Struggling with lights

[Nate5154]

Hi, I have one blue focused light and two white focused lights on the outside of it. I’m struggling with lighting a lot and i’m just not sure how much blue vs white is needed for all types of corals. I do prefer natural looking tanks a lot more though. Any advice is very helpful.

 

[Steven Garland]

Really whatever works for you. You will probably have an issue with blending and the center being blue focused vs the outter edges being more white based.

 

[Nate5154]

Really whatever works for you. You will probably have an issue with blending and the center being blue focused vs the outter edges being more white based.

Yea I was able to get a good color mix to what i like where the whites were 40% and blue was around 30% but im not exactly sure if corals will be able to grow with that, like if there’s enough blue for photosynthesis

 

[CBonito]

Hi, I have one blue focused light and two white focused lights on the outside of it. I’m struggling with lighting a lot and i’m just not sure how much blue vs white is needed for all types of corals. I do prefer natural looking tanks a lot more though. Any advice is very helpful.

Ok, so 2:1 blue to white ratio is usually what does it for me, but it naturally depends on the individual lights.

So really what you want are 2 blue lights on the outside and one (or two) white lights in the middle.
As long as there is enough light intensity, you can juggle colors around until you like what you see.
Both blue and white light are going to be beneficial.

Do you have any pictures of what you have going on now?

 

[Nate5154]

Hi, I have one blue focused light and two white focused lights on the outside of it. I’m struggling with lighting a lot and i’m just not sure how much blue vs white is needed for all types of corals. I do prefer natural looking tanks a lot more though. Any advice is very helpful.

Ok, so 2:1 blue to white ratio is usually what does it for me, but it naturally depends on the individual lights.

So really what you want are 2 blue lights on the outside and one (or two) white lights in the middle.
As long as there is enough light intensity, you can juggle colors around until you like what you see.
Both blue and white light are going to be beneficial.

Do you have any pictures of what you have going on now?

I don’t currently have any pictures and i’m away but yea I definitly like the day kind of look, so as long as I do have some blue i should be good ?

 

[CBonito]

I don’t currently have any pictures and i’m away but yea I definitly like the day kind of look, so as long as I do have some blue i should be good ?

yes.

 

[Hooz]

Not all "blue" lights are created equal. What are the actual lights you're using?

 

[Nate5154]

Not all "blue" lights are created equal. What are the actual lights you're using?

Im using 2 reef day plus and 1 blue plus from orphek

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Im using 2 reef day plus and 1 blue plus from orphek

Photos of your light settings?

 

[Nate5154]

Im using 2 reef day plus and 1 blue plus from orphek

Photos of your light settings?

The percent is pretty low right now just because i’m acclimating and trying to not stress my corals but usually my front and back would peak to 35 ish percent and blue peak at 30 percent

 

[gkprevite]

You need to rent a par meter and dial in the par for your tank and the kind of corals you want to keep. Corals don’t need to be light acclimated that drastically. There was bright light wherever they were when they got to you. If they’re not getting enough light to photosynthesize your doing more harm than good. The lights you have should be able to achieve the color balance your desiring ,just remember blue light is important for corals, the white lights are mostly for us and to balance out the blue.