Metal halide colors without metal halides
- Thread starter Keithcorals
- Start date
- Tagged users None
greg1786
Active Member
I think my post was a tad misleading. I didnt mean to take your thread in the wrong direction! I actually am interested in exactly what you are. While I do like that crisp intense 20k metal halide visual effect, I am, just as you are, mostly interested in maintaining the saturated coral colors in my sps. While I feel like I get pretty good coloration out of my sps, I dont get the same colors that mh users get. I see this first had at my lfs, which was why I referenced the frag that turned a completely different color. Im wondering if it has something to do with the photo period? With my t5s I run the full spectrum around 8-9 hours and the whole cycle, meaning going from sunrise to sunset takes around 11. A buddy of mine who runs mh and my LFS only run their mh between 5-6 hrs and their supplemental t5 or leds a little longer. Perhaps the fact that the mh are much more intense, allowing the coral to be exposed to the light much less, aids in that saturated color? Obviously coral, especially sps need a good bit of light to survive, however Ive always been of the mindset that coral needs its "rest " as well. In other words it can be at its healthiest and most vibrant when it can soak up the amount of light it needs in the least amount of time.
TJ's Reef
Valuable Member
- Joined
- Oct 26, 2013
- Messages
- 2,454
- Reaction score
- 289
- Location
- Everett, WA
- What state or country do you live in
- Washington
I did not state it very well but my corals have exceptional color pop and every bit an equal to the 14K Phoenix I intended it to be. A few members here have seen my corals and could attest to it.
This is a great thread topic yet there are so many variables to the responses ie: exact MH look your after (big difference between a 14K Phoenix a 10K Ushio and a 20K Radium) , Coral types/colors (under 20K greens and oranges look like neon bulbs but pinks and yellows look like crud and just the opposite under 10K)
So... since each/different coral pigment fluoresces best to a certain colored light spectrum(s) as long as that spectrum combination is present and not overpowered by another you will have that desired color POP. I like the analogy of a MH being a shotgun (covering all spectrum with one shot) and LED's are certainly more like a .223 (very accurate or precise) so need to be treated as such. I spent nearly 3 years of research and study before purchasing all my mix of emitters to emulate the 14K Phoenix lamps individual peaks in spectrum which IME/IMHO is the best overall MH lamp available for Reefkeeping.
One big advantage other than power savings to the use of LED's is that one can literally highlight specific corals with specific colored emitters. With the use of 40* - 90* optics you can target individual colonies for best look. There are some really spectacular Japanese Reeftanks I've seen on-line that pinpoint each coral under specific colored LED's that best fluoresces its colors. Not my particular taste but certainly a jaw-dropper of a look not feasable with MH's.
So in conclusion YES, I feel that with LED's if correctly assembled one can have 'The MH colors without MH lamps'
Cheers, Todd
greg1786
Active Member
I just left my lfs and the bulb they are using is in fact a 20k radium. They also have individual tanks lit by single giesemann bulbs as a way for customers to vie each spectrum or bulb color on its own. Each bulb is hooked into a single diy t5 ho setup with two endcaps and an individual reflector. The tank lit by the single lagoon blue giesemann bulb was very close in spectrum and appearance to the tank lit by the 20k radium mh. Obviously the shimmer you get from mh wasnt there and it wasnt nearly as intense. It was however a very crisp white with a hint of blue. I bought one today as I am in need of replacing my bulbs anyhow. I obviously do not want to replace all 8 bulbs at once and burn the corals so it will be one or two bulbs a week. Im thinking of going with 3 ati blue plus, 3 geisemann lagoon blue, 1 fiji purple, and one geisemann actinic plus. As I replace the bulbs ill keep track of my coral color and growth. Going with the new combo is going to be a much higher kelvin than my current combo so I expect my growth to slow a little. I am very willing to see a little slower growth if it means deeper, more saturated colors. I agree with the above poster that it is very important to acheieve a combo, be it led or t5, that hits all of the color spectrum( roygbiv). The hard part is balancing it and not overpowering one color so much that you wash out the others making them useless. Im sort of at that spot right now as I have too much yellow, orange, and red in my spectrum and im washing out the greens blues and violets. Perhaps I should insert an aquapink or a pink plus in place of the actinic plus in my new combo in order to keep from ending up with the same situation, only reversed( washing out the reds yellows and oranges, with blue green and violet).
