|
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Lets talk about lighting an SPS tank
Lets talk about lighting an SPS tank.
There seems to be an awful lot of confusion going around. I'll start with a few easy ones. The lamp you choose, is not the end all be all of producing colorful corals. Great coloration can be had with 10K as well as 20K lamps. 10K almost always grows Acroporids faster than 20K or 14K. Corals can look very different depending on the light they are under. Here are some pictures from another thread. click for larger image 10K Ushio 20K Radium
__________________
-Joe |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
I totally agree. Lighting is just a piece of the puzzle. Water quality, flow, etc.. are also very important to the colorations of corals.
__________________
"If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it." - Albert Einstein |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Agreed, some nice SPS tanks are VHO only. Typically the higher the kelvin, the less life the bulbs will have.
__________________
I refrain from using the word "hobby". You don't refer to your dog or cat as a "hobby." |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
I found that my 10k grew sps faster than running 20k. Colors were different after a while, not necessarily better. I prefer 20k, visually, but right now I am running 10k to increase growth.
I am also trying to greatly reduce nutrient levels in the tank; I believe that has a huge impact on coloration.
__________________
Brad |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
I find that the focus for both growth and coloration is always on Kelvin.
I personally believe that if thats the only thing focused on you are NOT going to be happy with the results. You can have the perfect blend of intensity and spectrum,,but if you have bad water quality/to little water flow/ ph ca alk etc out of wack, you are going to end up with problems that no 10K or 20K bulb can do anything about.
__________________
We are Legion,,,,,for we are many....... |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
So Joe...why is it that whenever someone posts pics of their tank with awesome acros, the first (and generally only) question is what temp bulbs are being used. Nobody ever asks "hey, what kind of PO4 levels do you run?" Or "how much flow is in there?", things like that.
I agree that it's so much more than lights, but the masses still seem to hang on to K values. Thoughts?
__________________
Brad |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
Are we forgetting about intensity? 10k 175 watt, or 20K 400w.
It seems that 10k grow corals faster just out of pure intensity. I would like to see a study using 10k with the same par as a 20k and see if the growth rates would be any different. |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
I agree that the 10k give more growth than 20k due to greater PAR, not wavelength concerns.
__________________
Brad |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
ReefRat..
I think personally its because when someone is viewing a picture thats the first thing that registers ( the visual aspect ) and therfore the most normal question to ask is what made it "look" like that... I may be wrong,,but it would seem to make sense. Especially if you see a picture posted that shows hints of equipment,,then you typically see many questions about the hardware.
__________________
We are Legion,,,,,for we are many....... |
#10
|
|||
|
|||
Agreed, but my perception (which could be way off) is that many/most people want to believe it's all about bulbs. Wattage, K values, etc.
__________________
Brad |
#11
|
|||
|
|||
Since this thread is about lighting, should we not assume that tank parameters are optimal.
We could get way off topic talking about the effect that ALk will have on coral growth or that corals will put on the same amount of skeleton, with lower flow, just extend it to longer, thinner branches making the coral appear to grow faster. So providing that the water quality is as it should be......lighting? |
#12
|
|||
|
|||
Back to lighting then :-)
__________________
Brad |
#13
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
IMO, pick a lamp that puts out a color you like 6500K ( not for me), 10K or Blue (14K, 20K and the rest of the blue bulbs I put into this category) has decent PAR, and leave it at that. Spend the rest of your time and energy into water quality, the colors will generally come. Some lamps do help with coloration, I agree. Different lamps can bring out some colors a little more than others, but only up to a point IMO. After that, It's everything else (that we never seem to talk about) that makes it happen. Purple acro under 10K Ushio
__________________
-Joe |
#14
|
|||
|
|||
Anyway, I believe that depending on the coral different spectrums are needed for it to color to it's full potential.
Preferably there should be 6500k, 20k 10k, 14k, over each 2x2 area. That way the coral ould be satruated at all spectrums and I beleive that blues wouldn't turn purple (or vice versa) yellows to Greens (vice versa) reds to pinks etc.etc. As we already know reds and yellows tend to do best under 6500k's and 10k's while blues and purples tend to do best under 14k's and 20ks. |
#15
|
|||
|
|||
as for Joe's coral above.....possibly more green under 6500k and much more purple under 20ks.
However, I think it is awesome just the way it is. I think it also depends on what colors you like to keep as well. |
#16
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
__________________
-Joe |
#17
|
|||
|
|||
Beautiful coral Joe. Looks a lot like the one in sawjacks (Bill) avatar...
Quote:
Last edited by pi; 06/01/2004 at 04:33 PM. |
#18
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
__________________
Brad |
#19
|
|||
|
|||
Well,
I have to agree that water quality excluded, intensity spectrum etc... does play a role in coloration. I have witnessed it first hand when I upgrade my dual 175watt 10k's to dual 250 20K's. I had a nice green digitata that had turned a really dull tan/brown and a pavona that was also on the verge of browning out, while they were under my 175's. Within 2 months under the 250 20K's the Digitata returned to its original green, and actually colored up a bit also. The pavona has colors in it now that I had never even knew it was able to have.
__________________
We are Legion,,,,,for we are many....... |
#20
|
|||
|
|||
I agree 100%
Lighting tends to be in everyones mind "the way" to get corals to color. AS shown from Joe's tank, you don't need 400w 20k radiums(doesn't hurt) to get awesome color. I am sure joe has wonderful water quality to assist in his colors(flow, ca/alk, low nutrients). I think that lighting is only the first step in the battle. I would venture to say one of the top three parts of the puzzle. So that is why Joe brings it up. |
#21
|
|||
|
|||
reef raf:
Were the bulbs the same wattage? If so it could be an intensity issue. I agree that most corals look different from bulb to bulb. a True Test would be to look at the coral under natrual sunlight as you said after it has been under 10ks for several months or 20ks for several months. I have natural sunlight shing on my tank in the morning and the corals have color, but nowhere near when my 400w radiums and actinic on. The Natural sunlight should be a "control" for colors. |
#22
|
|||
|
|||
My observations are:
10k's are needed to keep yellows. Yellow turns green under 20k 20k's are better for keeping blues and deep purples Mixing 10k's and 20k's are optimum for keeping all colors. |
#23
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
I've tried to put most of the spectrums in my AQ. It doesnt all have to be MH, but I have noticed a difference just by adding a T5 Blue 450nm that brings out the blues in my blue corals! |
#24
|
|||
|
|||
I've found that Intensity is just as important. Especially when using lower wattage like 175's.
I had 2 10k Ab's over my 54 corner pretty bright, I wanted to add some blue because the 10k's are pretty harsh. So I Put a XM 20k in and it looked nice but i started to lose color on some things right away. Intensity was cut in half with the Dim 20k lamp. |
#25
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
I'm down to 10k only though because of the inconvenience of trying to run both . |
|
|