Lighting ?

[Bailey D.]

hey guys, just wondering if I can run just white lights without blue at all?

Thanks.

 

[FindingNem0]

You wont get the color and growth with white.

 

[Bailey D.]

Thanks, I read that somewhere and just wanted confirmation.

 

[ihavecrabs]

You definitely can, depending on what kelvin the "white" bulbs are. For example, 6500k GE bulb will grow coral. You may find that you get more algae and less color out of your coral than desired, but it will certainly work. For reference, I believe sunlight is 5000k.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Yes you can. White light will have some blue and red spectrum in it. That's what the zooxanthellae (algae) inside the coral polyps want for doing photosynthesis (mostly blue but some red). And yes the sun is 5000K, but the corals are under a lot of water that changes the color temp a lot! As you can see in the chart below, you don't have to go very deep and you lose most of the red spectrum. And the corals in our tanks aren't under more than 1 or 2 feet of water so any red from your tank light does get through. Whether you consider that good or bad is a matter of perspective.

 

[Bailey D.]

The guy that is selling the light thinks it is 14,500k, so that would be alright to just have white?

 

[Ron Reefman]

It's OK. However, it's far less than optimal for your coral as there is far less blue spectrum. And it's easier to grow algae with white than it is with blue.

Bailey, what kind of light is this? Metal Halide, t5 fluorescent, led or a hybrid?