How BLUE is Your Reef???

[Reef Breeders Verified Sponsor]

Hey Everyone,

I get asked a lot about color recommendations for reef tanks. We designed our layout to be pretty balanced, but I find a lot of our customers choose to run the blue channels (3, 5 and 6) much higher than the white channel (4). This question goes for the V2 and the older models, too. What do you run your blues at in relation to your white channel?

The answer is formatted as a ratio of White:Blue, so 40:60 is 40White:60Blue for example. We were gonna ask this by kelvin rating, but I find that to be largely subjective and hard to measure.

Answer the poll and compare answers in the thread below!

Photo Credit Ron from FL

 

[Reefer40b]

I do a ratio of 25% white to 100% blue.
Blue peak 75%
White peak 19%

I wish there were a little less white led and a few more the RB. Those whites are overpowering and don't provide very much pur.

 

[WVNed]

20:45 on a 75
I am still ramping up

 

[braappn]

20white:65blue

Bounced around at the beginning but ended up here. Seems to work and I’m hesitant to change it now.

 

[Reef Breeders Verified Sponsor]

I do a ratio of 25% white to 100% blue.
Blue peak 75%
White peak 19%

I wish there were a little less white led and a few more the RB. Those whites are overpowering and don't provide very much pur.

They actually produce quite a bit of PAR and PUR. The largest peak from any white LED is actually in the 450nm range, followed by a peak in the greens, yellows, and reds, all of which the proteins and symbiotic cells within coral tissues can use to some capacity. It is a pretty common misconception that the white LEDs do not contribute to growth- the science says that it does. Most European and Asian tanks are around 10,000K with a more natural look. Keep in mind, the white LEDs we use are 5500K neutral whites, which are heavier in the blue spectrum, but still have a relatively high CRI. They are closer to natural daylight.

For those looking to add more Pop- I recommend adding some more violet light. It may not add much visual brightness, but it does add a lot of fluorescence. Just be careful as too much violet can be harmful (that goes for any color).

 

[Reefer40b]

They actually produce quite a bit of PAR and PUR. The largest peak from any white LED is actually in the 450nm range, followed by a peak in the greens, yellows, and reds, all of which the proteins and symbiotic cells within coral tissues can use to some capacity. It is a pretty common misconception that the white LEDs do not contribute to growth- the science says that it does. Most European and Asian tanks are around 10,000K with a more natural look. Keep in mind, the white LEDs we use are 5500K neutral whites, which are heavier in the blue spectrum, but still have a relatively high CRI. They are closer to natural daylight.

For those looking to add more Pop- I recommend adding some more violet light. It may not add much visual brightness, but it does add a lot of fluorescence. Just be careful as too much violet can be harmful (that goes for any color).

Huh I was just going off of what jason2459 found with all his par measurements and pur readings. Don't have a link to his thread but he did pur readings for each channel and found the white ones to be the least usable pur

 

[Reef Breeders Verified Sponsor]

I am not surprised that a lot of people run the blues higher, that seems to be the majority of people askign for re

Huh I was just going off of what jason2459 found with all his par measurements and pur readings. Don't have a link to his thread but he did pur readings for each channel and found the white ones to be the least usable pur

If you find it please do send a link, I am always into reading about lights I am curious to see their data and how it was collected.

 

[Reefer40b]

I am not surprised that a lot of people run the blues higher, that seems to be the majority of people askign for re


If you find it please do send a link, I am always into reading about lights I am curious to see their data and how it was collected.

Here is the link
https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?ur...&share_tid=292681&share_fid=1020&share_type=t

 

[Dilan Patel]

i run both at 100% with a 2 bulb t5 with blue plus bulbs inside.

 

[hart24601]

My old RB I replaced quite a few of the whites and on my photons I run the whites and g/r very low compared to the blue channels, I would like for them to have less white in general. I think most commercial fixtures have way too much white in them except the orphek, which was pretty much echoed by BRS in their review of those lights and the radion AB+ programs.

 

[SinCityRee4r]

 

[Reef Breeders Verified Sponsor]

Huh I was just going off of what jason2459 found with all his par measurements and pur readings. Don't have a link to his thread but he did pur readings for each channel and found the white ones to be the least usable pur

I see what you mean- the white channel had about 56% PUR according to their readings. Keep in mind that that is still a decent amount of PUR- considering about half the output is in the green-yellow spectrum. Also keep in mind- photosynthesis is not the only driver of coral health. As hobbyists color is a huge focus- and the white channel is important for filling any spectral gaps, since they are full spectrum lights, after all. Perhaps the next gen Photons will have less white LEDs, it seems most of you guys are running them super low, so less white LEDs at a higher power might be the way to go. My only concern is spotlighting. We will do some testing.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Hey Logan, that's a very cool photo in the very first post!

I'm one of the 20:80 'I want extra pop' guys. But then I have gone out of my way to have corals that fluoresce more and more. Now I'm going crazy with the super colorful rock flower anemones and they fluoresce like crazy! I've had two spawning events and I've gone from 4 RFA's to over 30 (but the babies are still pretty small). In the evening, when it's dark outside (no light in from the windows and glass door wall) and the lights in the house are off, my Photon V2 is all blue and violet. My tank looks like Pandora at night (the movie Avatar). It's crazy beautiful. I just wish there was a way to capture in a photo what it looks like in real life!

As for a next generation of Photon V3, I'd be happy to trade out 30% of the whites and even 30% to 50% of the violets for UV... if they in fact increase fluorescence in corals. But I'm less sure than you. I had an led strip that was 1/3rd 390nm UV and 2/3rds 460nm blue on 2 channels. The blue alone made corals fluoresce in red, orange, yellow and green, the UV alone only made greens fluoresce? So I'm skeptical. I'm going to borrow a UV 'flashlight' used for leak detection in car A/C systems to see what it does. I'm unsure of the exact spectrum of UV it is. I'm hoping the owners manual will tell me. I know a lot, maybe even most reefers say UV is good for fluorescence, but my experience so far doesn't agree. And I can't say I've seen any real science on the issue. I'm wondering if it takes different spectrum of UV to make different colors in corals to fluoresce? Like green at 390nm and maybe yellow at 370nm and red at 350nm? I wish I could run a test!

 

[Reef Breeders Verified Sponsor]

Hey Logan, that's a very cool photo in the very first post!

I'm one of the 20:80 'I want extra pop' guys. But then I have gone out of my way to have corals that fluoresce more and more. Now I'm going crazy with the super colorful rock flower anemones and they fluoresce like crazy! I've had two spawning events and I've gone from 4 RFA's to over 30 (but the babies are still pretty small). In the evening, when it's dark outside (no light in from the windows and glass door wall) and the lights in the house are off, my Photon V2 is all blue and violet. My tank looks like Pandora at night (the movie Avatar). It's crazy beautiful. I just wish there was a way to capture in a photo what it looks like in real life!

As for a next generation of Photon V3, I'd be happy to trade out 30% of the whites and even 30% to 50% of the violets for UV... if they in fact increase fluorescence in corals. But I'm less sure than you. I had an led strip that was 1/3rd 390nm UV and 2/3rds 460nm blue on 2 channels. The blue alone made corals fluoresce in red, orange, yellow and green, the UV alone only made greens fluoresce? So I'm skeptical. I'm going to borrow a UV 'flashlight' used for leak detection in car A/C systems to see what it does. I'm unsure of the exact spectrum of UV it is. I'm hoping the owners manual will tell me. I know a lot, maybe even most reefers say UV is good for fluorescence, but my experience so far doesn't agree. And I can't say I've seen any real science on the issue. I'm wondering if it takes different spectrum of UV to make different colors in corals to fluoresce? Like green at 390nm and maybe yellow at 370nm and red at 350nm? I wish I could run a test!

Interestingly enough, a very knowledgeable friend of mine sent me a study that showed that coral's skeletons actually absorb most if not all UV light and fluoresce a yellow color. So the UV light doesn't have much of an effect the tissue overlaying the coral skeleton:

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2009/11/coral-reefs-act-sunscreen

 

[Porpoise Hork]

I'm running the 48" V2+ upgrade 8" above the water line and run a total of 11 hour lighting schedule with a 2 hour ramp up and ramp down and 7 hour mid-day setting. During the mid-day run channels 3,5,6 - 37%, channel 1 - 9%, channel 2- 6%, and channel 4 - 20% output. It is an on a 75g soft/LPS dominant tank with only a couple sps at the upper 1/3 portion of the water column.

I tried to set it as close to the CoralLab AB+ setting with a tweak to the whites for the LPS map. I will slowly be ramping up the power output as the corals acclimate to the new light.

 

[Retro Reefer]

I like 80/20 blue to white.. love me some blues (late evening pic blues only)

 

[reeferfoxx]

I recently switched from 30:70 to 40:60 and have seen positive results and better growth from all corals especially sps.

 

[Robert Vacchiano]

Was just looking at your lights.I have 250 watt metal halides.Three of them over a 6 Ft deep demension tank . Want to change to leds like the blue look but also would not want it all blue would I be able to get a 10k look if I wanted too

 

[ukdreamer]

On a completely un-scientific tack, I recall (being an old fart) the disco scene in the 60's to 80's era, whereby the normal lights were turned off and UV lights came on, which turned the heaving mass on the dance floor into a very amusing fluorescing, kaleidoscopic display.

I also recall the embarrassment of some of the guys wearing dark tops and whom were cursed with dandruff being the but of many jokes because the dandruff on their shoulders glowed like stars in the night sky . Now, I have no idea whether these lights were actually UV or not, but I do know that the modern trend in reef tank lighting provides a look very reminiscent of those old disco scenes, dandruff and all

 

[jda]

You need UV around to develop actual pigment, not just illuminate it. It seems like everybody is just talking about illuminating the coral, but color rendering is also important - light does both of these jobs (along with feeding). Light from 350 to 850nm is needed to render the best color, but not very many people like the way that it illuminates coral since it is not blue enough. It is easier to "pop" coral grown under daylight spectrum than it is to "pop" coral grown under just the light that you are using to "pop." It is hard for a single light to do both - solve this riddle and you will solve most of the issues that people have today.