Lighting an aquarium like a natural reef

[UkiahTheTurtle]

Obviously if you get enough sun you could in theory do a sunlight based reef. That of course isn't the most feasible so I was wondering how you could light a reef like natural sunlight to get the most natural colors out of your coral. I've never been the biggest fan of blues and I am realizing that even when I am running whites the reef still looks vastly different than a natural reef. Also if anyone has images of their reefs that are lit more naturally I would be very interested to see them.

 

[Baldyreef]

Obviously if you get enough sun you could in theory do a sunlight based reef. That of course isn't the most feasible so I was wondering how you could light a reef like natural sunlight to get the most natural colors out of your coral. I've never been the biggest fan of blues and I am realizing that even when I am running whites the reef still looks vastly different than a natural reef. Also if anyone has images of their reefs that are lit more naturally I would be very interested to see them.

this look can be achieved with controllable lights that use more of the greens and reds, some lights have it as a preset as well

 

[Rob A]

10k metal halide is a nice balance but if you want natural sun 5000-6000k MH mimics it well. You will grow a ton of algae with a full spectrum light and all your corals will look their natural color brown.

 

[UkiahTheTurtle]

10k metal halide is a nice balance but if you want natural sun 5000-6000k MH mimics it well. You will grow a ton of algae with a full spectrum light and all your corals will look their natural color brown.

I honestly like that look to be honest

 

[areefer01]

While no longer made you can get an example of a possible look by searching on Phillips Coral Care. Gen 1 is nice, Gen 2 was nicer.

 

[Michael Hughes]

I agree with your preference for a natural reef look. That's also what I'm aiming for, and that even plays into the corals I choose. You'd probably be interested in this thread:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/where-to-source-non-colorful-corals.1144231/

I'm still a very new hobbyist, and my DT is only 8 months old so I'm still waiting for things to grow in. This was a few months ago:

I chose Nicrew HyperReef lights because they have more white and warm white channels, and they are great budget lights.

So far I've been really happy with this aesthetic and enjoy it much more than the blue look.

 

[SaltyWalty]

The quanta atlas has a sunlight spectrum and very high par. It’s a pretty white light and is a very simple light!

https://www.quanta-lights.com/products/quanta-atlas-sps

 

[A. grandis]

Sunlight is full spectrum around 6500K. You only can try to resemble that spectrum using a metal halide system with a 6500K bulb. You will get very close to it. No worries about algae, like many would think. It will have more probability for algae, but with the control of nutrients and patience you will get to the balance. If you want the look of a crystal white light though, as we see in the ocean around the reef crest in shallow waters, you can be achieved with the 10000K or 12000K metal halide bulbs. Absolutely stunning and unbeatable and with the better aesthetic results for what you want! No LED will be able to give you that complete spectrum with that safe strong intensity and provide such power for the life in your system!
Metal halides are not only amazing for the look of the tank, but also for the health and growth of the organisms in general. The healthiest corals you can have will be under halides and/or T5s. The combination of halides and T5s is comparable to the sunlight and sky light, respectively. They also provide a uniform perfect skeleton formation and natural distribution of the pigment formation. The result is basically the ocean in your home, as it should be.
Example of 10000K and 12000K below:

SUN IN THE HOUSE!
GOTTA LOVE ACROS!
My $.02 for this thread.

 

[A. grandis]

Ah, almost forgot... I'll show here 2 videos of one of the very best reefers alive in my opinion, the master Mr. Julian Sprung.

First video the tank was under metal halides a while ago:


Second, more recent video presents the tank under LEDs:


Same master with different lighting tools!
I'll let you guys decide which video represents an extreme healthy reef in every sense of the word.

If any of you want to reproduce the results from the first video you can order today a fixture that is very similar to that one, from Germany: the Giesemann Spectra. BrS used to sell the Giesemann Spectra, but not anymore, so now we need to order directly from Germany. Not impossible to get. Many are still buying that fixture. Enjoy the videos!

 

[slingfox]

You can get very close to a daylight spectrum with a T5 fixture with daylight bulbs. I don’t believe you can get that kind of spread and spectrum with LED fixtures built for reefing since most want blues.

 

[ReneReef]

As main lights I currently use 4000 Kelvin LED High Bay fixtures. With some additional blue LED lightbars for the fluo mornings and evenings.

Cheap, exactly the look I want and corals grow like crazy. Never had purple and blue corals color more intense.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Following this because I love seeing natural lighting tanks, and would love to do one of these in the future!

 

[hatfielj]

I'm surprised no one mentioned solar tubes! You can have these installed on your home and then you can literally light your reef with real sunlight. There are lots of companies that make these. This is just an example photo of how they are installed. They've been around for decades. And I do remember several reefs back in the day that used them.

 

[hatfielj]

I think an important thing to mention to those who like the natural sunlight look is that a lot of our corals come from deeper waters. If you've ever been snorkeling or diving in a real reef, you'll quickly see that only the most shallow depths are actually sunlight spectrum light (that yellow look). When you go to deeper reefs 30-40 meters and beyond, the light becomes very blue. Most corals come from these depths. This is because the water filters out most other light waves. So, the deepest reefs where some of our deep water corals are from, are actually very blue in light quality. That's where the blue light idea came from. Jason Fox (who has a lot of experience diving for his own corals) talks about this a lot and is why he lights his tanks with no white spectrum at all if I remember correctly.
To me, when you light a tank with a 6500k bulb or less, you are actually giving the tank an unnatural appearance. The water where these corals come from is not that yellow. That light, to me, looks like you're snorkeling right on the beach in 8ft of water or in a tide pool.
6500k spectrum on a reef tank should be called the tide pool look IMO.

 

[hatfielj]

Here's an example of what I'm talking about. This was taken in Hawaii back in 2019. The water is only like 6-8 ft deep here. Taken with my iphone with no filters. Look how blue it is! It's the same spectrum as a Blue Plus T5 bulb to my eyes. It doesn't have the fluorescent pop that our tank lights have, but it's still very blue. The deeper you go, the bluer it gets.

 

[A. grandis]

10000K halides ON:

 

[joseph scott]

I think an important thing to mention to those who like the natural sunlight look is that a lot of our corals come from deeper waters. If you've ever been snorkeling or diving in a real reef, you'll quickly see that only the most shallow depths are actually sunlight spectrum light (that yellow look). When you go to deeper reefs 30-40 meters and beyond, the light becomes very blue. Most corals come from these depths. This is because the water filters out most other light waves. So, the deepest reefs where some of our deep water corals are from, are actually very blue in light quality. That's where the blue light idea came from. Jason Fox (who has a lot of experience diving for his own corals) talks about this a lot and is why he lights his tanks with no white spectrum at all if I remember correctly.
To me, when you light a tank with a 6500k bulb or less, you are actually giving the tank an unnatural appearance. The water where these corals come from is not that yellow. That light, to me, looks like you're snorkeling right on the beach in 8ft of water or in a tide pool.
6500k spectrum on a reef tank should be called the tide pool look IMO.

This is what i was going to say. Even just snorkeling in the florida keys maybe only going 10-15 feet deep the light penetrating is all blue.

 

[NeedAReef]

Metal Halides for sure, but what few will tell you is how hot they run. You need to have them well ventilated. We used to run them inside canopies with venting fans and chillers years ago and that was on deep tanks unlike the shallow tanks more common today. They make things look amazing for sure but yeah, the heat.

 

[slingfox]

Here's an example of what I'm talking about. This was taken in Hawaii back in 2019. The water is only like 6-8 ft deep here. Taken with my iphone with no filters. Look how blue it is! It's the same spectrum as a Blue Plus T5 bulb to my eyes. It doesn't have the fluorescent pop that our tank lights have, but it's still very blue. The deeper you go, the bluer it gets.

At that depth it is only very blue if you look further out. When looking directly in front of you it is still pretty daylight spectrum and nothing like the windex blue tanks.

This video shows what natural reefs look like from a few places around the world. This is consistent with my diving experience including to reefs in Hawaii, the Caribbean, SE Asia, and the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.

 

[areefer01]

Well, if we are sharing dive videos... On a more serious note if we are talking about scuba diving and the reef spectrum it is all about location, time of dive, and depth. Most of the divers I see that are taking video are using filters, lighting, etc. It makes a world of difference. Me, I'm just diving and carry a GoPro when time allows.

Point is there is more going on than just what are eyes are seeing.

Cozumel. GoPro with a red or magenta filter.


Fiji, GoPro, no filter.


Fiji, GoPro, no filter (safety stop)


Fiji, 20' Tiger Shark, GoPro, red/magenta filter