Lighting... do you think we OVERDO it?

[ZoWhat]

So I've been searching high and low for Wallpaper pics of wild coral reefs via Google

....and I have to tell ya looking at wild reefs in high definition, even the SPS Acros are in some pretty heavy blue sunlight at most depths.

Typical pics I'm seeing from divers

I see in this hobby, especially for high PAR SPS corals, our artificial reefs just GLOWING with bright white lights....that almost blind you if you have a white sandbed

Then I got to thinking Kessils are so popular bc they blast blue actinic light like no other

So, opinion time.....

1) Do you think we OVERDO our lighting systems with too much white light?

2) Do we flat out use too much intensity across all color spectrums?

Let the opinions fly..... but keep it civil ppl. We all have varying opinions

 

[Katrina71]

I'll be the mistress of evil. Yes. I think we do overdo it.

 

[York1]

I don't think so. I personally am not happy unless i get a tan standing 6 feet in front of my tanks

 

[NeverlosT]

It could be argued that the average coral is subject to a very blue spectrum due to its depth, so adding reds and such is of diminishing value. But then again, there are plenty of reef-crest SPS that are a few feet under the water, getting very full spectrum light, with 1000+PAR, so these will take all of the full-spectrum light that we can provide.

The answer, I think, is that it depends what you are going for. A good buddy and I have many of the same corals, his average PAR is 200 and a bit more blue and mine is closer to 500+ and we get very different results, I have faster growth and he has better color. But this could also be due to me having more flow...

 

[hart24601]

I think we just try to have it all. How many people, me included, have a tank with corals and life from various parts of the reef that are extremely different. Acros from the reefcrest where the flow and light is extremely intense to bubble coral that are more lagoon and a totally different environment. Even acro types, deepwater in the same tank as acros that are exposed during extreme low tide. We just have to find the uneasy truce that works with the livestock we keep.

 

[Hemmdog]

I agree, people use way to much white sometimes. I’ve been diving most of my life. I’ve never seen reefs look as white as some people have their tanks. Then they go on to claim it looks “more natural” Lol. Maybe if you’re snorkeling right off the beach it looks like that but reefs tend to be deeper than 30ft and much more blue. Some places are exceptions clearly.
A white spectrum is actually much more unnatural looking from first hand experience diving all over the world.

Our intensities are necessary to give our corals the energy they are missing from the natural bombardment of food that they get in the wild imo.

 

[pcon]

Like anything in this hobby its sorta a spectrum, some people do over do it, but I think far more people are struggling to get the results they are looking for from having too little light than too much. I have 2 spots in my tank that are just a touch too intense for SPS near the surface. Two little, perhaps 6", spheres near the surface which sps bleaches when it grows into. But in exchange I get to grow acros on the sand bed, and LPS in the shade of montycaps.

But I know lots of guys who are pretending that their current lights, or 2 bulb t5 fixture cant possibly be the reason their corals and nems are bleached.

I think, like most equipment, that it is about tailoring, the lighting, to the needs of the system.

 

[X-37B]

My nano is lit by a 165 watt black box. 80% blue 10% white and I get good growth and it does look blue compared to my 120 that has 3 ct & 3 bt. The black box is 12" off the water and is 18"s deep. The ati 6 blulb on the 120 is 4"s off the water. It is much whiter than the led. Both have good growth. I think its a personal preference as long as you get good growth and color.

 

[WVNed]

I think in an age of photo post processing I would be very skeptical that photos look anything like real life.

 

[MabuyaQ]

Unlikely if not impossible.

 

[ZoWhat]

Unlikely if not impossible.

But under a tropical sun, wouldnt you say there is more yellow and red in the sunlight..... than pure white light?

It's my understanding white is the mixture of ALL colors coming at you....from purples to blues to greens to yellows to reds all coming at you

In the age of 6k, 10k led diodes, those are pretty "white". I believe 5000-kelvin is considered "pure white light"

POINT BEING.... almost all LED lighting systems throw a purer white light in 6k to 14kelvins diodes rather than splitting out yellows and reds in the "White Channel"

I contend that if you took those Acros pictured above and put them under the "white channel" heavy on 6k led lighting, they'd bleach out. I would think theyre use to heavy yellows and reds in their lighting requirements....not pure white light offered in many 6k led diodes in practically ALL LED systems......I dont get the use of white light


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[vetteguy53081]

To a degree we do but I think many of us strive to meet the delivery if natural lighting if the ocean and sustain the corals as best as we can.
There is no blue sunlight but rather, the sea gets darker at deeper depths

 

[ZoWhat]

To a degree we do but I think many of us strive to meet the delivery if natural lighting if the ocean and sustain the corals as best as we can.
There is no blue sunlight but rather, the sea gets darker at deeper depths

Totally agree. The saltwater filters out certain color spectrums as charted below

My contention is ppl OVERDO the yellow and reds in the form a WHITE light in their tanks.

I'm not looking to be right, just want an open discussion thread

Oh where art thou? Master of Light? @Dana Riddle

Mr. Dana Riddle so smart that before God created light in the beginning, God talked to Dana for his thoughts....


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[PYRU]

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[Sisterlimonpot]

I agree, people use way to much white sometimes. I’ve been diving most of my life. I’ve never seen reefs look as white as some people have their tanks. Then they go on to claim it looks “more natural” Lol. Maybe if you’re snorkeling right off the beach it looks like that but reefs tend to be deeper than 30ft and much more blue. Some places are exceptions clearly.
A white spectrum is actually much more unnatural looking from first hand experience diving all over the world.

Our intensities are necessary to give our corals the energy they are missing from the natural bombardment of food that they get in the wild imo.

I've never been diving around coral reefs, however most stories I hear are that coral reefs hover around 12-14k. Which is more white than most tanks.

The fact that we like to see the corals fluoresce is why we choose to lean more on the blue side.

One can't make an informed decision based on photos, anyone that has bought a coral based on a picture only to get a brown turd would understand that pictures can be doctored.

It's interesting to read differently. I hope to get more hands on experience. As I said I don't have any first hand experience, so i have to defer to those that have.

 

[ZoWhat]

One can't make an informed decision based on photos

@Sisterlimonpot
Soooo very true...thanks for pointing that out

Modern photography and the CMOS or CCD based Canon and Nikon DSLRs over expose blues on their final rendering

A camera sensor cant truly capture what's truly going on....even if it's a $20,000 professional DSLR

Forgot to sit and think that one over prior to post, ooppss

 

[Nasir]

Yes, if you dive most of the coral is receiving blue light. If you read a lot of the information from the growers like Jason Fox he has went to growing his corals under blue light. I have also shortened my white light time at the brightest to 2 hours and have seen better color and growth.

 

[ZoWhat]

Yes, if you dive most of the coral is receiving blue light. If you read a lot of the information from the growers like Jason Fox he has went to growing his corals under blue light. I have also shortened my white light time at the brightest to 2 hours and have seen better color and growth.

@Nasir
What different kinds of corals are you growing?

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

If you read a lot of the information from the growers like Jason Fox he has went to growing his corals under blue light. I have also shortened my white light time at the brightest to 2 hours and have seen better color and growth.

You make a good point, shortening you white lights and opting for more blue will aid in great color for your corals, there's no doubt that it's in the best interest of the coral farmer to grow in blue light to aid in pretty corals (Pretty corals equal higher demand). NeverlosT hit the nail on the head with reefs in deeper water filter out more of the color spectrum. What we do in the hobby and what actually happens in nature are 2 different things. SkimJim suggest that based on pictures of the vast blue in the background means that most tanks lighting is too far white, I have been led to believe quite the opposite. I've also been led to believe that when diving in a coral reef, you don't see these bright fluorescing colors like we do in our tanks. To me that suggests that hobbyist have too much blue...

I'd like to here from those that dive on a regular basis what their thoughts are. And possibly those that dive in different locations around the world differences they see with light spectrum.

 

[ZoWhat]

Let's all just unplug all our lights and going Partying on some beach somewhere after a full day of coral diving....

Apex that!