Question about lighting

ivans75 · 07/19/2011, 08:50 AM

When I had a diving and snorkeling trip up on one of the beautiful thousands island, I found that when I dived to 7 meter of water, the light did not seem bright. Instead it was just bluish and dim. It's not as bright as my tank with 4 bulbs t5ho.

Question is: do we really need that bright for our tank? Why in the sea the light does not seem as bright yet the corals are thriving??

What is actually the algae that covers up the corals (zooxanthellae) need from the sun light? Does the brightness play parts in their photosynthetic requirement?

Sorry if it sounds stupid, but I see many ridiculously expensive products on the market about lighting. And I was thinking if we can actually provide what they need without the fancy lighting, we might be able to cut some costs in reefkeeping.

Thanks in advance

Chris27 · 07/19/2011, 09:44 AM

The power of the sun is quite amazing.....as is the light filtering capability of sea water. The water is blue down there because the water filters out the yellow, green and red spectrum's, leaving blue. The thing about the sun though, it can penetrate down quite a bit, whereas manufactured light bulbs can't. That's why we need a good bit of light at the color temp and wavelength that we do.

ivans75 · 07/19/2011, 09:50 AM

Yes it means if we only use blue light like actinic blue, would it do the job?

07/19/2011, 08:50 AM	#1
ivans75 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Jakarta, Indonesia Posts: 340	Question about lighting When I had a diving and snorkeling trip up on one of the beautiful thousands island, I found that when I dived to 7 meter of water, the light did not seem bright. Instead it was just bluish and dim. It's not as bright as my tank with 4 bulbs t5ho. Question is: do we really need that bright for our tank? Why in the sea the light does not seem as bright yet the corals are thriving?? What is actually the algae that covers up the corals (zooxanthellae) need from the sun light? Does the brightness play parts in their photosynthetic requirement? Sorry if it sounds stupid, but I see many ridiculously expensive products on the market about lighting. And I was thinking if we can actually provide what they need without the fancy lighting, we might be able to cut some costs in reefkeeping. Thanks in advance

07/19/2011, 09:44 AM	#2
Chris27 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Virginia Beach, VA Posts: 4,452	The power of the sun is quite amazing.....as is the light filtering capability of sea water. The water is blue down there because the water filters out the yellow, green and red spectrum's, leaving blue. The thing about the sun though, it can penetrate down quite a bit, whereas manufactured light bulbs can't. That's why we need a good bit of light at the color temp and wavelength that we do. __________________ Fill your tank with $5 bills, add gasoline and light it on fire.....only then will you know the real cost of reefing. Current Tank Info: 180 Mixed Reef

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07/19/2011, 09:50 AM	#3
ivans75 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Jakarta, Indonesia Posts: 340	Yes it means if we only use blue light like actinic blue, would it do the job?