Not sure what I make of it. I'm certainly not qualified to argue with Mr. Borneman.
One thing that I do believe is that we could never provide enough food in our tanks for corals to survive off of (without light), without totally polluting our tanks. This is the main reason it is almost impossilbe for hobbyists to keep many non-photosynthetic corals, like the dendroneptheas, etc.
Again, not to argue with the coral expert, but if this were *truly* the case, why not find more of an abundance of sps in deep/dark/food-abundant waters? Why are they mostly found in the shallow, heavily-lit, nutrient-free waters?
Quote:
|
I'm just curious as to why I would have some success with some corals and anemones when my lighting isn't what would be considered Ideal, having just over 3 watts per gallon
|
Personally, I often think that the recommended amount of light is not always necessary. For sps/clams, yes, you need extremely bright light, and I always suggest MH's. For LPS & softies, however, you don't need your own personal power station. Many of these corals will thrive under a *minumum* of light - much less than is usually recommended. Sure, they will sometimes do better in more light, but that doesn't need they *need* it.
Interestingly enough, I also fully believe that softies and LPS do not fare as well in nutrient-free, super-skimmed, ultra clean enviroments. Our old 75g softy/LPS tank had incredible growth rates -- the tank *always* had darn high nitrate levels, a CC substrate, a cruddy skimmer, and just VHO lighting. Granted, 440w of VHO, but still. We put the same corals under the MH's in the 180g, with a DSB, 0.00 readings on nitrates, phosphates, etc., and a lot of the growth (Xenia is a prime example) - came to a grinding halt.
I also believe that ppl tend to
over-light LPS. I think too-bright tanks are the cause of many problems with Torch, Anchor, Hammer, Brains, even the elusive Elegance coral.
I apologize for the length of this. One last point. Our refugium holds most of the *remains* of our 75g softy tank. Red & blue mushrooms, green & brown star polyps, button polyps, zo's, Colt coral, Finger leather, etc. The refugium is lit by a single NO Home Depot shop light which sits quite high off of the water. All of these critters are thriving, and have been for quite some time.
Just my long-winded 2 cents....