Lighting & colors??

[Awibrandy]

Guys/gals I need your help on this; nothing looks red in my reef. They all look rusty red in my tank. I believe it is my lights, but I want to be sure before I go changing them since I have fantastic growth. And all other colors are fine.
My current lights are 1 Super Actinic 03 VHO, 1 Actinic White VHO these run for 12 to 13 hours.
My MH are 3 XM SE 175 watt 10 K, they run for 5 to 6 hrs. in the evenings.

How can I get my RED shrooms & blastos to actually show their red color?
I appreciate any imput you guys have to offer. Thank you much!!

The picture below is the tank in question running the actinics only.

 

[Vision06]

I'm not sure about VHO lights but have you considerd switching them out for T5's?
T5's have a better variety of bulbs to choose from and you could probably fit a few more of the T5's above your tank to have more colors to choose from.

So to answer your question on which bulb for vho I have no clue but if you decide on T5's you cantry this bulb http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/Re...escent/54W_Pro_Color_T5_HO_Fluorescent_by_ATI

 

[reefman]

some possibilities for better color:
stronger wattage of mh
higher temp in bulbs(may not yeild growth as good as 10K)
different brand of bulbs
here's a simulation pic of your tank if it was 250 w with 14k SE.

 

[gnatp2]

some possibilities for better color:
stronger wattage of mh
higher temp in bulbs(may not yeild growth as good as 10K)
different brand of bulbs
here's a simulation pic of your tank if it was 250 w with 14k SE.

I disagree with higher light intensity. Shrooms especially don't need higher light.
Also, there's so much debate on T5 vs VHO. both are good.

I'd say if anything it would be the spectrum of light that could be adjusted. I've heard good things about the XM 10K 175W bulbs, but I'd investigate other tanks that have good reds and copy that lighting spectrum.

But to be honest, I doubt it is a lighting issue. Most people have probs with purples and blues with poor lighting. I'm surprised that your reds don't look good.

Nate

 

[Awibrandy]

I disagree with higher light intensity. Shrooms especially don't need higher light.
Also, there's so much debate on T5 vs VHO. both are good.

I'd say if anything it would be the spectrum of light that could be adjusted. I've heard good things about the XM 10K 175W bulbs, but I'd investigate other tanks that have good reds and copy that lighting spectrum.

But to be honest, I doubt it is a lighting issue. Most people have probs with purples and blues with poor lighting. I'm surprised that your reds don't look good.

Nate

Nate, I am curious as to what else could possibly be the problem. What if not the lights could cause a problem with the reds in my tank? All the other colors are fine. I don't have much of anything blue in my tank except for my baby blue sea fan, and it is fine. The purple shows ok. It is only the reds I seem to have a problem with.

Reefman, I don't like that very blue look that's why I have 1 white actinic 1 Super actinic.

Thank you all for your replies.:hug:

 

[gnatp2]

Nate, I am curious as to what else could possibly be the problem. What if not the lights could cause a problem with the reds in my tank? All the other colors are fine. I don't have much of anything blue in my tank except for my baby blue sea fan, and it is fine. The purple shows ok. It is only the reds I seem to have a problem with.

Reefman, I don't like that very blue look that's why I have 1 white actinic 1 Super actinic.

Thank you all for your replies.:hug:

Always hard to tell all the possible issues affecting coral color, but personally I have had issues with my greens/pinks/blues having quite a brownish hue when my phosphates were higher. I'd check the phosphates with a hanna meter and see what you come up with. Higher or lower alk also affected my color a lot a well. But I'm an sps guy so, it might be a completely different ballgame with blastos.

I'm not totally throwing lighting out the window, but I've never heard of a tank that had great blues and purples and poor colors otherwise (using 10k lighting). But IF lighting is part of the problem then the prob is the spectrum, not the intensity.

Nate

 

[NYreefNoob]

color

i agree it isnt the intensity, but more of the spectrum, that was one thing i loved about using t5's cause i had 10k's 11k's and antic plus on my tank, different light spectrums will give different colors in corals, the braoder the range the better to cover all spectrums. my opinion

 

[Vision06]

Gnatp2. I didn't say T5's were better or worse. What I did say is exactly what NYreefNoob said in less words.
I was only suggesting that Awibrandy will have more options to choose from with T5's.
Awibrandy can choose different bulbs, and with T5's being smaller add more bulbs of different color to find the sweet spot she is looking for.