Blue Tanks?

[Eye H8 Empty V]

So I still haven’t setup my tank as I’m STILL working on rebuilding my kitchen. With no hands on experience with SPS and lighting I have a noob question.

I see all these SPS pics where the colors are ultra saturated and vibrant. In order to get these colors do you need to set your lights to ultra blue or can you achieve this with a “normal” looking tank? I’m afraid that when the time is right and I get into SPS I will not get these awesome colors unless I go super blue and now the fish have taken a backseat. I do not want a black-light looking tank as the fish are my priority.

Thanks!

 

[CasaReefer]

I am Kinda new Here But.....Depending on which lights you choose. You can adjust the white light to cover some of that up but with that being said you need the blue light. LED's like Radion's, Red Sea, AI and have programs you can adjust the different colors of light right from your phone. Radion's even have there own programs like " Coral Lab " which is the program I am running that Ramp the lights up and down everyday. I am sure someone who knows more then I do can contribute more better .

 

[CasaReefer]

bump

 

[BiGGiePauls33]

So I still haven’t setup my tank as I’m STILL working on rebuilding my kitchen. With no hands on experience with SPS and lighting I have a noob question.

I see all these SPS pics where the colors are ultra saturated and vibrant. In order to get these colors do you need to set your lights to ultra blue or can you achieve this with a “normal” looking tank? I’m afraid that when the time is right and I get into SPS I will not get these awesome colors unless I go super blue and now the fish have taken a backseat. I do not want a black-light looking tank as the fish are my priority.

Thanks!

What do you consider normal lighting 10k, 12k, 14k, 18k 20k the higher the number the bluer the spectrum.

 

[BiGGiePauls33]

I'm more corals than fish, I'm keeping a reeftank and only have fish that have a specific job, to help with pests and algae.

 

[Devaji]

what you are seeing online in photos is with filters, editing and UV and blues turned way up. 90% of the time those corals dont look like that in person.

it's kinda like super models they look nothing like the photo shoot we see in the mags.

all that said you need to provide the light the corals need to thrive.
with out getting to technical ( others can explains better than I anyway) corals need peeks in the A and b to grow. tons of info out there on spectrum's but for an example look at BRS AB+ to get an idea what corals need. if you look at the spectrum graphs you will see the peeks in NM lots of blues. lower reds green and whites.

I believe anything from 10k-20K will work. anything under 10K will grow to much algae in marine reefs it's better for FW planted tanks.

in the oceans the red is filtered out by the water and the corals over millions of years have adapted to thrive with little red spectriums ( you still need it just not a ton)
that is why most reefs tanks are 10-20K .

all that said you got to enjoy your tank if you don't care for an overly blue tank then lower the K on the lights by lowering the intensity of blues and slightly upping the whites. I would start with a 14K and go from there.

 

[jda]

This is pretty general, but to get the best color, use a whiter spectrum to grow you corals and then blue it up to your liking to view them. You can do this with LED and change the spectrum throughout the day, or some use MH with a 14k Spectrum (14k Phoenix or 20k Radium) and then use blue LEDs that they turn on when they want to see the black-light look.

 

[Eye H8 Empty V]

Thanks for the responses! I probably should have been more clear with my question. I understand why and how corals need certain spectrums of light to flourish. I’m wondering if you need a black light looking tank in order to see the colors pop like in the pic below. Will turning the whites up wash out the color? Or is there a series of spectrums that will give you the best of both worlds, crazy coral colors and brightly illuminated rock and fish?

My setup will be an LED/T5 Hybrid with 3x Kessil A360x’s and a 48” Aquatic Life DX18.

 

[jda]

What do you think about these? No blue light here, just 14k Phoenix Metal Halide only. These corals look this day in and day out with no trick lighting.





If you want something that looks like Pandora at the end of Avatar, then you need some RB LEDs for this.

 

[bubbaque]

Thanks for the responses! I probably should have been more clear with my question. I understand why and how corals need certain spectrums of light to flourish. I’m wondering if you need a black light looking tank in order to see the colors pop like in the pic below. Will turning the whites up wash out the color? Or is there a series of spectrums that will give you the best of both worlds, crazy coral colors and brightly illuminated rock and fish?

My setup will be an LED/T5 Hybrid with 3x Kessil A360x’s and a 48” Aquatic Life DX18.

Yes corals fluorescence more under blue leds.

People will add blue led light bars to their T5 or metal halide to get more of the coral “pop”.

 

[Hemmdog]

Thanks for the responses! I probably should have been more clear with my question. I understand why and how corals need certain spectrums of light to flourish. I’m wondering if you need a black light looking tank in order to see the colors pop like in the pic below. Will turning the whites up wash out the color? Or is there a series of spectrums that will give you the best of both worlds, crazy coral colors and brightly illuminated rock and fish?

My setup will be an LED/T5 Hybrid with 3x Kessil A360x’s and a 48” Aquatic Life DX18.

I have the same setup. My 360x’s start blue , then go whiter for the peak spectrum, then ramp down to blue. I’ll send you my program once you are set up. It’s taken a lot of trial and error but I finally have a great program for sps growth & coloration.

 

[RCS82]

Some corals look better under white daylight and some look better under blues. Classics like Oregon Tort, ORA Pearlberry, JF Fox Flame, SSC, Purple Monster too name a few are insane under daylight or say 14k. Some like Walt Disney, Homewrecker and all the Rainbow Tenuis stuff, to name a few again are for blues and UVs

 

[BiGGiePauls33]

So I still haven’t setup my tank as I’m STILL working on rebuilding my kitchen. With no hands on experience with SPS and lighting I have a noob question.

I see all these SPS pics where the colors are ultra saturated and vibrant. In order to get these colors do you need to set your lights to ultra blue or can you achieve this with a “normal” looking tank? I’m afraid that when the time is right and I get into SPS I will not get these awesome colors unless I go super blue and now the fish have taken a backseat. I do not want a black-light looking tank as the fish are my priority.

Thanks!

Here's a link to my Instagram with some pics from a thread here, 12k top downs unedited. If you scroll through the other pics, you can see the same corals with bullies also.

 

[Terri Caton]

I have the same setup. My 360x’s start blue , then go whiter for the peak spectrum, then ramp down to blue. I’ll send you my program once you are set up. It’s taken a lot of trial and error but I finally have a great program for sps growth & coloration.

Could you share it on here so we can all see it?

 

[Eye H8 Empty V]

I have the same setup. My 360x’s start blue , then go whiter for the peak spectrum, then ramp down to blue. I’ll send you my program once you are set up. It’s taken a lot of trial and error but I finally have a great program for sps growth & coloration.

That would be awesome, thanks brutha!

 

[Eye H8 Empty V]

What do you think about these? No blue light here, just 14k Phoenix Metal Halide only. These corals look this day in and day out with no trick lighting.





If you want something that looks like Pandora at the end of Avatar, then you need some RB LEDs for this.

These look amazing! I'm pretty set on the lighting setup though. I have MH's in my QT tank and they're awesome but the evap rate is crazy.

 

[Hemmdog]

Could you share it on here so we can all see it?

Yea, I’ll take pics of the program tomorrow.

 

[Terri Caton]

These look amazing! I'm pretty set on the lighting setup though. I have MH's in my QT tank and they're awesome but the evap rate is crazy.

I live in the high desert. I go through 10 gallons of RO water in my ATO in one week. And it’s winter! Darn rimless tanks.

 

[Jax15]

Hey Hemmdog, would you mind sharing your light schedule with me as well? I have 2 A360X Kessils on a 48” T5 fixture. The bulbs are 2 blue+, 1 coral+, and 1 true actinic. I’ve been considering adding one more kessil to fulfill my sps ambitions, but honestly I think what I have should be plenty of light. It’s on a 48” Waterbox.

I ask because many of my SPS have been struggling a bit and want to make sure everything’s dialed in. I’ve currentlyused the Spectral controllerX preset schedule. T5s are on for around 5 hours during midday then I just run the Kessils.

Would love to hear if you’ve found an effective schedule!

I have the same setup. My 360x’s start blue , then go whiter for the peak spectrum, then ramp down to blue. I’ll send you my program once you are set up. It’s taken a lot of trial and error but I finally have a great program for sps growth & coloration.

 

[Eye H8 Empty V]

Yea, I’ll take pics of the program tomorrow.

that would be awesome! Is there a way to export a profile?

Thanks!