Do you have to have blue light?

[ILikeFish!]

I was wondering do you have to have blue lights on your tank because I like the white look of the first picture more than the blue tank?

 

[tmccaff]

Whites will cause more algae and yes blue you need in order for corals to grow healthy

 

[Tlledsmar]

The blue is just to limit the spectrum that is gonna explode algae. You can run white light and the corals will do *okay* just the algae may get out of control. Personally, I wouldn't be able to dial in a white light to optimal for the corals and be able to see in the tank well, it would be kinda dim.

 

[Reef_Curiosity]

There is blue in the first picture too, it's a full spectrum light.
If you like full spectrum/whiter light, I can really recommend Giesemann Pulzar G3. I use one on my living room reef, and it doesn't drown the entire room in blue light, and the corals look great in that light and still flouresce nicely.

Regarding algae, the light really doesn't matter. Nutrients out of whack, low competition from corals and too few herbivores cause algae.

 

[Viking_Reefing]

White light (full spectrum) contains blue wavelengths as well. For example 6500k halides grow acros like crazy.
So no, you don’t need to have your tank look like you filled it with windex.

 

[ILikeFish!]

There is blue in the first picture too, it's a full spectrum light.
If you like full spectrum/whiter light, I can really recommend Giesemann Pulzar G3. I use one on my living room reef, and it doesn't drown the entire room in blue light, and the corals look great in that light and still flouresce nicely.

Regarding algae, the light really doesn't matter. Nutrients out of whack, low competition from corals and too few herbivores cause algae.

If I get one of those lights where you can adjust how much blue there is and how much white there is can I just set it where it’s just more white at all times or will that be bad for corals?

 

[srobertb]

I was wondering do you have to have blue lights on your tank because I like the white look of the first picture more than the blue tank?

Most people (I think? At least it’s recommended these days via AB/AB+ scheduled) will have their lights set to be whiter in the afternoon to simulate the sun and bluer in the evenings and morning for aesthetics (and to mimic the sun being weaker at those times).

Before LED, we went with color “temperature” to pick out bulbs. That first picture you sent looks like it’s around “12k” which is perfectly acceptable. The ideal range is 10k-20k although I think at 10k you will need some actinic (blue) light to supplement.

LED fixtures spread power evenly over a wide array of LED lights. Yes, I can turn my Radion to “white” but it will not be powerful enough as it can’t just send all 100w to the “white” channel.

Look at the Kessil line if you like a whiter tank. Plan to need a little extra for the above reason. Also plan on running them at 70-80% as they tend to die when ran at 100% for a few years (anecdotally speaking).

Better yet but a little hassle- look at T5’s. Grab some 15k or 10k bulbs and an actinic bulb or two and play around until you get the color you want.

Grow out facilities will absolutely use 10k bulbs to grow coral but often with actinic (blue) supplementation. The corals don’t look pretty but they do grow.

Stay away from anything below 10k (6500 being the most popular next step down). You want “cool white” not “warm white.”

 

[Reef_Curiosity]

If I get one of those lights where you can adjust how much blue there is and how much white there is can I just set it where it’s just more white at all times or will that be bad for corals?

Depends on the light I would say, but yes.
Kessil lights has a color tune which, according to them, is safe and good for corals at whichever setting.
If you took an AI Prime for example and ran high white, red and green and low blue it would not be optimal for the corals.
But if you ran the blues at 100% and tuned the white/red/green to a setting which pleases your eye, it should be fine. But tune it with a PAR meter

I removed the guesswork and went with the LED strip which has an optimal spectrum on its own.

 

[X-37B]

You do need blue but its the white light of leds that will control the look.
Some leds have a greater amount of white light.
This is my 80g lit ny 4 radions running ab+schedule.
3og remote is lit by 16hds.
I can get a very halide/white look from the 16hds.
The radion blues over power the white and give a more windex look if you will.
I like both as its hard to capture the radions in a pic. They appear whiter in person.
I ran halides for years. Algae is a product of nutrients and your in/out method of controling them.
You can get algae from any light source.
My 80g and remote 30g.
You can see the stark differemce in the 2 light systems.

 

[vlangel]

I was wondering do you have to have blue lights on your tank because I like the white look of the first picture more than the blue tank?

If you look at the first pic, there are a lot of NPS coral in that pic that are not relying on light to live. I saw sun coral, what looked like either carnation or chili coral and NPS gorgs.
The main thing in keeping a tank like that is a lot of food to feed those coral and a lot of water changes/filtration to keep up water quality.

 

[ILikeFish!]

Depends on the light I would say, but yes.
Kessil lights has a color tune which, according to them, is safe and good for corals at whichever setting.
If you took an AI Prime for example and ran high white, red and green and low blue it would not be optimal for the corals.
But if you ran the blues at 100% and tuned the white/red/green to a setting which pleases your eye, it should be fine. But tune it with a PAR meter

I removed the guesswork and went with the LED strip which has an optimal spectrum on its own.

I was planning getting some noopschye pros and they are adjustable, could I do what you said in your example with those lights?

 

[Sebastiancrab]

There is blue in the first picture too, it's a full spectrum light.
If you like full spectrum/whiter light, I can really recommend Giesemann Pulzar G3. I use one on my living room reef, and it doesn't drown the entire room in blue light, and the corals look great in that light and still flouresce nicely.

Regarding algae, the light really doesn't matter. Nutrients out of whack, low competition from corals and too few herbivores cause algae.

I have to differ on your last sentence. When I have run with more white light as opposed to blues, the algae has tended to take off more.

 

[Doctorgori]

Just my 2 cents…White(er) light does not cause algae per se. That’s like blaming candy on tooth decay and never brushing your teeth…. Any strong light can cause algae and yes plants can us more of the red spectrum…
Also there can be confusion between color temp (what the light looks like) and wavelength (the actual spectral component)…color blending is one thing, wavelenght and actual photon energy is another…
BTW corals are more adaptable than those lighting vids will have you believe …

 

[Brymac1]

I have to differ on your last sentence. When I have run with more white light as opposed to blues, the algae has tended to take off more.

Was that because of the spectrum change or just added intensity? I run my lights with white, green, and red all at 100% and don’t have any nuisance algae growth because of my herbivores.