Why so much blue (lights)

[fishgirljockey]

I dont have an axe to grind, or anything of sort, but curious why a lot of reef keepers love having their lights setup to be so blue. I get that corals will show different colors under blue light, and they will look all neon, but to me at least this looks so unnatural and fake. I have never dove anywhere where water is such blue color that corals are all neon looking, it doesnt exist.

To make things even worse, online stores are doing this too. Someone who doesnt know better thinks they are getting some amazing coral, only to find out it is regular run of the mill coral under normal light spectrum. And a kicker is they probably spent 10X more than they should have cause it had some fancy name to go with neon color.

Am I missing something here?

I know this is an old thread but I just came across it for some reason. To answer your question about the blue lights...

Corals are photosynthetic. They rely on light to produce the food they need. Corals gain 80-85% of their energy needs through the process of photosynthesis that coverts light energy into chemical energy. The algae inside you coral (zooxanthellae; the driver) uses almost exclusively blue wavelengths of light. That's because its mostly the only wavelength that gets deep into the water at reefs. As water depth increases, the reds, oranges, and yellows are gradually filtered out, leaving more blue light. Zooxanthellae provide the energy of photosynthesis to the coral. That makes them the primary producer in this complex ecosystem.

Coral growth is achieved through a specific range of blue light spectrum. There is some research in the photobiology of corals that show a specific wavelength within the blue light spectrum that significantly stimulates the creation of new calcification centers in the corals' skeleton. The other segments of the blue light are responsible for coral coloration and they stimulate the coral's pigment (chromoproteins). At the end of the day, this is what every reefer is after! very vivid and vibrant colors and not to mention, juicy looking corals!

At the end of the day, white lights are useful to humans, as it helps them "see" the corals in the reef tank better.

 

[MichaelReefer]

Only problem I see when you turn them super blue is you wash out your fish. I find an in-between where the coral glow but you can still see the fish.

 

[Raul-7]

I know this is an old thread but I just came across it for some reason. To answer your question about the blue lights...

Corals are photosynthetic. They rely on light to produce the food they need. Corals gain 80-85% of their energy needs through the process of photosynthesis that coverts light energy into chemical energy. The algae inside you coral (zooxanthellae; the driver) uses almost exclusively blue wavelengths of light. That's because its mostly the only wavelength that gets deep into the water at reefs. As water depth increases, the reds, oranges, and yellows are gradually filtered out, leaving more blue light. Zooxanthellae provide the energy of photosynthesis to the coral. That makes them the primary producer in this complex ecosystem.

Coral growth is achieved through a specific range of blue light spectrum. There is some research in the photobiology of corals that show a specific wavelength within the blue light spectrum that significantly stimulates the creation of new calcification centers in the corals' skeleton. The other segments of the blue light are responsible for coral coloration and they stimulate the coral's pigment (chromoproteins). At the end of the day, this is what every reefer is after! very vivid and vibrant colors and not to mention, juicy looking corals!

At the end of the day, white lights are useful to humans, as it helps them "see" the corals in the reef tank better.

I understand that, but for example in the FW hobby, red/orange is preferred by plants. However, you rarely see a planted aquarium with a red/orange spectrum. It just makes colors over-saturated, IMO.

I know growth and photosynthesis are important, but it should not be at the expense of natural coloration, IMHO.

 

[AquaLogic]

I dont have an axe to grind, or anything of sort, but curious why a lot of reef keepers love having their lights setup to be so blue. I get that corals will show different colors under blue light, and they will look all neon, but to me at least this looks so unnatural and fake. I have never dove anywhere where water is such blue color that corals are all neon looking, it doesnt exist.

To make things even worse, online stores are doing this too. Someone who doesnt know better thinks they are getting some amazing coral, only to find out it is regular run of the mill coral under normal light spectrum. And a kicker is they probably spent 10X more than they should have cause it had some fancy name to go with neon color.

Am I missing something here?

I'm just coming back to the hobby after about 10 years and noticed that every reef is very very blue. I don't much care for it myself.

 

[MichaelReefer]

I'm just coming back to the hobby after about 10 years and noticed that every reef is very very blue. I don't much care for it myself.

Yeah, there is kinda a line for me where its overly blue and a bit ridiculous lol. I want it blue enough that the coral pop, but not so blue that it washes the fish out.

 

[Raul-7]

My other problem with blue is that it HIGHLY deceiving - A LOT of coral sellers will purposely take pictures of their corals under strictly blue [actinic] lighting. This of course makes their corals appear much more attractive than they truly are.

And in the end it hurts the consumer, especially if they are using 12-14K spectrum.

 

[ReefGeezer]

My other problem with blue is that it HIGHLY deceiving - A LOT of coral sellers will purposely take pictures of their corals under strictly blue [actinic] lighting. This of course makes their corals appear much more attractive than they truly are.

And in the end it hurts the consumer, especially if they are using 12-14K spectrum.

The secret to looking at sellers' photos is to look at the frag plug/tile or anything else that should be white... If it looks blue or black, the coral you get probably won't look like the photo. It might even be a different color altogether under your lights. I'm not sure that is a fraudulent thing though. It is just understood to be part of the process. Buying frags from local hobbyists is a great way to get around this issue. I live in Kansas and even here, there are more than enough hobbyists selling frags to fill my tank. Look to see if there is a local club, Facebook, or some other way to find local stuff. Even if you have to drive a little, I think it is worth the effort.