Radium technical question

[hedgedrew]

I have been using radiums along with other combination of bulbs for many years and have always wondered why and what effect does the radium spectrums lack of 400 to 420 peak compared to other 20k and 14k bulbs , have on coral esp sps ? Is this a lack of violet or uv ? Is this why the bulbs have a visually nicer ice blue cause purple violet is missing? Does this effect sps color and the nice purple or blue tips we see when corals chnge colors to try to protect themself from uv? Just comparevthe spectral graph from sanjay vs any other bulb and you will see the radiums start near 0 and climb to a peak of 450 nm like most bulbs , but that peak is lower than most and... Others have another pek nearbyhe 410 420nm range that these lack. Anyone????????

 

[hedgedrew]

i know all the questions these days are on leds but i know there are a ton of radium experts out there

 

[alton]

I don't worry about a lamps spectrum, I just want it to look good and grow coral. From my SPS to my Frogspawn it works.

 

[karsseboom]

Have you seen The tanks running radium? They're some of the nicest out there. Im pretty sure there getting there purples and blue growth with radiums.

 

[hedgedrew]

Guys. Im one of them. But look at the graphs. Has to be an answer other than dont worry be happy.

 

[hedgedrew]

heres my tank
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=RnqfKoLiV14
excuse the camera work well get better video

 

[alton]

I ran Coral Vue 14K and when Reeflux came out I went with 12K's, loved the growth and the color. Then I saw a store in Corpus that used Radiums in there grow tanks and everything looked great and they claimed to have great growth so I switched and never looked back. Evidently the corals I have do not require that much UV or lighting in the 420 spectrum, remember Radium has some color in the 420 spectrum just not as much as others. If you want a bunch add a VHO true Actinic to your lighting mix and you will have it down pat.

 

[karsseboom]

Yep I'm running vho actinic with radiums.

 

[bella127]

I don't worry about a lamps spectrum, I just want it to look good and grow coral. From my SPS to my Frogspawn it works.

+1


I had a 250w radium w/ blue wave 3 ballast and I switched to LED . Fast forward 1 year , I am back to radiums.
I never had a problem growing coral or losing color in the coral

This is what my tank looked like back with a Radium bulb

 

[bella127]

Here is what my tank looks like under 400 w radiums after I switched back from LED . The color on my LPS,SpS and softies was compromised from the LED and as you can see the color of this bulb is pretty sweet .