How important are white lights?

[DuvalTilWeDie904]

Was wondering how important using white lights are, outside of having a better view of what's going on in the tank. I've heard conflicting opinions on the subject. Is it really needed, like blue, red, and violet?

 

[Nano sapiens]

Was wondering how important using white lights are, outside of having a better view of what's going on in the tank. I've heard conflicting opinions on the subject. Is it really needed, like blue, red, and violet?

The 'blue spectrum' (~400 - 470 nm) is what photosynthetic corals need most for their health. 'White light' provides warm spectra which many shallower corals can utilize to varying degrees, but also many can do well in deeper waters where penetration is minimal or non-existent.

'Red' in meaningful amounts is only available to the more shallow corals as it is filtered out first from the water. It's not needed, per se, for direct health, but may be utilized. However, it is believed that corals can use the amount of red light that they receive to determine how deep they are and thus adjust their population of zooxanthellae accordingly.

 

[Danny G]

Depends on the coral. In the past I have tried blue lights only and my coral growth slowed. I now use a few hours of blue in the morning and night with only a few hours of white during the day. Again, really depends on the coral and placement in your tank.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I don't think so, because white is not a real color, it is all the colors combined. The sun doesn't 'put out' white light specifically, so corals can't "need" it. I think....

 

[Lavey29]

Algae loves white light. Corals don't rely on it. White light is primarily for the viewing entertainment of your tank but it can raise your par a little also if that is needed for certain corals. Consider why Radion has their all Blue lights which feature very little white diodes.

 

[PeterEde]

I am running 25% white with blues at max though the day. This gives a mostly white light with blue tinge with white dropping off to provide blues for morning and night during ramping.

 

[Bpb]

Running a tank on solid blue light is doable, but it is a incomplete photosynthetic diet. There are accessory pigments that are able to use just about everything in the visual spectrum. Eliminate that from what is available and you will limit what color production is possible. The blue craze is motivated more by selling based on photos than anything. Ecotech didn’t remove most of their white diodes because it’s better for the corals. They did it because it’s what their customers prefer visually, without causing harm to the corals in the process.

 

[Koh23]

Also, keep in mind, blue to white ratio is too big for whites to actualy have impact on anything, in most lights....

Two-three diodes, or 10-15w on 100w blue diodes will have huge impact on viewing for us, but not so for coral needs. Not because they dont need or want white light, but because this added spectrum is so weak....

Comparing to blues. If ratio is 1:1 then i believe we can talk about importance of white channel for coral benefit, or lack of it connect to growth,colors, etc....

 

[EugeneVan]

I am running blue and white mix with very constant KH, NO3 and PO4 values . If I increase the white intensity like from par 100 to par 150 in my 200 gal. In less than 24 hrs, my KH and NO3 will start dropping very slowly. Once I change back to par 100, KH and NO3 remain very contantly again. PO4 stay very constant in both suitation. My answer is corals do need white light to grow to a certain point.

 

[ReefAddict16]

On fluorescent corals (tenuis) it’s not that important from my experience. If anything too much white light will drown out the fluorescent proteins.
Other corals it helps a lot especially with growth.

 

[Lavey29]

Running a tank on solid blue light is doable, but it is a incomplete photosynthetic diet. There are accessory pigments that are able to use just about everything in the visual spectrum. Eliminate that from what is available and you will limit what color production is possible. The blue craze is motivated more by selling based on photos than anything. Ecotech didn’t remove most of their white diodes because it’s better for the corals. They did it because it’s what their customers prefer visually, without causing harm to the corals in the process.

Blue craze? I'm not so sure about that part. I just don't see people favoring all blue for their tank viewing. Those that buy radion blues feel that spectrum is better for their corals and that white is a not needed element of that spectrum. They put their viewing pleasure second. Think about going to a frag sale or a coral shop. It's blue as can be. Last one I went to was like being a kid again with my dark lights and neon felt poster's. My coral vendors are all blue pretty much.

 

[strawberryfish]

Some shallow water species will "only" look their best under white lighting, a key example would be a yellow Fiji leather. If you ever want to see it this vividly yellow. You will need a period in the day with full spectrum.

 

[chipchipbro]

@J1a please shed some light

 

[Reefer_kano]

My tank is mixed, neon colored lps to acros.
I keep them mostly all blue all day with whites, red and green on about 30%.
I know the whites would cause me some algae but im willing to battle it if those colors at a higher percentage will help the corals.
I noticed that when using radions AB+ preset light schedule, its 100% on all the colors.
Is that just for viewing purposes or would actually help the corals?

 

[djf91]

Blue craze? I'm not so sure about that part. I just don't see people favoring all blue for their tank viewing. Those that buy radion blues feel that spectrum is better for their corals and that white is a not needed element of that spectrum. They put their viewing pleasure second. Think about going to a frag sale or a coral shop. It's blue as can be. Last one I went to was like being a kid again with my dark lights and neon felt poster's. My coral vendors are all blue pretty much.

Haha come on buddy, you literally just described what he’s trying to convey to you. It is a coral sale you are describing where people are trying to show the most crazy colors possible to encourage people to buy them, nothing else. It goes hand in hand with the ridiculous names people put on corals these days. You got one thing right though, it is for the children. The windex tanks these days are less about recreating the ocean in your living room and more about turning your tank into neon light show for friends.

 

[J1a]

@J1a please shed some light

I'm no expert but let me share some observations.

1. Some corals derive their nice color from chromatoproteins, which reflects light instead of fluorescent. By omitting certain spectrums from white light, these corals will look less exciting.

2. Blue fluorescence don't look impressive under blue light. The blue spectrum will give these corals almost zero contrast. Blue stags, blue dragons, they look meh under blue light, but gorgeous under whiter spectrums.

3. While many of the fluorescent proteins are excited by blue light, many more are excited by other spectrums by supplying a more complete spectrum to corals, we may be able to encourage more fluorescence.

 

[djf91]

Is there any real benefit to full spectrum lighting?

Aside from looks, is there any benefit for the corals concerning full spectrum vs actinic? I hate the actinic look, so you'll never see me lighting the tank like it's supposed to play a show in Vegas next week. But I was curious. Is there any real benefit to going full spectrum?

www.reef2reef.com

We beat it to death in this thread.

 

[oreo54]

They adapt...............

Stylophora pistillata
colonies collectedfrom shallow (3

m) and deep (40

m) water; colonies were placed in a respirometer under both ambient PAR irradiance and a filter that only transmits blue light. We found that the colonies exhibited a clear difference in their photosynthetic rates when illuminated under PAR and filtered blue light,

with higher photosynthetic performance when deep colonies were exposed to blue light compared with full-spectrum PAR for the same light intensity and duration.

By contrast, colonies from shallow water showed the opposite trend, with higher photosynthetic performances under full-spectrum PAR than under filtered blue light. These findings are supported by the absorption spectra of corals, with deeper colonies absorbing higher energy wavelengths than the shallow colonies, with different spectral signatures.

Our results indicate that
S. pistillata
colonies are chromatically adapted to their surrounding light environment, with photo acclimation probably occurring
via
an increase in photosynthetic pigments rather than algal density. The spectral properties of the downwelling light are clearly a crucial component of photoacclimation that should be considered in future transplantation and photoacclimation studies.
Key words: photo adaptation, transplantation, chromatic adaptation, coral, absorption spectra.

The spectral quality of light is a key driver of photosynthesis and photoadaptation in Stylophora pistillata colonies from different depths.

The spectral quality of light is a key driver of photosynthesis and photoadaptation in Stylophora pistillata colonies from different depths.

www.academia.edu

 

[Spare time]

Was wondering how important using white lights are, outside of having a better view of what's going on in the tank. I've heard conflicting opinions on the subject. Is it really needed, like blue, red, and violet?

Corals don't need it in our tanks. They can use it though. I think it to be more important for the fish and their behavior

 

[Spare time]

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