Blue light vs White Light tanks

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I love the colors and fluorescence the blue brings out in the corals but it makes me sad how it can wash out the fish's colors a little bit. White lights always make the fish stand out more in my opinion but it works best with corals that aren't very fluorescent. I have both in my house and the white light tank mainly has soft corals like red mushrooms pulsing Xenia and the few blue mushrooms. My reef is mainly blue light dominant as it brings out my corals but I am a little sad at how I can wash out my fishes colors sometimes. Do you have a preference for one or the other or do you appreciate both?

 

[exnisstech]

I run a bit of both. Heavy blues am and pm with more white between.

Mid day

Evening

 

[Subsea]

I never liked the WINDEX look. Depending on what’s in the tank, I go from 8K to 12K on color spectrum.
I would guess that this picture color spectrum is between 10-12K

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Definite white preference.

 

[Abominable Snow Crab]

14k is the best way

 

[Biokabe]

I'm not ashamed to admit it.

I love the blue look. Yes, it doesn't always render colors perfectly. But the way that it makes coral colors just pop out is one of the things that I love about reefkeeping. And yes, it is artificial. So is keeping a chunk of the reef in an acrylic box in my living room. Everything about this is unnatural, so...

14k-20k is where I enjoy my reef the most.

 

[danet888]

I love the colors and fluorescence the blue brings out in the corals but it makes me sad how it can wash out the fish's colors a little bit. White lights always make the fish stand out more in my opinion but it works best with corals that aren't very fluorescent. I have both in my house and the white light tank mainly has soft corals like red mushrooms pulsing Xenia and the few blue mushrooms. My reef is mainly blue light dominant as it brings out my corals but I am a little sad at how I can wash out my fishes colors sometimes. Do you have a preference for one or the other or do you appreciate both?

I think it really comes down to what you’re trying to get from the tank. Blue makes the coral fluorescence pop and is great for viewing, but I wouldn’t treat white as something you need to avoid. I’d aim for a balanced spectrum and set the intensity based on PAR and the corals you’re keeping rather than just the colour of the tank.