Aquarium LED Light Colors Explained [Video]

[Reef Builders]

It’s quite impressive how many colors can be found in modern reef aquarium LED lights, and the numerous lighting control channels and the colors that ride on them can be quite overwhelming for the uninitiated. In the good old days we only had to consider a bright white, full spectrum lamp, an actinic blue lamp,…
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[Ron Reefman]

Nice to read about that various color leds do for colors in the tank.

But what about which colors do more for the health, well being and growth of the corals? Something like this:

 

[blasterman]

No one ever used full spectrum lights on a reef tank. Ever...

The sun is full spectrum ....plasma sulfur is full spectrum. Incandescent or halogen is full spectrum. No fluorescent or metal halide is full spectrum. Full spectrum is a marketing term. This usually refers to high CRI bulbs, but high CRI has nothing to do with spectrum.

If you look at the spectrum of a high end reef LED with a dozen disco colors on a reef tank its not much different than the old halides. Mint, deep red, etc have tiny radiometric levels with 80-95% of the energy being centered on 450nm blue. Just because the light has the multicolored LEDs doesn't mean anything. If you really cared about legit full spectrum you would be running plasma sulfur.

Classic reef halides proven to grow coral are darn near monochromatic in nature. Today's LEDs are more energy efficient than halide , but they dont grow coral better. The additional colors sell lights to nubs who pack a tank with SPS frags and whine nothing grows.

Testing chlorophyll light absorption in beakers has been beaten to death. Chlorophyll doesn't convert energy more efficiently under lasers vs sunlight.

 

[Ron Reefman]

No one ever used full spectrum lights on a reef tank. Ever...

The sun is full spectrum ....plasma sulfur is full spectrum. Incandescent or halogen is full spectrum. No fluorescent or metal halide is full spectrum. Full spectrum is a marketing term. This usually refers to high CRI bulbs, but high CRI has nothing to do with spectrum.

If you look at the spectrum of a high end reef LED with a dozen disco colors on a reef tank its not much different than the old halides. Mint, deep red, etc have tiny radiometric levels with 80-95% of the energy being centered on 450nm blue. Just because the light has the multicolored LEDs doesn't mean anything. If you really cared about legit full spectrum you would be running plasma sulfur.

Classic reef halides proven to grow coral are darn near monochromatic in nature. Today's LEDs are more energy efficient than halide , but they dont grow coral better. The additional colors sell lights to nubs who pack a tank with SPS frags and whine nothing grows.

Testing chlorophyll light absorption in beakers has been beaten to death. Chlorophyll doesn't convert energy more efficiently under lasers vs sunlight.

Some interesting bits of information, maybe even all true, but what's the main point here? ;Wideyed