correct light settings

[stevieduk]

recently bought a double size black box l e d light for my corals. it has two knobs on it , one is a dimmer for the blues and atinics ,and the other controls the whites, greens reds ect.
I was reading that it is more important that corals get the correct wavelengths of light to make them thrive, than what the tank looks like to the owner.
So my question is ,with the ability to dim and mix the levels of the colours , how do I know if its to the corals likeing. the polyps are out what ever lights are on, but there must be a optimum setting for the levels of each

 

[Crabs McJones]

recently bought a double size black box l e d light for my corals. it has two knobs on it , one is a dimmer for the blues and atinics ,and the other controls the whites, greens reds ect.
I was reading that it is more important that corals get the correct wavelengths of light to make them thrive, than what the tank looks like to the owner.
So my question is ,with the ability to dim and mix the levels of the colours , how do I know if its to the corals likeing. the polyps are out what ever lights are on, but there must be a optimum setting for the levels of each

The blue channel is going to be the one that you want to adjust as the zooxanthellae in the corals use the blue spectrum. The white channel is going to be adjusted to your liking. Meaning you turn it up until you reach a color spectrum that you like and looks asthetically pleasing to the eye. Just be careful, those black boxes are power houses and if you turn up the intensity to high they will fry your coral. Start out with very low intensity and slowly adjust it over the course of several weeks making 5% adjustments weekly until you find the sweet spot that the corals like

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Slightly complicated.
In short.

The light at a w/b 1:1 ratio (if the intensity is correct ) IS delivering the light the coral needs.

In the “white “ there is actually spectrums the coral uses as well.
And some the coral doesn’t, Redford to as ,”wasted “ spectrum.

By increasing the the “white” you are adding spectrums the coral needs, and if YOU like how it looks , the coral is ignoring the “wasted” spectrum anyway.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Also a pretty good read on setting the Leds with a cheap meter.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/new-lux-meter-how-do-i-use.368945/#post-4549549

 

[stevieduk]

ok, thanks everyone. you are right about the light units being strong. when i fist switched it on and turned it up full on both channels , my zoas shut up in seconds