Understanding SPS Light Requirements

[blueheaven]

We can always do it like the Japanese but I doubt many would want to have half of their tank in another colour

[acura007]

wah i confused so many..

Intensity and Spectrum are 2 different things. Blue spectrum (blue light) penetrates the water deep but the intensity is not great as such with a tank that is >2 ft deep is best to use 400w 20k MH or more T5s Actinic.

The yellow spectrum (Iwasaki - 6.5k) has very high intensity but the spectrum does not reach deep. To reach deep, we need higher wattage (high risk as the surface water will be very hot).

[blueheaven]

I know of a reefer who had great growth using a single 250w 20k bulb in his 2ft cube. The growth rate as he described is more than what the BLV 10ks are giving me.

Is there any general classification of which types of SPS are more suited to which type of lighting (intensity not taken in here)?

[RAV-65]

Bro,

I know of a reefer who uses 6xT5 54W and he got better growth than my 2x250W Mh... :(

[blueheaven]

What type of tubes is he using? Those bluer ones or those white ones?

[RAV-65]

What type of tubes is he using? Those bluer ones or those white ones?

4 blue and 2 whites I tink...

[YzF]

4 blue and 2 whites I tink...

4 blue and 2 white?

Then his tank must be BLue in color liao..

i using 2 deltec blue T5 only, the tank already look like 14k liao..And most white t5 more towards blue region.

Btw the white you mean is 10k or 6.5 one?

You mention the growth is good.. how abt the colour?

Very interested to see the tank as i also uses t5s.

[FuEl]

Maybe he feeds his sps more?

[acura007]

Anything that shows red needs iwasaki type of light. Anything that shows blue needs 20k type of light. This is only for colour, no consideration of intensity.

[blueheaven]

Hmm I personally find that the blues and purples tend to hold better in my 10k than my previous 14k

[RAV-65]

4 blue and 2 white?

Then his tank must be BLue in color liao..

i using 2 deltec blue T5 only, the tank already look like 14k liao..And most white t5 more towards blue region.

Btw the white you mean is 10k or 6.5 one?

You mention the growth is good.. how abt the colour?

Very interested to see the tank as i also uses t5s.

He has good growth, all the frags I passed to him grows like crazy... tink you met him at my house the other day??

Colour wise for the SPS not so fantastic lah... but the growth is really

His T5s are 10,000K...

[Aged Salt]

As Farish mentioned, intensity plays a significant role in coloration. One of the most intense SPS colors I've ever seen was a 240g reef with 6-400W 65's over it. It looks like Las Vegas from outside his house Bob

[madmac]

whats intensity without proper spectrum anyway? ... general speaking you'll need to maintain a proper spectrum range for a particular coral.... and thats intensity. Of course if you lose intensity, you also lose spectrum...

aucra, dkid, thx for the explanation .. I learnt something today

[AlfaRomeo]

Spectrum is totally different from intensity IMHO. Intensity can be defined loosely as how much light gets to the corals and spectrum is loosely defined as the 'coorect' wavelengths of light that the corals can use for its purposes.

So both needs to be in play. We need the correct amount of lighting with the correct wavelengths for the corals to use. One will not work without the other and they are totally different from each other. Hope im making sense!

Also the Kelvin rating of the lamps we are using is just an indicator of what the light will look like overall. 6.5kk will be yellow, 10kk white and 20kk blue usually. That in itself does not tell us the overall spectrum that the bulb is throwing out. We need a spectrum chart to find that out.

So if we can find a particular bulb with enuff spectrum and in the correct ranges, that bulb is good! hehehe. e.g BLV10kk is amazing in terms of coloration of corals and growth altho its a bit too yellow for most users to be comfortable with. This can easily be overcome by masking the overall 'look' of the light with a few blue tubes. The best thing about it is dat even after masking, we do not lose the spectrum of the 10kk bulb, it only looks blue to us because of the skewed and larger spike in the blue range.

[blueheaven]

The best thing about it is dat even after masking, we do not lose the spectrum of the 10kk bulb, it only looks blue to us because of the skewed and larger spike in the blue range.

Agree too!! That's the best thing about 10ks and 6.5ks

[madmac]

Intensity can be defined loosely as how much light gets to the corals

isn't light nothing by coloured spectrums, ... if you have intensity, you have the spectrums. Its being "kiasu" about it and by making it intense, you're ensuring you meet all the necessary spectrum/s for that coral/s.* ... BTW nothing wrong with being kiasu in reefing... I think its being practical and clever.

I think when bulbs/tubes advertise themselves as being able to provide a certain spectrum range, this will hold true for depths of maybe 1.5 to 2.5 feet... if you go deeper, you begin to lose spectrums in the upper range. But within that depth, your lighting should provide the necessary energy/growth needs for the coral. **

* not to intense, or corals will start photoinhibiting

** time expose must be a consideration

[blueheaven]

That's why it is good to know roughly where a certain specimen may be found by its distribution and maybe colour.

I mean you can't possibly place a deepwater acro 3 inches away from 6.5k lights right?

[acura007]

if you go deeper, you begin to lose spectrums in the upper range.

Not lose spectrum, just lose intensity.

6.5k bulbs have the best growth rates as they have all the spectrums covered nicely, but the colours are not that great.

Growth and colour are two different things so don't mix them up. What BH has said is true and must be considered at all times else your SPS will turn white and say bye bye.

Why SPS turn white? Simple.. white consists of what colour spectrums? So too much of all spectrum forces the SPS to try to reflect all the spectrum. Thk I'll confuse more ppl here

[AlfaRomeo]

Not lose spectrum, just lose intensity.

6.5k bulbs have the best growth rates as they have all the spectrums covered nicely, but the colours are not that great.

Growth and colour are two different things so don't mix them up. What BH has said is true and must be considered at all times else your SPS will turn white and say bye bye.

Why SPS turn white? Simple.. white consists of what colour spectrums? So too much of all spectrum forces the SPS to try to reflect all the spectrum. Thk I'll confuse more ppl here

IMHO, I think you are mistaken on why the SPS turns white. 'Turning white' means bleaching or RTN rite?

One of the possible reasons SPS bleach when there is too much light and it expels its zoox in an attempt to regulate photosynthesis thus it turns white.

If turning white means 'RTN', then what you see is the skeleton with all the flesh peeled out/disintegrated.

[madmac]

Not lose spectrum, just lose intensity.

Agreed with you there, just that as D_kid says, only the blue spectrum remains as you deeper into the depths of the ocean, so to do you lose the other colour spectrum if you push further than say 3 feet, ... what abt 4 and 5 feet... will the higher spectrums will hold... if they don't then you don't have intensity, if they do then intensity is there.

I was just trying to answer the question on how high to place the corals...

6.5k bulbs have the best growth rates as they have all the spectrums covered nicely, but the colours are not that great.

I think the overall tank effect is more yellowish, but coral colours can look very pleasing.

[weileong]

I am sure there's very little tanks that are 3-5ft deep in our homes.

For these type of depth the spectrum lost is not very great so you lost only intensity.

For 6.5k bulbs, many colors can look wash out because it is simply too bright.

[madmac]

IMHO, I think you are mistaken on why the SPS turns white. 'Turning white' means bleaching or RTN rite?

One of the possible reasons SPS bleach when there is too much light and it expels its zoox in an attempt to regulate photosynthesis thus it turns white.

If turning white means 'RTN', then what you see is the skeleton with all the flesh peeled out/disintegrated.

Well white could also be a response where, the corals reflects excessive light off.. instead of to absorb it....

[weileong]

Bleached SPS are not white in color, different from STN/RTN where the tissues are lost. There's still some pigments in the tissues so you don't see white color from bleached sps.

[AlfaRomeo]

Agreed. Its different from STN/RTN. Usually and in the vast majority of bleaching cases there will be slight pigmentation left behind but not 100% of the cases.

Photo of bleached corals in the wild

[CalciumReef]

Bro AR,how many inches is your mh away from your water surface considering that your tank is 2.5ft high but yet maintaining good coral coloration