arent some of these reef lights too bright?

[hc8719]

visiting the LFS yesterday, i was admiring a 75 gallon display reef. and out of curiosity i looked into the light shining into the tank, and that was one bright light.

arent some of these brights we put on reef tanks too bright, ive snorkeled at a reef, and they dont get that much light, and i cant imagine any of the corals 20ft deep get a fraction of that much light.

wont these excessively bright lights burn the fish's pupils? they dont have eyelids or anything

 

[Hara]

the brilliance of the sun cannot possibly begin to be duplicated in our reefs. MH lighting is as close as we get at this point in time. There are alot of corals that grow at the surface, in shallow waters. Yes, there are some that prefer less light, but we already know that and we make adjustments to accomodate them. As far as the fish, the same story applies. Fish eyes are not designed as human eyes are.

Either that or we are all just making our fish suffer horribly .....

 

[4enzix]

No, they arent too bright. If you stick a fish from complete darkness then just blast them with the light, well that would be as stressful as anything. And corals will need some adjustment time between significant changes in light intensities. Some fish do not like bright lights due to the fact that they are really deepwater species but the light itself wont kill them or hurt them directly.

Like anything else light can be a factor for stress but that just depends on the hobbyist themselves.

We also do not have the amounts of phyto creating a smoke screen that the ocean does. (which has other connotations)

And remember, you are looking at the light directly anyways. Stick your head 2' down in some relatively turbulent water then look up. It will be WAY different.

 

[hc8719]

And remember, you are looking at the light directly anyways. Stick your head 2' down in some relatively turbulent water then look up. It will be WAY different.

thats understandable, but what about people with smaller aquariums. im not argueing, just curious

 

[4enzix]

lol fair enough, though im not the biggest fan of sticking 400w HQI's on a 10gal anyways. I dont think light will attack the fishes eyes the same as ours but i think there is a point where there can be too much light on nano tanks and it WILL cause adverse affects, though if a tank is big enough and planned out properly that shouldnt be an issue.

 

[weekf]

Well, just my personal opinion: Natural sun light don't need to be ultra bright to shoot down into the sea bed. There are other elements that are in sun rays. Ultra violet, infra red? Or some others stuffs are in there which our aquarium lights are just unable to produce hence we use ultra bright light to substitute those lost elements.

Sorry I don't have a degree in physics or stuffs but that's what I guessing is. Any one got any degree here?

 

[Devilishturtles]

You cannot be the suns rays, but 4enzix's comment about the water depth is correct. The trick behind how much of the light gets into our tanks is sorta relative to how close or high we keep them above the water surface and how powerful the light is. If your tank is a short tank, you either don't want bright lights or you want to raise them higher. If you want a tall tank, MH lights are a good idea.

There is such a thing as too much light. Ex. 400 watt MH lights on a 10 gallon like 4enzix mentioned, but generally...most lights are not too bright.

Good idea to mention that that is why it's a good idea to research the animal you want to buy. If it grows in a deep reef, bright light won't be too good for it. Either don't get it, or make sure you have a shaded area in your tank to put it.

Sorry, no physics degree here either.

 

[MarineFlake]

I just read an article (Dr Fosters and Smith) that said as a rough estimate at 15 feet (assuming an average day on the reef) 20,000 lux and at 30 feet roughly 10,000 lux. Lux meter sales are on the rise and its my guess that only by using one will you ever know how much light the corals are actually getting. One should also know something about their animals also. For example some anemones seem to crawl right up to the top of the tank under MH lights and some cringe and hide in a hole. I have both VHO and MH on my tanks and I can attest that softies really are not fond, as a general rule, of MH lighting. Light shock is rarely considered by folks when adding corals/stock to a tank and that it can take months for corals to acclimate to lighting conditions. Every bit as important as temp and SG. My 2 cents..

Peace.

 

[Devilishturtles]

I read that same article today. It was pretty informative. Gotta love the Drs.