I would guess both. It is also peak reef season so most of us are paying more attention to our tanks. Is it possible besides flow and light that you are also feeding more often as well? Could be the combination of four or more factors being improved.
If it starts to get out of hand let me know. I’ll come over and trim it a little bit for you and take away the left overs. 
I am always observing my tanks, but you are right with the cold weather it seems I am always tank gazing. This coral has always been a fast grower, but this is really out of control. I need to get a better photo that shows just how many branches are forming along many of the current branches. There are little nubs all along the branch. Maybe it is trying to table?
It’s got to be the lighting. I read some research once on threshold lighting levels. below the threshold intesity, the corals just mope along, surviving, not well colored. no matter how many extra hours you leave the lights on the zooxanthelae just doesnt get excited. moving above the threshold level triggers more rapid growth and coloration. Its like the difference between a weak coil and electronic ignition on a car. Got to have enough spark to make em fire.
Which is why the ripple effect of sun and waves or MH lighting probably boost coral growth and color. brief, repetitve ripples of magnified light wafting over the reef. extra spark. so 8-10 hours of intense light is more than enough. with an actinic only phase before and after.
[quote=“kaptken, post:43, topic:595”]
with an actinic only phase before and after. [/quote]
Just curious if you have read anything from a reliable source that says that part matters? From what I’ve read it may help the fish a little and it may be cool for us to see, but as far as the corals are concerned, they could care less. All of my frag tanks are just all on or all off. Just once timer runs both.
[quote=“Gordonious, post:44, topic:595”]
[quote=“kaptken, post:43, topic:595”]
with an actinic only phase before and after. [/quote]
Just curious you read anything from a reliable source that says that part matters? From what I’ve read it may help the fish a little and it may be cool for us to see, but as far as the corals are concerned, they could care less. All of my frag tanks are just all on or all off. Just once timer runs both. [/quote]
jon I’ve read nothing official, but have been curious as to any benefit from others questioning the practice of actinics on an hour before and an hour after daylight. here’s what I’ve jnoticed in my tank:
The fish appreciate the light coming on slower. In fact I have my lights set up that the actinics do not come on until after sunlight has started filtering in to the room providing some early morning light to the tank. Helps them wake up and get moving before the 10Ks come on. No big surprise there, I think we all expect the same results.
Corals on the other hand do seem to appreciate the gradual lighting change. When the actinics come on, most of the coral will start opening up within 10 minutes or so and will then continue to open up until the daylights come on. If I skip the actinic only hour and go straight daylight come of the corals will not start to open for a half hour or more and don’t seem to be fully opened for up to two hours.
I liken it to someone coming in to our bedrooms at 5am and turining on flood lights (or my really bright halogen floor lamp) I’m going to wake up, but I am still going to be pissed off about it for hours to come.
[quote=“Cdangel0, post:45, topic:595”]
jon I’ve read nothing official, but have been curious as to any benefit from others questioning the practice of actinics on an hour before and an hour after daylight. [/quote]
It is good to question things and as Shawn has pointed out in the past what may work best for our corals in our tanks may not be exactly what happens in nature. In order to really understand how something works, whether it is a man made material object like a car or biological, you really have to look at it more carefully. I was also trained at UD over and over to question absolutely everything. The only thing I have ever read is that it puts less of a shock on the fish and may prevent a little bit of stress with them. Never anything about the corals caring.
Anthony Calfo in his most recent book also wrote that for corals it does not matter. Since my gut told me it didn’t matter and I had seen no ill effects from trying it and I finally had at least one source that said I was right, I have stopped with the transition on all of my tanks. Soon I plan on programming some timers for my display tank as I plan to add an assortment of fish there. Currently the only transition is one tank on at a time in the basement.(was worried all on at once suddenly might trip the breaker)
[quote=“Cdangel0, post:45, topic:595”]
Corals on the other hand do seem to appreciate the gradual lighting change. [/quote]
Questioning minds want to know exactly how this experiment took place. Is this when you decide to turn all the lights on 30 minutes early when there has been some sort of trouble in the tank and you need to see what is going on. Perhaps the trouble that was in the tank was causing the corals to open slower or they weren’t used to light that early and they didn’t start opening up until a little closer then normal time. Was this something you witnessed one time with a stop watch in hand or was it something it witnessed repeatedly with photographic or video evidence. (Since we are talking scientifically now I am just curios if this was just an observation which lead to a hypothesis or if there was experimentation with controls and data. 
)
One thing I don’t question is that corals has some sort of biological clock and get used to when the lights typically come on and off. My sun coral will begin to open up to feed like it does every night regardless if I turn the lights on or off.(how quickly it opens up is effected by whether or not the lights actually go off on time) Some also have like a built in biological calendar to trigger then to release there gametes into the water column on the same night every year.
One of these days I’ll do some more research and run some experiments.
Sorry to get your thread off track Ento_Reefer.
As originally stated, there was nothing “official” done. It is all 100% observation on a “just to see what happens” basis. it was not due to a problem in the tank, it was a direct result of you questioning the practice of using actinics an hour before daylights on another thread.
I simply turned the daylights on with the actinics and watched to see how long it took to open. Noticed it was considerably longer then if the actinics come on first. just to add a little validity to the test, I waited an extra hour the next day to turn the lights on (testing the internal “clock” function) and still had the same delay in opening fully.
Also tried running a normal lighting schedule but starting at an earlier hour (7 instead of 9) everything opened as if the lights had come on at 9.
Unofficial conclusion: corals do care.
Official conclusion: I’m a banker not a marine biologist - I’d go with Calfo’s opinion.
My observation is that fish do not appreciate going from no light to full lighting. This just an observation, but in my opinon anything that adds to their sstress level should be avoided. It is easy enough to have a bulb or two come on first an ease the tranistion into full daylight.
What happens in nature? I don’t think you get full high noon sun all at once.
I have never done a controlled scientific experiment, but I think it would be interesting to see if there is really a difference in the corals reaction. I have no doubt that there is an observable difference with fish because I have seen it on many occassions.
JMHO
I think as long as you are consistent with the lighting schedule, the corals don’t really care. Our lights come on the same time every day, and as soon as the lights come on the corals start opening and within 10 minutes they are all completely extended. If we change the lighting schedule by any amount (even an extra 1/2 hour at night) the whole next day the tank does not look fully extended.
[quote=“icy1155, post:49, topic:595”]
I think as long as you are consistent with the lighting schedule, the corals don’t really care. Our lights come on the same time every day, and as soon as the lights come on the corals start opening and within 10 minutes they are all completely extended. If we change the lighting schedule by any amount (even an extra 1/2 hour at night) the whole next day the tank does not look fully extended.[/quote]
But do you gradually turn on your bulbs or do you blast them with full lighting right away. The question Jon was asking is whether they need a dawn or dusk actinic light cycle. I agree that they do get used to the photoperiod.
I’d like to agree with both sides.
I believe that just because something happens in nature doesn’t mean it is the best thing for the animal as far as growth, over all health, and stress. We have control over a lot of things in our tank and can suit the tank to a particular animal and really blast (in a good way) its growth and health.
I also think the gradual light more simulates nature and is something that all the creatures can benefit from. I’m not sure how the zooxanthele react to sudden high light or what other chemistry goes in within the corals dependant on light. Because I don’t know and haven’t seen proof either way I’d like to err to the side of nature and to the side of slower is better. Of course who says you can’t simply do a 5 min actinic period before/after lights on? Either way I think the animals will adjust.
This all also makes me think I play with my lights too much and don’t give enough of a full photo period.
[quote=“Ento_Reefer, post:48, topic:595”]
My observation is that fish do not appreciate going from no light to full lighting. This just an observation, but in my opinion anything that adds to their sstress level should be avoided…no doubt that there is an observable difference with fish because I have seen it on many occasions.
JMHO[/quote]
IF the fish get stressed could they be releasing large amounts of wastes? This could effect corals opening. The corals directly may not be effected but other reef creatures could be effecting them. Fyi according to Ken and most who have studied lights the blue (actinic) spectrum is the brightest in the water so another spectrum may be more beneficial to start from low light to more intense.
Ento: Mine turn on full blast, 6x54W T5HO and I dont see any corals, clams, or anemones that seem to mind.
I think consistency is more important than what you have. Thats why I NEVER touch my timers.
I agree with the consistency, but I wonder as well about cloud cover in nature.
I think its fine not to have light on some days, the major problems I have noticed is when I have a longer photo period than what the corals are used to. I actually unplug my lights for about 2 days a month just because I think stuff looks better if I do. It helps kill back all the pesky green corraline in places that I cant get to with a scraper.
The guy I bought my purple tang from used to turn his lights off once a month to drive back the algae a little bit.
Word of warning though. A tank with a lot of algae has the potential to crash with the lights being off for a day. Nutrients being dumped back into the system, chain reactions… not pretty stuff comes to mind.
We COMPLETELY took Ento’s thread off topic, lol. Sorry Ellen.
[quote=“Gordonious, post:56, topic:595”]
We COMPLETELY took Ento’s thread off topic, lol. Sorry Ellen. [/quote]
Lol good point. Sorry about that
Ive never heard a of a single day of dark killing off algae. it has too much stored energy for that. ive had rock with taxifolia on it in a covered, dark tank, no heat, just air stone for 6-12 months, and still, sometimes a bit of it survives when placed back into the light. tough stuff. but i’m working on eradicating it.
Ken at the same time have you ever had a tank filled to the rim with hair algae and probably already had poor water quality, insufficient filtration, a high bio load, and low flow? This tank was set up for disaster and maintained worse then probably any tank you have come across. It is just like a lot of the small water ways down near the Rehoboth Bay. The tank was being suffocated of oxygen. Chain reactions are speed up fast with such a poorly managed tank. I didn’t think there was a risk, but looking back now it really makes sense.