Red colour - how to keep

[IanJ]

I dont seem to have a problem with purple, blue and green colouration, just red. I struggle to keep the colour of sylo, pocci and what i think is a prostata(spelling?)

Is there a secret to keeping a good red or pink colour, such as lighting or other parameter?

 

[BlueStag]

I've never used the stuff, but on the Zeo product line they have a product that is specifically for the coloration of many of the corals you just listed. Might be worth looking into.

 

[Esper]

what color temp. bulbs are you using? 20K metal halides generally keep the deep blue and purple colors, but you might want to look into a bulb with more red in the spectrum such as a 6500K. some 10K MH's may be able to keep the pink/red colors as well...

 

[IanJ]

I have used various bulbs from BLV 10,000K 250W DE and for the past 6 months 2 x BLV 14,000K + 1 Phoenix, now i have just switched to all Phoenix as i was not happy with the BLV 14000 K's after about 6 months use

 

[jackson6745]

I keep pinks and red very well in my tank...I don't know why though(pics in gallery).

My po4 is .02 on a hanna meter, nitrates undectable, alk at 9dkh, cal 400ppm, MG 1300ppm.

I have a 120G with 21 fish and feed heavily I am also running 10k BLV's My guess is that they need more feeding (excess fish food in my case) than other SPS while still maintaing a low nutrient environment.

 

[calvinreef]

why requirement for red is different?

 

[jhammond]

IanJ,
A little off topic, but what didn't you like about the 14K BLV's?

 

[want2reef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6744072#post6744072 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jhammond
IanJ,
A little off topic, but what didn't you like about the 14K BLV's?

Ya, I was wondering the same thing.

 

[Julio]

i have a red stag at home tht is kept under 10kXMs, but if given too much light it will turn green and when kept in a conner to give it less light it will color up red. Go figure.

 

[jiggy]

i think red corals need more of a red light spectrum.. red light penetrates water the least, so id try keeping it at the top of the tank..

 

[Travis]

I've always had troubles with reds too. I've had red acros (moslty millepora/prostrata) under 6.5k, 10k, 14k, and 20k all with VHO actinic and I just haven't been able to keep the originaly intensity of red that the coral comes in. I've also had a similar issue with pinks but they don't tend to lose their pink intensity quite as much as the reds.