Let's Talk Rainbow Acans

[baseballfanatic2]

There's always a debate about lighting, but how about lighting and rainbow acans?

Who here has rainbow acans keep there colors under LEDS and/or T5s?

For me, all my rainbows turn into terrible colors with led lighting. I'm thinking about supplement my LEDS with T5.

What do you guys think or have experience with?

 

[Sabellafella]

Honestly what ive found over the years, some beautiful recent collected acans usually windup turning into a different color. My current acans all lost their nice rainbow coloration and turned orange once i added a second reefbrite strip onto my t5 fixture. All but a few long term aquacultured gems stayed their true color.

 

[hybridazn]

I never had luck with acans keeping their colors under leds. I've had these acans for years and they started out under radion's. They were a drab orange/green but grew. I then switched them to 20k radiums and within 4 hrs they turned red and started to show signs of rainbow colors.

They did fine under the radiums for a couple years but then I decided to put them under t5's in a 40b. ATI bulbs (b+,b+,p+,b+) and here is what they look like today

I think the pics speak for themselves, but every acans I keep under t5's keep their colors and look like the pics from the vendors.

I keep going back and forth about adding a reef Brite blue for a little light cycle pop but I might just keep it the way it is.

 

[JaimeAdams]

Those are pretty.

 

[reeferman0767]

Interesting, i have deep blue sols and a set up with t5s and mh and am wondering what ones i should place on my new acan growout set up... whats everybody thinking?

 

[iReefer]

For me it colored up pretty good under low t5 blue+ and or blue led with high phosphate. However my phosphate was stabled tho.

 

[DracoKat]

I have T5's and supplemented with SBreef bar actinics. I noticed my rainbow turned more solid red.

I added the Sbar and it started to change colors after. I feel I have too much blue in my tank since my corals are all changing colors (acros are turning green)

 

[Griff]

What is it about LEDs that do this. I would think if you found the right spectrum it should be the same as t5

 

[Singlefin]

I've had a bunch of rainbows that turned to orange/red. Recently I turned my leds down to 40%. My rainbow colors are coming back. I think they need low lighting. In the past, I've had acans touch. Once separated, the parts that had low to no lighting still had the nice rainbow coloration.

 

[leahfiish]

I'd love to hear more thoughts on this topic!

 

[izzyishh]

I agree with low light or indirect light under LED i currently run Kessil over my 29g its LPS tank runs blue about 90% of the schedule with only a bit of white and all my acans hold rainbow colors even new ones that are introduced don't morph. I did have one cool orange with white strip's that turned almost solid orange but other than that one just low indirect light does the trick might be because i run the tank blue mostly but who knows.

 

[izzyishh]

This was one of the last acans i introduce to the tank has been in the exact same spot for the past 3 1/2 months hasn't morphed one bit looks the same as day one and has multiple babies sprouting out

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

I wonder if the newer radions (or other fixtures) are better on acans than the older ones. I ran into the same issue as @hybridazn with the reason G1's (which were actually his old fixtures that I took from him one day when he wasn't looking), but since I upgraded them to g3, I haven't had the issue. I have 1 multicolored Acan frag, and I've only had it a few weeks, so maybe too soon to tell...

 

[jmreef]

Any updates from anyone. Great thread. I’m having a hard time keeping the green colors in my rainbow acans under Kessil blue. Considering a LED T5 Combo from Reefbrite.

 

[leahfiish]

Mine definitely lose the blue/green on the edges (under kessils).
This one has kept its green (looks more blue in the photo but green in person) very well. But I wouldn't really consider it a rainbow.

This one from WWC has lost most of its green and blue.


It's still there a little bit but not nearly as much as when I got it.
It's the center 3 headed one in this next picture.

 

[John3]

I think if the white channel leds are too high it causes the colors to drop out. I run a g4 Radion with the blues/violet maxed out and the red green and whites at 25%.

I have a small rainbow acan that lost a lot of colors when I first put it in my tank. Back then I had the white channel up to 60% and I believed the blues/violet were also 60%. When I made the change to my current lighting setup the colors came back. I also had a all purple acan turn into a purple/green/red coloration. I’m attributing it to the lighting change.

 

[Mark Gray]

Following I will be trying soon

 

[JonJ]

The ones I have at the edges of my tank keep their color- some even got nicer. I run t5 and 1 kessil a360 on a 32 inch tank. They are getting 65 par where they are at. The ones I move closer to the center that get 100-150 par turn red or orange.

 

[leahfiish]

The ones I have at the edges of my tank keep their color- some even got nicer. I run t5 and 1 kessil a360 on a 32 inch tank. They are getting 65 par where they are at. The ones I move closer to the center that get 100-150 par turn red or orange.

What t5 bulbs and kessil color settings (approximately) are you using?

 

[burninreefer]

I always keep duplicates in my tank to see how light will effect color. I have all led and my growth/ extension/color is amazing. lower light I get more greens and yellows and in higher light I get more purple and blue. when I get a new acan I frag it in two or three pieces, one in high light, one in lows and the last goes to a buddy. colors will change from tank to tank also. that's why reefing is fun, you have no clue what will happen.