[DJ88]

Brad,

my .02

In our closed systems we don't provide near the feeding requirements that those corals get in nature. We don't provide the mass water volume to carry away wastes and such so we can't massively over feed to compensate for this lack of food as found in nature. It is this natural abundance for the proper foodstuff's that allows the corals in nature to be as colorful yet at a deeper depth. On a reef you can measure over 2000gpm going past a specific area of a reef. That is a heck of a lot of water carrying food and carrying away wastes. In addition to this lack of water volume and flow to carry food to the corals we don't feed the corals everything found in nature. Not even close. We are using chemically developed salt that mimics NSW as close as we can make it. Thing is we can't. It varies too greatly from reef to reef. There are so many factors in just the chemical make up we don't understand that we are obviously lacking. Food is a no brainer. We aren't even close to being able to provide for them as they are supplied in nature. If we were meeting those needs we could keep non-photosynthetic gorgonians and other corals with ease. We can't. Yet.

With all of these areas lacking that we can't recreate, the corals that are brought into our tanks would not survive if it weren’t for the boost we give with our lighting. And by lighting I mean intensity. Color means squat. It is to satisfy our eyes and make it aesthetically pleasing.

We have removed many parts of the whole equation for the survival of coral in our tanks in compared to nature. To get them close to looking like they do in nature we need to boost the one area we can assist these animals with so they can grow and flourish. Lighting. To me this means as close to natural sunlight as possible. With that we need to keep an eye on one area of light. The light that is useable by corals in photosynthetic production of energy. PAR in essence. Lumens aren't the same thing and aren't an accurate representation. Color temperature is nothing but for our benefits. If you want to keep corals and have them thrive you need to get as close to or higher than the sun's output or PAR.

Look at Shane's tank; it has beautiful corals and he hasn't bought the bigger badder light hype

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Shane has 3 400W MH's over his system. That is a LOT of light on a 24” deep tank. He hasn't completely fallen into the color temperature hype the hobby has going on right now but he is putting more juice into his tank most people do. Even then the last time he posted shots he said he was running two 55KK and one 20KK. So even then he is still coloring for aesthetic reasons. The only way he can do more is to step up to 1000W MH. Shane does more with lighting than most do. He is doing a lot more IMO. And a very great job of it too. It is what I consider to be one of the more successful tanks in our area. He is a better example of what proper lighting can do than not do.

I have seen tanks with corals under lower wattage lighting, MH and VHO. Even a few with NO's and they don't get the growth or coloration that they get under a good amount of light. In some cases they look like they have one foot in the grave. Others don't seem to mind keeping corals under low light but I myself do mind. We have removed many sources for nourishment to let these creatures thrive and grow abundantly, so I am making up for it by giving them the photosynthetic energy they need to do more than just be alive. My tank shows the results of this. I get great growth and coloration. In all the corals I have. Seeing a coral in an under lit tank bothers me. It is like taking a large dog and putting it in an apartment. To give it what it needs to survive and be healthy you have to take it out to run. Without that exercise it becomes lazy, obese not the dog it is supposed to be. If you put a coral under inadequate lighting you are denying it a chance to grow as it is meant to grow. It is one thing to keep it alive in our tanks it is another to let it thrive.

It is documented that captive corals have a lower skeletal density than wild corals

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">There are too many possible reasons as to what causes this to attribute it to our lighting.
A list of possible sources are;
</font><ul type="square">[*]<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Chemical make up of our salt water. We aren't matching NSW. Its an attempt. And just that. Without the proper mixture that the coral finds in its particular local in the wild it won't grow in our tanks as it did out there. Without the exact makeup in our tanks the skeleton won't grow as it does in nature. </font>[*]<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Current/water flow. We don't even come close to what goes past the reef in nature. When the current in the ocean can move a huge ship with ease you know the corals are feeling a lot of power hitting them. To grow in the shapes they do they will need to be strong enough to withstand those forces. Walk into a strong wind constantly and you will build up strengths to make it easier for you to be out there in the wind. Look at Newfoundlanders, they are short n stocky. A big part due to walking into the winds that hit the Rock. ;) It's a part of nature. React to the stimuli given. </font>[*]<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif"> Food. We can't provide all the food sources that the corals get in nature. We all know this. Without all the foods available we aren't giving it all the nutrients that it used in nature to grow as it did.
</font>[/list:u:a38cbb21be]<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Basically I see lighting as something we do to make up for what we can't do. Give these corals a chance to grow as much as they do in nature. To do this we have to fill in for what we have taken away. And the only thing we can do right now is light. When someone comes up with a food source that makes up for what a coral receives in nature then we can back off on the lighting. We still have to get the water make up right, the waste removal right, water volume. the list goes on.
As hobbyists all we can do is that. We can try with the rest of those parts of the equation and hope we do enough. A lot don't. But some do. To me those that do for now are giving the corals they have the light to make up for what we took away when we took those corals out of the ocean.

[ 01 May 2002, 22:11: Message edited by: DJ88 ]