Lets Color Up My Corals Ok?

[shawnts106]

Ok, hopefully this got everyones attention... LOL, as you all know, from my excessive posting on the reef forum.., anyway, I have gotten into the world of SPS corals, well today I bought a Red Monti Dig, and I got it home to find that its not that red now... mainly because of the lfs had theirs under MH and mine are under VHO's.
Now I have read that the actinic blue bulbs make corals look more impressive and I was wondering if I could add more Actinic to my reeftank... I know am running 4 VHOs on a 660 balast
2 actinics and 1 white and also 1 half and half... now,
If I was to get 3 actinics and 1 half and half on the tank, would this make the corals, as well as the sps monti dig look more impresive and make their colors stand out more????
Now is it ok to have that much blue spectrum on the tank? do I then need more white light... or will the 3 actinics and 1 act/white be good for the corals... I have heard the more blue light the better... but not sure if this is true!
please help me, I dont want to hear, " well you should just go and get MH" because that is NOT an option!
thanks again!

 

[beth]

Shawn, I also run 440 VHO. You're just not going to get the colors that you can get under MH's. Especially from a coral that is used to MH's.

 

[golfish]

your beating a dead horse...........any advice from me is not an option.

 

[shawnts106]

LOL!!!GOLFISH! lol... Yes I am aware that I cant get the same color as MH, but I do want to "inhance" , what I wrote said nothing about getting the same color as VHO's, I said I wanted to INHANCE the color of my corals..... see? and There is still the question of what abou the lighting... is 3 actinics and 1 half/half ok?... ect..

 

[squidd]

Nope...:nope: ..You should get MH if your "serious" about SPS, coloration, growth, health, etc... and use the VHOs for actinic enhancement...

 

[shawnts106]

OK FORGET THIS, this isnt going anywhere because some of you people on this forum are sooo strong willed about the VHO/vs/mh thing that you cant see past it!
I met up with someone that I havent seen in like 2 or 3 years, they have goten into sps too, with VHOS and are growing Acroporas in there aquarium!!! with the same amount of light as I am!
This proves beyond a SHOUT, (which I am restraining myself from doing), of a dought that you CAN grow SPS corals UNDER VHO's!!!
I dont know what else to tell you.... but since everyone doesnt see what I ASKED, ILL ASK ONCE MORE!
question:
Can I enhanced the color of my corals *not just SPS* but all the corals by using 3 actinics and 1 half and half VHO bulb instead of the 2 actinics, 1 white and 1 half and half???
add on:
Will this be ok as far as lighting goes with my corals, is this enough White light, or does there need to be more white light???
thank you again, please understand that that is all I am asking!!!

 

[squidd]

Take this as a direct answer to your question, and not a plug for MH...cool...?
I "have" Two Tanks...One with MH and one with flourcents (PC, VHO, whatever)...
Over the course of the last couple months..as I move my "softies" out and add SPS to my Main Reef....I have seen a DRAMATIC loss of coloration between the two tanks...
I have not taken "comparison" shots yet, but tommorrow I will and post them...Showing the SAME coral under MH and then VHO...
You will then "see" the difference in coloration, polyp extention, and general health...
Adding "colored lights" will not help much in how they look, whether it's 10k or actinic, or pretty pink and blue lights...It's the PAR (photosynthetic available radiation) from the MHs that allow the zooanthella and natural pigments to be produced and come through in the corals...
And these are just softies and LPS..I wouldn't torture my SPS under this kind of lighting so you won't see any comparison shots...WAIT...I have shots of SPS from the LFS (where they use a lot more than 440 watts VHO) and the "coloration" under MHs (a couple months later) is also dramatic...
I'm not saying they(SPS) won't live under VHO...:nope: , But you'll never get the "coloration" your "asking" for, without the PAR to make it so...

 

[squidd]

Here's a good example...
Birdsnest..under VHO at LFS...Basicly brown with a "little" tinge of Pink...
Didn't change "color" overnight because I put it under MH...

 

[squidd]

Here it is a couple months later...after "feeding" on PAR from MH...(light is "food" for corals)...
NOW..it has "color" real color..not reflection off some "new bulb"...

 

[shoreliner11]

Shawnts,
If I were you I would leave the bulbs with 2 actinic and 2 10k. As far as coloring up your corals with the lighting you have, do not forget that water quality plays as big a part as lighting in the coloration of your corals. Keep both Calcium and alkalinity stable and to an extent a little higher alkalinity will help coloration on some corals. To add to this, I have a friend who has grown sps in his 75 under 440w of vho and he has some nice looking colonies. He does this by keeping the more light demanding corals (ie sps) towards the top and the cal. and alk. are very stable. Yes mh is the best way to go, but thats not saying that it can't be done with florescent lighting, it'll just be more difficult to obtain similar results.

 

[gregm779]

I believe that you should stay with your current setup as long as you run all of the bulbs at one time, which I'm sure your already doing. You may want to increase the amount of time you run them depending on what that is now. If stronger lighting is not an option at the moment I would not add just another actinic. On my old 55 I had 2 actinic and 2 10k PC bulbs and always had great growth. I now have a 125 with 3 HQI MH bulbs 4 actinic PC bulbs and of course the colors and growth is much better but as you said is not an option for you at the moment. Just start saving some $$ is my opinion. Changing the bulbs themselves may also help depending on how old they are but then again thats more $$.

 

[essop3]

NOW..it has "color" real color..not reflection off some "new bulb"...
That is the key. It won't make your coral any do any better. It would just glow a little, like when you have your actinics only on. I think it would look kinda fake too.

 

[bang guy]

You could try getting a PC bulb to place directly over the Monti. All you need is an endcap and you can rewire one of your VHO bulbs to run the PC bulb. I'd suggest a daylight. It may not work but it's possible.

 

[shawnts106]

HUMMMM, after reading all this, hum, well first:
SQUID
Take this as a direct answer to your question, and not a plug for MH...cool...?
I agree... and no I didnt
If I were to get MH, how many would I need and of what Watt and of what Kelvin?
I dont want my tank to look like a giant BLUE rectangle.. which in some tanks with MH, thats what they look like, so I want a good MH color output that is NOT going to make the tank look over barringly blue.. just a nice soft blue tint ... understand what I mean?
Now, I have right now, NO ROOM at all to add anymore bulbs under this tank, so I would have to take off 2 of the 4 VHO bulbs in order to have room for 2 MH bulbs... also, can I take off 2 of the 4 on an Ice Cap Balast 660-609 series?... how would I go about doing that?... would the other two still work?
my bulbs are 4 inches off the top of the water.... so would having MH be a problem with water temp?..... if so forget it! I am not about to battle that problem again, I had PC's on this tank to begin with, I HATED THOSE STUPID THINGS, they are the hottest bulb, and they always were shorting out!
so PC isnt even going to be thought of!
Now, my canopy has an open top, bars of wood is what allows the vho bulbs to attach to it, Ill try and take a picture later to let you all know what it looks like......
I could install a fan or two, but with the open top, is that really nessesary?
I am concidering going to MH now, but I want a good color mainly... now a once again ill say, a GIANT BLUE RECTANGLE sitting in our living room!
anways,
You may want to increase the amount of time you run them depending on what that is now. If stronger lighting is not an option at the moment I would not add just another actinic.
I an running 14 hours daylight and of course 10 hours dark... this is enough isnt it ! LOL
Why exactly would you not just get another actinic, I was proposing that I would replace all my bulbs, (4), and this time get 3 actinics and 1 half and half... whould this not provide enough white spectrum for the corals, or too much blue, or would the PAR not be enough?
please explain
thanks again!

 

[shawnts106]

I just thought, can I use the IceCap Balast 660-009 for MH?... could I rig the MH up to it somehow?.... just wondering... Sorry my Balast is NOT 660-609, its 660-009!!! I was reading it upside down so, lol, you get it!

 

[bang guy]

With 3 Actininc and one ActinicWhite you're going to end up with a big blue box
The Icecap 660 will only run flourescent lamps, sorry, no MH.
Are you using URI bulbs?

 

[shawnts106]

AHHH, never again shall I do stupid impulse buying, well maybe!, its that darn New Red Monti Dig that made me go insain! I TELL YOU WHAT!!
ok, well,
URI? what is this, not familiar... let me look on the bulbs or balasts and check!
here what I found:
yup, on the bulbs, Ultrav... ok you get it, URI! LOL!
what does this mean?

 

[bang guy]

It means they are the best VHO available.

 

[shawnts106]

GOOD! THAT ALSO MEANS THAT I HAVE A BETTER CHANCE RIGHT? RIGHT?
LOL!... Do you really think that with 3 actinics and 1 white or 1 half and half its going to look like a giant blue box?
maybe a nice looking giant blue box, hum!
what do you think Bang? or anyone else!

 

[yosemite sam]

This is what my tank looked like with 2 atinics, one 12K and one 10K URI bulbs. It is definately on the blue side. if you minus the 10K and add an atinic, it's going to be really blue