Should I switch to all blue?

[vetteguy53081]

White light isn't necessary IMO, rather a tool that can be used to produce a specific result in certain coral.

FOR EXAMPLE: Zoas

Zoas can and will grow with out the use of white light, many hobbyists have been running all blue schedules for years now with great success.

BUT

By running white light along with your already blue spectrum for the first 4 hours of your photoperiod will create bigger Polyps. The theory is that Zoas utilize the white light for those first 4 hours and after they sense its "gone" they spread bigger in search of more of it.

No one really knows whats happening internally and have no scientific proof except observation. I've tested this with always the same result. Zoas under white light will get bigger. An awesome YouTuber by the name of EAT SLEEP REEF comments in one of his videos that any Zoa he puts in his tank grows bigger polyps than in any other tank.
I checked his light settings and guess what? He's running 4 hours of whites in the beginning of his photoperiod. Coincidence?

White light is/ Most all coral need zooxanthellae which is their energy source, building blocks for color and growth. You dont want bright white unless SPS but moderate. Few out there have an all Zoa tank and even zoa require zooxanthellae.

 

[Koh23]

I noticed that my pink and red zoas like more white light.....

 

[Zeal]

White light isn't necessary IMO, rather a tool that can be used to produce a specific result in certain coral.

FOR EXAMPLE: Zoas

Zoas can and will grow with out the use of white light, many hobbyists have been running all blue schedules for years now with great success.

BUT

By running white light along with your already blue spectrum for the first 4 hours of your photoperiod will create bigger Polyps. The theory is that Zoas utilize the white light for those first 4 hours and after they sense its "gone" they spread bigger in search of more of it.

No one really knows whats happening internally and have no scientific proof except observation. I've tested this with always the same result. Zoas under white light will get bigger. An awesome YouTuber by the name of EAT SLEEP REEF comments in one of his videos that any Zoa he puts in his tank grows bigger polyps than in any other tank.
I checked his light settings and guess what? He's running 4 hours of whites in the beginning of his photoperiod. Coincidence?

This is my new schedule. I’m running whites from 12-2 at 15% then 2-4 5% white then rest blue all day.

I think trying to mimic how the sun moves over a reef works best for me. I think this is the final one…. Thoughts??

 

[WereAllNegan]

There are so many variables in a closed system all I can tell you is what I personally do. Firstly if you’re going to run a light spectrum for 12 hours so that you can view the tank and if your equipment allows for it: I’d run a heavy cloud program through that time. I also wouldn’t drastically change light intensity during that process. I’d ramp up for one hour and I’d ramp down for the same period. That’s it. If you had nothing but the most light demanding Acros in your tank and you blitz them with high PAR/PUR I would personally have a schedule lasting no more than nine hours with a peak intensity of about three hours, say from 13:00 to 16:00. I would also include cloud cover. Duration and intensity seem to be inexorably linked to the growth and health of corals. There was a time we couldn’t ramp up nor down or simulate cloud cover. There was also during that time no ability to skim protein or understanding of the benefits of carbon dosing. We have now.

Out of everyone here, you're the only one who knows what their talking about. Everything you stated is on point.
No BS

 

[Zeal]

Can you grow LPS, Softies, and all the wide range of corals with a modified version of AB+? Say everything blue and lowering whites to 15% at let's say 60% schedule intensity on the radions?

 

[Zeal]

This is my new schedule. I’m running whites from 12-2 at 15% then 2-4 5% white then rest blue all day.

I think trying to mimic how the sun moves over a reef works best for me. I think this is the final one…. Thoughts??

bump?

 

[WereAllNegan]

bump?

This is similar to the program I run and I'm very happy with the results. Zoas respond very well to the initial white period, how tall is your tank?

 

[Bpb]

Any of these programs suggested will work if you just stick to them. Really with modern leds, so long as your white/color channels stay equal to or less than your blues, you’re fine. I run my whites at half strength my blues for most the day and my zoas are doing terrific. Color contrast is outstanding and growth is more than enough.

50% blues/violets
25% whites

Working the red and green up to 25% as well gradually.

As the tank matures and I begin stocking more sps, ideally I will get all channels running equally. Which will put me in the 300-400 par max range on the rock work throughout.

 

[Koh23]

I have hard time to understand this "15%, 66%"..... Ok if we talk about specific light units, but as general rule, this is uselles.....

What is point of me setting white at 10% for example, if my white channel output 10w, and someones output 50w.....

Way back, rule was - if white is daylight, then 3 blue to 1 white ratio, wich translate to 25% white, 75% blue, not counting wats....

If white is cool white, then ratio is 1:2 or even 1:1 .... 2 blue 1 white....

For 3w led... But in units where white and blue channels are not equal power... What then?

 

[Bpb]

I have hard time to understand this "15%, 66%"..... Ok if we talk about specific light units, but as general rule, this is uselles.....

What is point of me setting white at 10% for example, if my white channel output 10w, and someones output 50w.....

Way back, rule was - if white is daylight, then 3 blue to 1 white ratio, wich translate to 25% white, 75% blue, not counting wats....

If white is cool white, then ratio is 1:2 or even 1:1 .... 2 blue 1 white....

For 3w led... But in units where white and blue channels are not equal power... What then?

Good point. To complicate matters further, most leds don’t have a linear output to current ratio if I’m not mistaken. An increase from 10-20% doesn’t have the same par jump as going from 90-100%

 

[Koh23]

Exactly....

For example, on my lights, white channel is 6,5 times lower in w than blue channel 10w vs 65w....

So, setting white at 10% and white to 60% equals.... Nothing. No white, ultra blue, ok, most par is in blue, but, to profit on white light, channel needs to be at at least 80%.....

 

[Bpb]

Exactly....

For example, on my lights, white channel is 6,5 times lower in w than blue channel 10w vs 65w....

So, setting white at 10% and white to 60% equals.... Nothing. No white, ultra blue, ok, most par is in blue, but, to profit on white light, channel needs to be at at least 80%.....

I personally think for most people it’s appropriate to get 80% or so of your way to your par goal with the blue and violet channels alone, and add white and color to taste to get the rest of the way there.

Since I prefer a lower kelvin appearance, as I adjust white higher, I will reduce the blue/violet channels by however much is necessary to keep par levels the same. That way a spectrum adjustment doesn’t also mean an intensity adjustment.

IME a par meter is such a helpful tool to own, not just rent. But I understand not everyone will spend what they cost on one. It took years before I just sucked it up and bought one. I’ve found corals respond far more dramatically to a rapid par increase than they do a spectrum change. And dramatic reactions are not what we want.

 

[Koh23]

I agree....

Its great when light allows to control spectrum and intesity separately, but for lower end lights, it one the same....

 

[Doctorgori]

wow, old thread but even older discussion/debate…

I got into a flame war long ago back in the alt.net days in the 90’s over natural lighting vs blue “Radion” lighting and the pro Radion crowd dropped Dr.Sanjays name liberally. According to “them” he (Dr.Sanjay) did a study supporting the pro blue (Radion) argument… I could go on…
I dunno, all I knew was my “full spectrum” MH’s grew corals pretty good…I wonder where are they now?
(not saying Radions aren’t all that, or blue light, just saying think of the “matrix” and those tubes all hooked up feeding you nothing but blue light all day every day)

I’ve posted this a few times, I think it is interesting and Sanjay has a decent tank and knows a little about light.


corey

 

[Sump Crab]

For anyone claiming that coral doesn’t use white light I guess you never ran tanks with 10k halides or PCs in the early 2000s lol

 

[Spare time]

Why is this thread back. It is overwhelmingly a bunch of posts of people who apparently have spectrometers built into their eyes with the magical ability to look at a coral and say yes this coral definitely is using that color but NOT that other color.


Why does everyone think they are an expert? Why does everyone have to say that they have absolute answers? I think many in the hobby need to understand that we know far less than we like to claim we know. I understand that it is easy to build confidence in your thoughts because we like to see and read what confirms what we already like to believe. This is such a major issue with lighting in this hobby. The whole debate of color, t5, mh, led, and what not is almost always based on "well I grew this with a mh back in the day and it was great," ignoring the millions of other factors that play into coral growth, color, etc. The simple truth is there are many ways to grow coral, and we need to stop claiming superiority in our methods in ways that 99.999% of people in this hobby have no way of testing, analyzing, etc. Just say, hey this works and I like it, here are the undebatable pros and cons (i.e. heat, price, mounting methods). I know that for some people, a kessil a360x fits what they want to do (i.e. use a mounting arm, not swap bulbs) and their visual preferences (as well as mounting height). Am I going to claim that it is superior at growing coral compared to a MH bulb? No. Why? Because no one knows with confidence.

 

[Hermie]

Why is this thread back. It is overwhelmingly a bunch of posts of people who apparently have spectrometers built into their eyes with the magical ability to look at a coral and say yes this coral definitely is using that color but NOT that other color.


Why does everyone think they are an expert? Why does everyone have to say that they have absolute answers? I think many in the hobby need to understand that we know far less than we like to claim we know. I understand that it is easy to build confidence in your thoughts because we like to see and read what confirms what we already like to believe. This is such a major issue with lighting in this hobby. The whole debate of color, t5, mh, led, and what not is almost always based on "well I grew this with a mh back in the day and it was great," ignoring the millions of other factors that play into coral growth, color, etc. The simple truth is there are many ways to grow coral, and we need to stop claiming superiority in our methods in ways that 99.999% of people in this hobby have no way of testing, analyzing, etc. Just say, hey this works and I like it, here are the undebatable pros and cons (i.e. heat, price, mounting methods). I know that for some people, a kessil a360x fits what they want to do (i.e. use a mounting arm, not swap bulbs) and their visual preferences (as well as mounting height). Am I going to claim that it is superior at growing coral compared to a MH bulb? No. Why? Because no one knows with confidence.

half of it is people not understanding the science and the other half is people innately arguing that their own opinion is correct by nature without considering that they could be wrong

 

[1ocean]

Why is this thread back. It is overwhelmingly a bunch of posts of people who apparently have spectrometers built into their eyes with the magical ability to look at a coral and say yes this coral definitely is using that color but NOT that other color.


Why does everyone think they are an expert? Why does everyone have to say that they have absolute answers? I think many in the hobby need to understand that we know far less than we like to claim we know. I understand that it is easy to build confidence in your thoughts because we like to see and read what confirms what we already like to believe. This is such a major issue with lighting in this hobby. The whole debate of color, t5, mh, led, and what not is almost always based on "well I grew this with a mh back in the day and it was great," ignoring the millions of other factors that play into coral growth, color, etc. The simple truth is there are many ways to grow coral, and we need to stop claiming superiority in our methods in ways that 99.999% of people in this hobby have no way of testing, analyzing, etc. Just say, hey this works and I like it, here are the undebatable pros and cons (i.e. heat, price, mounting methods). I know that for some people, a kessil a360x fits what they want to do (i.e. use a mounting arm, not swap bulbs) and their visual preferences (as well as mounting height). Am I going to claim that it is superior at growing coral compared to a MH bulb? No. Why? Because no one knows with confidence.

I agree, there is really no right answers, well except for true science and math and even that has room for margins etc sometimes...and I have been doing lots of research reading and asking questions (from people in the hobby, in the trade side and product manufacturers) since I got back into the hobby 2 years ago and I take it all in as a suggestion..as this suggestion works for that person but may not work for me..or may not get me to my idea goal or their suggestion is a great foundation for me to build upon etc. That is why we are bombarded with so many products to choose from and different applications of,,( again my option and I may be wrong) ... I got back into this hobby because I missed it and find it relaxing and a great way to make new friends. Back in the day we did not have forums, we just meet at the fish store, etc and made friends. Today this forum is amazing way to find stuff out and make friends anywhere in the world...we just have to respect everyone's feelings and not be so strong minded when saying this is better then that... Like the whole Ford/Chevy which is better ...I grew up hearing from my dad and his friend's...I don't think there is one better then the other its just a matter of what a person wants and what they decided to get, what draws that person to a certain thing... Hope everyone has a super great day....

 

[Doctorgori]

Why is this thread back. It is overwhelmingly a bunch of posts of people who apparently have spectrometers built into their eyes with the magical ability to look at a coral and say yes this coral definitely is using that color but NOT that other color.


Why does everyone think they are an expert? Why does everyone have to say that they have absolute answers? I think many in the hobby need to understand that we know far less than we like to claim we know. I understand that it is easy to build confidence in your thoughts because we like to see and read what confirms what we already like to believe. This is such a major issue with lighting in this hobby. The whole debate of color, t5, mh, led, and what not is almost always based on "well I grew this with a mh back in the day and it was great," ignoring the millions of other factors that play into coral growth, color, etc. The simple truth is there are many ways to grow coral, and we need to stop claiming superiority in our methods in ways that 99.999% of people in this hobby have no way of testing, analyzing, etc. Just say, hey this works and I like it, here are the undebatable pros and cons (i.e. heat, price, mounting methods). I know that for some people, a kessil a360x fits what they want to do (i.e. use a mounting arm, not swap bulbs) and their visual preferences (as well as mounting height). Am I going to claim that it is superior at growing coral compared to a MH bulb? No. Why? Because no one knows with confidence.

I get it and also a lil debate is ok … but for the reason just described it’s either recycle old ones or keep bringing up the same ole similar ones.
I just semi recently posted on 2 other white light/blue light threads

heck look at the zillions of “best salt” debates and “water change/no water change” threads.