Do you guys run red, green and violate color on your LEDs?
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Ron Reefman
Active member
I my opinion the answer to your question is yes & no!
I run the violet but not the red or green. I feel the violet mixes well with the blues so I don't see it in the shimmer or the shadow edges and it is more useful to the coral than the red and green. I don't run the red & green because they do show up in my shimmer and the do make some red & green shadow edges. They are marginally useful to the coral, the red more so than the green. The red is used somewhat in photosynthesis (not the green) and they are both used somewhat in making pigments and some other chemistry inside the coral. But I feel there is more than enough red and green mixed with blue in the white leds (white is a mix of the 3 primary colors Red, Green and Blue, thus the RGB acronym).
I run my blue channels at between 2 and 4 times as much intensity as I do my white.
I run the violet but not the red or green. I feel the violet mixes well with the blues so I don't see it in the shimmer or the shadow edges and it is more useful to the coral than the red and green. I don't run the red & green because they do show up in my shimmer and the do make some red & green shadow edges. They are marginally useful to the coral, the red more so than the green. The red is used somewhat in photosynthesis (not the green) and they are both used somewhat in making pigments and some other chemistry inside the coral. But I feel there is more than enough red and green mixed with blue in the white leds (white is a mix of the 3 primary colors Red, Green and Blue, thus the RGB acronym).
I run my blue channels at between 2 and 4 times as much intensity as I do my white.
Ron Reefman
Active member
I my opinion the answer to your question is yes & no! :dance:
I run the violet but not the red or green. I feel the violet mixes well with the blues so I don't see it in the shimmer or the shadow edges and it is more useful to the coral than the red and green. I don't run the red & green because they do show up in my shimmer and the do make some red & green shadow edges. They are marginally useful to the coral, the red more so than the green. The red is used somewhat in photosynthesis (not the green) and they are both used somewhat in making pigments and some other chemistry inside the coral. But I feel there is more than enough red and green mixed with blue in the white leds (white is a mix of the 3 primary colors Red, Green and Blue, thus the RGB acronym).
I run my blue channels at between 2 and 4 times as much intensity as I do my white. My main DT has 100 different species of coral which are about 60% sps, 30% lps, 10% zoas and they are all very healthy and grow as fast or faster than I want (I'm not trying to grow a cash crop of coral).
I run the violet but not the red or green. I feel the violet mixes well with the blues so I don't see it in the shimmer or the shadow edges and it is more useful to the coral than the red and green. I don't run the red & green because they do show up in my shimmer and the do make some red & green shadow edges. They are marginally useful to the coral, the red more so than the green. The red is used somewhat in photosynthesis (not the green) and they are both used somewhat in making pigments and some other chemistry inside the coral. But I feel there is more than enough red and green mixed with blue in the white leds (white is a mix of the 3 primary colors Red, Green and Blue, thus the RGB acronym).
I run my blue channels at between 2 and 4 times as much intensity as I do my white. My main DT has 100 different species of coral which are about 60% sps, 30% lps, 10% zoas and they are all very healthy and grow as fast or faster than I want (I'm not trying to grow a cash crop of coral).
billdogg
Well-known member
Nor do I. What you do in the privacy of your own home is, however, your business:bigeyes:
I don't have the option of other colors. I use AI Sol Blues for the DT, Kessil A360W tuna blues for the FT,
The DT is set to 45W/65B/65RB with a short ramp up and a short ramp down, on at 10am and off at 10pm. Fixtures are ~14" above water. IMHO, the corals look great and are growing like weeds.
The FT is slightly more blue than white, set to probably 75% intensity, same time schedule except no ramping.
Thanks for info! I am gonna turn off the red and green off for a few weeks, and see if there is any difference.
Ron Reefman
Active member
There won't be. My 125g mostly sps tank has been running for over 7 months now and I haven't used the red or green leds since day one. The corals grow just like they did when I had 800 watts of MH and 160 watts of t5 over my old 180g tank.
Whites, depending on the type of white, will have varying levels of these wavelegnths. In my opinion they don't add any overall value, if your going or do green and red why not yellow and orange? Coral growth has shown optimal success with blues and whites, consider mimicking the color in the ocean. As an experiment I'm running a DIY LED light with different whites, 2 different violets, and 3 types of blues (different wavelengths). Seems to be working, the challenge is I don't have a control sample to compare to and ruleuthanasia other factors or how successful I could be with say a Kessil or two.
My hammer coral and frogspawn are growing, zoas spreading, mushrooms look healthy, and acan expands nicely during the day placed over in the edge of the tank 1/4 of the way up. Added a mystic sunset Monti recently that seems to be a climatic nicely. All this to say from a color, visual, and coral growth and health I'm nto feeling like I'm missing anything from not having the reds and greens.
My hammer coral and frogspawn are growing, zoas spreading, mushrooms look healthy, and acan expands nicely during the day placed over in the edge of the tank 1/4 of the way up. Added a mystic sunset Monti recently that seems to be a climatic nicely. All this to say from a color, visual, and coral growth and health I'm nto feeling like I'm missing anything from not having the reds and greens.
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Half Vaped
New member
Most corals only really use the wavelengths from ~400 nm to ~500 nm, which is from violet to blue to cyan. Wavelengths bigger than that benefits algae more than corals. The colored lights <500 nm should be adjusted for purely aesthetic reasons, not for any perceived benefits of the tank inhabitants.
On the other hand UVA light from 360 to 400 nm can make certain corals fluoresce in ways that visible light can't. I'm not sure if these wavelengths are of any benefit photosynthetically.
Turning off the white lights and keeping only the blues running is a great way to combat excessive algae, at least temporarily until nutrients are reduced.
On the other hand UVA light from 360 to 400 nm can make certain corals fluoresce in ways that visible light can't. I'm not sure if these wavelengths are of any benefit photosynthetically.
Turning off the white lights and keeping only the blues running is a great way to combat excessive algae, at least temporarily until nutrients are reduced.
Ron Reefman
Active member
Not many led fixtures come with true UV (shorter than 400nm) leds.
And the spectrum doesn't have to be in the 360nm to 400nm to make corals fluoresce. The shortest wavelength I have is a violet, probably in the 410nm range and and my corals fluoresce like crazy. In fact, I can turn off the violet channel and the corals still fluoresce the same with blue leds.
And there is some risk to using true UV as you can't see it (the leds look burned out) and the PAR meter doesn't pick it up either. It's also stronger (i.e. more energy) than violet or blue and too much UV can damage coral tissue.
Half Vaped
New member
Yes definitely. The crazy thing is corals fluoresce differently with UVA vs violet vs royal blue lights. For example, some corals may fluoresce green with royal blues, but fluoresce pink under UVA.
If you have a blacklight pet pee detector, they're usually in the UVA spectrum. Check out your corals with them when all the other lights are off. You will literally see them in a completely different light!
Musing.Dog
New member
Like others here, I have turned off the red and green channels of my fixture. I don't like the reflected colors on the sand bed. Blue, violet, white, and cyan mix much better. I don't have any corals thus far to see growth effects. Just don't like the aesthetics.
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Ron Reefman
Active member
Interesting. I'll have to try some true UV and see if any coral fluoresce different than with my violet and blue.
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