Hey ARC,
While meeting some nice folks off ARC picking up frags, I decided to turn on my T-5 and metal halide lights manually instead of leaving them automatic. Lo' and behold, I wake up this morning to find that my lights had stayed on all night (15hrs), while my photo period is usually 7.5hrs of T-5s and 7hrs of MH.
So, I basically cooked my corals for an additional 7.5 hrs last night, doubling their usual photo period, not to mention raised the temperature from a normal deviation of 81-82 to a peak of 85 in the tank!
The thing that has be stumped is:
1) Why didn't my Apex shut off my lights once it hit my temperature threshold 83.5 for lights? Is it because I manually turned it on so it overrides any programming? I'm sure that's the answer but I just want to verify. Also, is there a way to override the manual on with programming to turn off if it hits 83.5?
2) More baffled by this one but... why didn't 7.5 additional hrs of lights (3 x 250watt metal halide and 4- 48" T-5 bulbs = total 966 watts) and a temperature rise of 3-4 degrees above normal didn't affect a single one of my corals... not a single one. They were all happy and fine, not a single sad looking specimen. Baffled. My fish were a little confused like they just pulled an all-nighter, but that's it!
Leads me to some conclusions...
a) my PAR in my tank is lower than what I think it is (bad reflectors? lights too far above tank -16"? old bulbs?) so 7.5 hrs of additional light didn't affect anything;
b) my corals were used to a higher temperature already (I usually aim to keep at 82 degrees) so 85 isn't that far off;
c) I'm the luckiest ******* today in the ARC community.
I appreciate any thoughts or any other hypothesis/conclusions other than my own. Call me stumped!
-Ty