kind to get the right spectrum from natural sunlight? Would it deteriorate because of UV light?

The main reason I like the idea of using acrylic is because it would also provide shelter from rain and debris.

kind regards to everyone!

[oceanicsquire]

after more research it does seem like gel sheets and and blue shade cloth are the best for this https://www.stagespot.com/cgi-bin/co...LSHEET-ROS4290 sheet of gel had the best spectrum as far as I could tell but light transmission was only about 15 percent
this one has 24 https://www.stagespot.com/cgi-bin/co...LSHEET-ROS4260
and the blue 30 has like 42 transmission

[dahenley]

if its for only liverock, why use any shade cloth at all?

there are lots of people that just have tanks outside and cure live rock like that.
you need no blue spectrum for live rock.

there are a few greenhouse and propagation threads here that do it that way.

[oceanicsquire]

because I#m actually after coralline, forgot to sate that!

[dahenley]

i believe they mentioned that they had coraline growing like crazy.
they used old tank water from water changes to keep the tanks full of nitrates to feed the bacteria.
now the coraline may not be as deep of a purple, but they say its coloring up nicely.

(ill look to see if i can find out who was mentioning they use this method so you can PM and talk with them directly)

[dahenley]

Originally Posted by jake levi

Hi Jimmy

My earlier post on not competing with big box stores is advice to newcomers at this, you are established, and have a better idea of what you are doing and a working operation. Thats a huge difference to someone just starting and feeling their way.

THe newcomers just starting can get sucker punched by any unscrupulous mgrs of some of these places. And also, by financially hurting shaky store operators who will jump at a chance to get something to sell without investing anything in it, as on consignment or credit.

Frankly I found better to offer them a sample piece, with a discount on the first order based on placing the sample. After that it was biz as usual. Not all the sharks are in the ocean, and, good intentions can get run over by realities of hard time finances. I think pet shops had the next highest failure rate after restaurants/bars.

So, my advice to the newbs is still the same, dont try to compete with the big box stores, have something that they can use, as Jeff said, become known for good things hard to get. And be consistent with them and have them available. One nice thing about frags is they grow in slow times and get nicer, and from June to August is always much slower then the other months. Actually the slowdowns usually begin in May. Picking up in late August.

Use this time to make more frags, make more rocks and get them cured in outdoor tanks in the summer heat etc, and have family picnics

Just enjoy it all and go with the flo. FWIW I have had excellent coraline growth on my rocks in outside stock tanks packed with cured rocks and several powerheads keeping the water going well, got some beautiful growth and they were ready for customers tanks when the fall biz picked up. Cycles are a real thing in this biz, use the slow time to make yourself stronger and more independent and self sufficient.

Whatever your niche is that you choose to fill there is plenty that you can do during the slow times other then feel sorry for yourselves, look at it as a blessing that gives you the time to build your stock up. And go with it and hang in there.

[oceanicsquire]

yeah the thing is that I live in Caribbean so without any shading the amout of light and heat I'd be getting would inhibit growth. so I'm thinking one of those aluminized screens together with a blue shade cloth would be perfect!

[jeff@zina.com]

Originally Posted by oceanicsquire

Okay so onto my question, do you guys know if there are any acrylic sheets that could be used for increasing blue light spectrum?

First off, there is nothing you can put between any light source and any object being lit that will increase the spectrum. You can only remove what you don't want, not add what wasn't there to begin with.

Originally Posted by oceanicsquire

Would any blue acrylic sheet work for this or does it need to be a special kind to get the right spectrum from natural sunlight? Would it deteriorate because of UV light?

The main reason I like the idea of using acrylic is because it would also provide shelter from rain and debris.

As you pointed out, adding a sheet or gel to the underside of a sheet designed to protect from the elements is the way to go here. And in general, just adding a blue sheet doesn't change the spectrum in a way you want. You would need specific filter gels designed to turn a randomly changing light source (the sun) into a specific wavelength of light necessary for the corals. And it's both a moving target and relatively futile to attempt this.

First, use any filter/shadecloth/whatever you need to get the proper intensity of light, and if possible, tint the light toward the bluer spectrum. Then, when you're getting the corals ready to market, color them up with the lighting they'll see in the customer's tanks, be it MH, T5, Radium, LED or whatever.

Or, put 30 feet of saltwater over your corals and move close to the equator.

Jeff

[oceanicsquire]

Originally Posted by jeff@zina.com

First off, there is nothing you can put between any light source and any object being lit that will increase the spectrum. You can only remove what you don't want, not add what wasn't there to begin with.



As you pointed out, adding a sheet or gel to the underside of a sheet designed to protect from the elements is the way to go here. And in general, just adding a blue sheet doesn't change the spectrum in a way you want. You would need specific filter gels designed to turn a randomly changing light source (the sun) into a specific wavelength of light necessary for the corals. And it's both a moving target and relatively futile to attempt this.

First, use any filter/shadecloth/whatever you need to get the proper intensity of light, and if possible, tint the light toward the bluer spectrum. Then, when you're getting the corals ready to market, color them up with the lighting they'll see in the customer's tanks, be it MH, T5, Radium, LED or whatever.

Or, put 30 feet of saltwater over your corals and move close to the equator.

Jeff

Thanks for that reply!
Yeah I realize that didn't make very much sense, so what do you think of using the aluminized net for shielding heat like say the Aluminet with minimal shade percentage ~30% together with a blue ChromatiNet cloth with about the same shade percentage ~30%?

Reason I'm asking is because I'm actually pretty close the equator and its very hot here year round. The Aluminet could shield the heat and the blue ChromaNet filter the spectrum leaving blue light, more similar to what is found under 20 feet of saltwater.