SPS experts, the color of SPS require a certain light intensity?

JCR's Reef

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Please share your own experience. I would love to see this added to and full of opinions.

Lets assume that we all have ideal water parameters, flow, etc..so outside of tank parameters, flow, etc...I would like to know if you have found that certain colors of SPS plays a role with its lighting requirements to bring out its best color--high, med, low intensity--or what lighting conditions a certain acro likes.....

I am by no means an expert but I have played around with my acro's a bit to see what lighting conditions bring out the best in my coral, and I'm wondering if anyone else has done the same. I just don't think all SPS require high lighting and do think the color of the coral plays a major role in its lighting requirement. I'm curious to see if its true all across the board though.
Please share your experiences if you have found certain colors need different light intensity.


For example: To bring out the best color on my Pearl Berry Acro I have found that:
High Light = Whitish branches with tanish base and a faint hue of purple tips
Med Light = Fluorescing blue branches with purple tips and pinkish body
Low Light = Never tried as I was really happy with Med. Light
So the best color I have found for the Pearl Berry is Med Light.

Superman monti
High light = faded blue with brownish red polyps
Med light= A nice blue with more red polyps.
Low light= As long as its getting direct light, and is not shaded (bottom of tank) I have found the color isn't too far off from med. light as long as its getting high flow
Best color I have found= Medium light.
I have mine up high in the tank which is high light, but its off to the side so its not right under the bulbs or getting blasted, so medium intensity.


Blue Tort/Oregon
High Light= In high light mine is a vibrant purplish blue, very nice color that really stands out.
Medium Light= Just a tad less of the vibrant in color but has green throughout the body, still hold up nicely
Low Light= Pales out and is not as vibrant, kinda loses its purple color and is more blue IMO
Best light= really depends on what colors on this one, but in high lighting it is the most vibrant color and really stands out

Purple Acros
I have found that almost all purple acros require High light for the best color. In medium light they start to brown out.

Spongodes/confusia
High light- pale lime green base with brown polyps
Medium light- Nice green (like the hulk) with brown polyps

Blue tipped tenius/ bottle brush
High light = a nice blueish green body with bright blue tips, so it really needs high light to have the tips stand out and accent the coral
Med Light= becomes more of a solid color

Green Slimmer
High light= nice fluorescing green body and polyps
Med. light= still maintains much of its color but overall looks better in high light

Efflo
High light= White body, green polyps, dull purple tips
Med. light= greener body, green polyps, bright blue/purple tips
Low light = haven't tried but it would probably brown out
 
I think this discussion will be even better if information includes
1. What lighting? MH 250W / 400W or T5?
2. Where is the lighting sources from the tank / water surface?
3. Where is the SPS being placed under the water surface?
I found sometime it is confusing saying high / low light
Cheers.
 
I have found that all my sps have much better color under my 250w MH then my old dual 150w MH. I have also found that the bluer bulbs tend to bring out better blues, greens, pinks and purples in many of my sps.
 
I think this discussion will be even better if information includes
1. What lighting? MH 250W / 400W or T5?
2. Where is the lighting sources from the tank / water surface?
3. Where is the SPS being placed under the water surface?
I found sometime it is confusing saying high / low light
Cheers.

It would be easier if we ran every tank exactly same, but unfortunately we don't. Everyone's tank has different needs to penetrate a certain depth (size). There is a lot of great information already about this.
1. Everyone runs different lighting setups/reflectors/etc... You can tweak colors with different spectrums (MH, T5), but in general you are still able to bring that color out. There are some reefers who have trouble just getting a coral to color up or what not, so this is where this information comes in at.
2. Would be great if everyone had an apogee meter to go off of for exact placement and par readings to gain the most color to compare against others, but I don't think its necessarily needed.
3. Again, every tank is different so what would be my ideal placement might not be ideal with someone running a smaller or bigger tank than mine with different lighting, or twice the light output on the same size tank.
It is confusing, that is why I tried listing the color/ coral name, and what colors where present under high,med., and low light. It's a way for others to see if they have too much or too little light. Many people I have talked to found it helpful.

what about pinks? i cant seem to keep them pink
I personally think reds and pinks are the hardest out their to keep a good color on. Some people are blasting reds so much they are pink or just have a faded look, and others just can't get them to hold that nice color. The best reds I have seen have been under T5's, or MH supplemented with T5's. Not saying MH users can keep them, those are just the best I have seen. I'll also go out on a limb here and say the nutrient level plays a role here. Please chime in if I'm wrong, but cleaner and low phosphates is better for this color to stand out.

I have found that all my sps have much better color under my 250w MH then my old dual 150w MH. I have also found that the bluer bulbs tend to bring out better blues, greens, pinks and purples in many of my sps.

I'm getting great color running 2- phoenix 150's (20k) as a stand alone bulb (no supplement lighting) over my 100g. Granted if I had a bigger tank, I would need to step my lighting up and go bigger, but seeing that I'm only penetrating 20" I think it's ideal for my tank. I try to achieve color over growth and so far the color is great and the growth is good.
 
Phoenix does not have a 20k only a 14k TMK, but it looks very 20k. I had good color with my 150s no dount but the 250 brought out so much more than I thought it would. In my 150 set up I use Coralife 14ks and 20ks, Phoenix 14k and Oddysea 20ks. I got the best color from the Coralife 20ks. I now use an Oddysea 250w 20k and color is great best it has ever been in fact but there are other factors to that then just the bulb. I was using a Phoenix 14k 250w before the Oddysea and I can say that growth and color has not been effected by the cheaper bulb. In fact I will continue to use Oddysea bulbs in the future, changing out every 6 months. Oh and I am in no way an expert in sps. I just manage to keep them alive, growing and with decent color.
 
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Phoenix does not have a 20k only a 14k TMK, but it looks very 20k. I had good color with my 150s no dount but the 250 brought out so much more than I thought it would. In my 150 set up I use Coralife 14ks and 20ks, Phoenix 14k and Oddysea 20ks. I got the best color from the Coralife 20ks. I now use an Oddysea 250w 20k and color is great best it has ever been in fact but there are other factors to that then just the bulb. I was using a Phoenix 14k 250w before the Oddysea and I can say that growth and color has not been effected by the cheaper bulb. In fact I will continue to use Oddysea bulbs in the future, changing out every 6 months. Oh and I am in no way an expert in sps. I just manage to keep them alive, growing and with decent color.

Awesome! Same here man. The pheonix 14k is actually a 20k, its just labeled a 14k. I know there are many other factors that come into play with keeping the color of an acro, I was just curious if others generally knew how much light a coral needs by the color of it
 
I personally think reds and pinks are the hardest out their to keep a good color on. Some people are blasting reds so much they are pink or just have a faded look, and others just can't get them to hold that nice color. The best reds I have seen have been under T5's, or MH supplemented with T5's. Not saying MH users can keep them, those are just the best I have seen. I'll also go out on a limb here and say the nutrient level plays a role here. Please chime in if I'm wrong, but cleaner and low phosphates is better for this color to stand out.

----i do water changes every week and change my t5 out every 5 months, no3 are at 0 now but my pinks stil fade to a brown/pink, but im starting to move them around more to see if it changes.
 
From my experience there needs to be 1-3ppm phospate and 5-10 nitrates (some risiduals) unless running an ULNS like zeovit ect. When things run "sterile" like that the coral get fussy and normal fluctuations, minor changes are mulipled resulting in considerable rtn/stn ect. JMHO from Experience. Thanks
 
From my experience, depends on the nutrient level in your tank. If you have no fish and bake with lights, the colors of the corals fade. You kind of have to find a happy medium between light intensity and nutrient level. Stability is still the strongest factor in best colors IMHO
 
im running 2 ai sol blues stylows and monti' doing good but my acro's not so much there on a 90 cube any ideas ty
 

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