Blue Tanks?

[Jax15]

Btw to the OP - I’d suggest the kessil a360x lights. They’re really great, and they can be tuned to a whiter spectrum where the corals still pop but it’s not over the top blue, especially in the kitchen if you’re worried about light spilling outside the tank. Kessil has them programmed so you can’t really go wrong, just pick the color you like and the corals will grow fine regardless.

There are plenty of corals that look great under Kessils tuned to the whiter spectrum, all of them do honestly. But there’s no doubt that the crazy psychedelic color pop does take the actinic blue. A coral like a torch can look great under white during the day, but then in the evening when my lights become blue it’s almost like the color changes entirely. So comes down to your preference really.

 

[Hemmdog]

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!

Nice setup! Yea I’ll post up my program tomorrow. I do a 6 hour t5 supplement during peak as well. I use 2 blue+ 2 coral+, I did actinic and blue + in the past and it wasn’t enough light. The gist of the kessil schedule is everything starts low and ramps up together; so red/green/ white, ramps up 0/5/10/15/etc. every 45 mins until a maximum of 25. UV ramps up in bigger increments to a maximum of 80. I have my intensity at 90% and it peaks for 6 hours with my T5’s then ramps back down in the same fashion to zero on all channels.
I’ll take pics tomorrow for exact numbers on channels per time slot.

 

[Hemmdog]

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

Thanks!

Not that I know of

 

[Eye H8 Empty V]

Btw to the OP - I’d suggest the kessil a360x lights. They’re really great, and they can be tuned to a whiter spectrum where the corals still pop but it’s not over the top blue, especially in the kitchen if you’re worried about light spilling outside the tank. Kessil has them programmed so you can’t really go wrong, just pick the color you like and the corals will grow fine regardless.

There are plenty of corals that look great under Kessils tuned to the whiter spectrum, all of them do honestly. But there’s no doubt that the crazy psychedelic color pop does take the actinic blue. A coral like a torch can look great under white during the day, but then in the evening when my lights become blue it’s almost like the color changes entirely. So comes down to your preference really.

Thanks Jax! I’m planning on 3 A360X’s and 4 T5’s above my 48” Wide 90 Gallon.

 

[DHill6]

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.

High Desert also, summer is evap heavy, also rimless.

 

[Terri Caton]

High Desert also, summer is evap heavy, also rimless.

It’s good for raising the humidity in the house which I need. Being from South Florida I’m suffering in the bone dry air here.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Lighting obviously plays a role in coloration and the K(kelvin) value changes how we see objects such as a dk. Blue car that appears purple in the sun. Halides IMO opinion expresses the most natural colors of coral and blues magnify the coloration of coral enhances green,yellow and orange pigments but gor myself and many- corals respond well to blues

 

[DHill6]

It’s good for raising the humidity in the house which I need. Being from South Florida I’m suffering in the bone dry air here.
I could do without the humidity in that room. We run AC during summer months 24/7. I prefer dry heat over humidity any day. Never lived in humidity.

 

[ReefHomieJon]

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.

Whats your program look like? I have 360xs too and my coral look pretty good but you may have a better program lol

 

[ReefHomieJon]

@hemmdogg

Whats your program look like? I have 360xs too and my coral look pretty good but you may have a better program lol

but yes I go blue white blue as well and ramp up and ramp down intensity simultaneously. But maybe your schedule is better for color and growth. I can’t be mad tho. Mines pretty good

 

[Hermie]

The bottom line is that you can do both. Really, if you have blue light and "white" light going at the same time, you will see the white light more than the blue. So all it comes down to is, when do you want to turn your white lights down? You can run them all day or you can run them never or you can run them for a while until the times you want to view the tank with that black light effect (for example at night). The only addendum is that blue light is generally best for corals at any point of the day, so if you are to limit blue or "white" for some reason other than coral health, it's better to limit white. That's a really general answer, but I guess the main point is that like others have said, you can do both.

 

[Nooooooooob1]

Keep in mind that cameras can heavily alter how the lighting actually looks. This is how mine looks with the stock camera app and then how it looks with the white balance turned all the way up.

 

[furyofthegnomes]

Is it possible for people to share their programs? I have this setup as well and am trying to tweak things as I'm not crazy with how everything looks and just can't seem to find that sweet spot. Thanks.

 

[Kjames]

Is it possible for people to share their programs? I have this setup as well and am trying to tweak things as I'm not crazy with how everything looks and just can't seem to find that sweet spot. Thanks.

Same setup. 10" mounting height. Good growth of SPS and par above 300 in almost every part of the tank, but don't think I've quite found the sweet spot. I do like the tank better during the more blue parts of the program. I have it stuck in my head that corals look better under blue and grow better under white. I've also got a lot of natural sunlight in the room which makes the tank even less blue during the day (in my office so I see it all day). All spectrums being equal, I would choose a more blue coloration than my current program below:

2 Coral+ and 2 Blue+ running 8am-6pm
2 A360W-E running 7am to 7pm actual