How Important is UV

LittleMaui · May 4, 2020

My AI Hydra HD 26's have a UV option. I've been sucessfully growing SPS's for a few years, but haven't focused much on UV. Recently, I heard/saw a comment stating UV is what coral zooxanthellae responds to, and increases color. Is this true? How important is UV?

saltyhog · May 4, 2020

Great question. I've read a lot of opinions saying the UV is important for SPS and most of the popular programs circulating contain a large amount of UV. I am using quite a bit of my UV on my Hydra 52's but look forward to hearing from some that are knowledgeable in this area. Hopefully there are even some scientific studies/papers that shed light on this.

cvrle1 · May 4, 2020

@Dana Riddle could you share some info on this topic?

Dana Riddle · May 5, 2020

If I were to answer the poll, my answer would be 'yes', 'no' and 'unknown.' There are only a few fluorescent proteins that are excited maximally by UV-A, but that is not to say that UV-A won't cause the coral to express coloration. I'm not familiar with the Hydra series, what is the maximum wavelength of their 'UV' LEDs? I looked at a couple retail sites and didn't see that info. Are the UV LEDs really violet with some spill-over into UV, or true UV (such as 365nm)?