Do you need white lights?

[nick654377]

So I have been seeing multiple different answers.
Do you need to have white lights for corals?

I have read countless articles that the whites are only for human eyes and blues,greens, reds are what you need.
The guy at the lfs said corals need whites to grow. I’m quite confused and looking for opinions.

95% of our corals seem to be happy with just blues max for 4 hours a day with a 2 hour ramp up and 2 hour ramp down.

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

White light imo is needed to strengthen coral zooanxthelle yes and darken the coral. Make the corals color more pronounced than say "bleached" neon color see through skin on corals I've seen before. I am by no means any expert this is my opinion.

Blue light does Pentetrate deeper in the water yes. Corals adapt. Expelling or gathering zooaxnthelle to light conditions.
Also parameters in water chemistry will cause this.

 

[Lavey29]

No

 

[Spare time]

No but it can be used by corals and such and I believe is beneficial for the fish's behavior and well being

 

[vetteguy53081]

So I have been seeing multiple different answers.
Do you need to have white lights for corals?

I have read countless articles that the whites are only for human eyes and blues,greens, reds are what you need.
The guy at the lfs said corals need whites to grow. I’m quite confused and looking for opinions.

95% of our corals seem to be happy with just blues max for 4 hours a day with a 2 hour ramp up and 2 hour ramp down.

yes- Its an absolute ray for production Of zooxanthellae which provides coral energy and color as well as phytoplankton.

 

[PokeFish]

i dont think u need that much but you always need some

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Kelvin temp spectrum in my and t5 is nothing like led. This is my opinion.
D

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Mh*

 

[Spare time]

There is a difference between need and helpful so keep that in mind

 

[Karen00]

IMO, it depends on what depth your corals come from in nature. If they are deep water corals then from everything I have read they don't need white. If they are tidepool/higher level corals then everything I have read says they do. If it's mixed then you will need white. I run white at about 20% because I like the look it gives and I assume my corals will only use the spectrum they would if they were in the wild. If it's a new coral type or from a new store I always ask their lighting type because I don't want to shock the corals when they go into my system but so far I haven't had any issues but I'm not keeping any delicate corals... Yet. Running white won't hurt but it could hurt if your corals need it based in how they grow in the wild. I haven't read anything that says they loose their genetics simply because they are tank propagated in a store.

 

[Brymac1]

I’m a big believer in the benefits of full spectrum lighting. I believe I get faster growth and healthier corals with it. I run a 6500K giesemann bulb in my T5 hybrid fixture to supplement the blue heavy spectrum of my LEDs and other T5 bulbs.

 

[GARRIGA]

Isn’t white light just the full spectrum of light. Not sure what LED manufacturers are calling white light. You’d think that means full spectrum or some degree of it. Closer to 5500 kelvin the closer it is to full spectrum.

 

[Brymac1]

Isn’t white light just the full spectrum of light. Not sure what LED manufacturers are calling white light. You’d think that means full spectrum or some degree of it. Closer to 5500 kelvin the closer it is to full spectrum.

There really isn’t any led manufacturer making a true full spectrum light source. Full spectrum usually includes UV and IR wavelengths, which most LED fixtures lack.

 

[FishTruck]

Short answer is no.

Assuming by white we are talking about truly blended spectrum from a 6500 k metal halide bulb, or, using a combination of light from the LED that looks very white.

Do some reading on wavelengths necessary for photosynthesis, stimulation of pigment production, stimulation of fluorescence etc... You can blanket it all with a blended spectrum that looks rather white (using metal halides was a great old school way to do this).

 

[GARRIGA]

There really isn’t any led manufacturer making a true full spectrum light source. Full spectrum usually includes UV and IR wavelengths, which most LED fixtures lack.

For photography there are high CRI rated full spectrum lights but I have no clue what aquarium LED manufacturers mean by white light. Light from the sun contains all the wave lengths. Since photography looks for 5500 kelvin to represent full spectrum and the assumed equivelence of natural then that's what I assume would be sought after when ever explaining white light. I get the for reef tanks the bluer we go the better and why often full spectrum is quoted closer to 6500 which is supposedly in the spectrum of mid day sun. In other words, there's no single wave length that is white. Why I've considered setting up an full spectrum LED for photography then just set the intensity to meet the PAR requirements needed. My dilemma being the mount.

 

[Shooter6]

White light will fill in any spectrum lacking from the other colored lights. Say you have blue and purple leds, the white would add the gree,green,orange ect.

 

[GARRIGA]

White light will fill in any spectrum lacking from the other colored lights. Say you have blue and purple leds, the white would add the gree,green,orange ect.

But wouldn't the white light also add the blues and purples. My point being if it's true white light then it already contains all the wave lengths. Wished manufacturers would be clearer on this. Technically speaking. TV's only have reg, green and blue to represent full color. What exact wave lengths are included I do not know. Our eyes do compensate heavily and why cameras need a point of reference to obtain proper white balance.

Since I'm currently considering G5 or A360X for an upcoming Water Box 25 then I'm going to call EcoTech to get a better understanding. Don't think Kessil has a dedicated white. More curious than really need to know. Overall it probably doesn't matter but I'd be interested in both explaining to me how full spectrum at 5500 kelvin wouldn't be sufficient to light our home reefs. Sun puts out all wave lengths which get affected by angle or depth of water and why red more visible morning and evening having longer wave lengths yet blue prevalent mid day because it's shorter wave lengths get scattered by atmospheric particles the most.

 

[Shooter6]

But wouldn't the white light also add the blues and purples. My point being if it's true white light then it already contains all the wave lengths. Wished manufacturers would be clearer on this. Technically speaking. TV's only have reg, green and blue to represent full color. What exact wave lengths are included I do not know. Our eyes do compensate heavily and why cameras need a point of reference to obtain proper white balance.

Since I'm currently considering G5 or A360X for an upcoming Water Box 25 then I'm going to call EcoTech to get a better understanding. Don't think Kessil has a dedicated white. More curious than really need to know. Overall it probably doesn't matter but I'd be interested in both explaining to me how full spectrum at 5500 kelvin wouldn't be sufficient to light our home reefs. Sun puts out all wave lengths which get affected by angle or depth of water and why red more visible morning and evening having longer wave lengths yet blue prevalent mid day because it's shorter wave lengths get scattered by atmospheric particles the most.

Yes absolutely white would add blue and purple too.
Led whites alone I do not believe produce enough of the blue spectrum to grow coral alone, as they use a phosphor coating to make the lights white. I believe this is accomplished by filtering out the blues and purples to some point.

White metal halides will absolutely grow corals
White t5 can as well although most people will mix bulbs.

 

[GARRIGA]

Yes absolutely white would add blue and purple too.
Led whites alone I do not believe produce enough of the blue spectrum to grow coral alone, as they use a phosphor coating to make the lights white. I believe this is accomplished by filtering out the blues and purples to some point.

White metal halides will absolutely grow corals
White t5 can as well although most people will mix bulbs.

That's interesting on the coating. As for the blue requirement I often ponder if we just increased the intensity of the white would that then provide the required blue. Perhaps aquarium manufacturers just find it cheaper to increase the blues and use less wattage. Similar to how herteculture once used just the blues and the reds to get the required PAR with less wattage versus using wave lengths that would be wasted yet today they are starting to shift back to white. At least one pot grower I know who keeps up with the latest. Might mean a very bright tank however. Not sure how that would look. At the depth most SPS are found I doubt much longer wave lengths than green exist. Red filtered out by 30 feet.

 

[Jeffcb]

Yes