How do the Colors Pop?

[Shy519]

I hate when I go to LFS and I see their corals pop so vibrantly but when I bring them home they aren't nearly as brilliant. I only have a preowned Biocube 29 that was customized by the seller to have a dimmable LED light setup. I am looking for an ugrade in lights as the splashguard became damaged from opening it to dust the fans and guard. Rust had cemented some stripped screws into place causing me to break them while trying to remove it. Any suggestions on new lights? Should I consider UV? What others? I don't know much about LED colors as I've only worked with blue and white LEDs. I have a mixed reef so I'm sure that would help if I were to take suggestions for LED colors or new lighting systems.

 

[James M]

They are probably so colorful at the lfs because they only use blue on the lights

 

[Zakery Murray]

An ai prime could get you those colors if you work it right, plus its a good light for that size of tank.

 

[Hemmdog]

I hate when I go to LFS and I see their corals pop so vibrantly but when I bring them home they aren't nearly as brilliant. I only have a preowned Biocube 29 that was customized by the seller to have a dimmable LED light setup. I am looking for an ugrade in lights as the splashguard became damaged from opening it to dust the fans and guard. Rust had cemented some stripped screws into place causing me to break them while trying to remove it. Any suggestions on new lights? Should I consider UV? What others? I don't know much about LED colors as I've only worked with blue and white LEDs. I have a mixed reef so I'm sure that would help if I were to take suggestions for LED colors or new lighting systems.

Corals like blue light, a lot of people give them far to much white. Iodine & trace elements also makes corals more vivid if you aren’t keeping up with water changes. A lot of filtration media in AIO’s (Gfo,etc.)removes heavy metals, so that also depletes trace elements making corals less vivid. If you looking for a good light that will make them pop like the LFS, grab a kessil. You won’t be disappointed.

 

[jda]

There are two parts to making corals "pop." First, they have to have good color. Lots of the stuff from the LFS was in the ocean not long ago under excellent light. Good color also comes with good health. Next, they have to illuminate the corals with appealing lights so that they fluoresce and reflect the light. You really need both.

Usually LFS will illuminate coral when you are wanting to buy in a different way than when they are coloring them up. The same lights that illuminate a coral well are not really good at coloring them up.

Just having blue lights will often produce lesser colors in the coral and have less to pop. Some of the best looking corals are kept near daylight for growth and color rendering and then switched over to blues to look at them.

Here are some popular combos that most people enjoy - T5s for coloration and then ReefBrite XHOs for Pop. Well-chosen MH can do both in one package. Radions or ReefBreeders Photon at 100% on all channels during the day and then more blue at night. There are many other combos that can do this.