Are we going in the right direction with our lighting?

[atoll]

Have we taken a step too far with lighting?

Strange thing to ask maybe but consider the following.

I was in well known and respected LFS on Wednesday afternoon which has some wonderful corals for sale. While in the shop I saw the new EcoTech Radion XR3)W pros that they recently put over some of their SPS tanks. I was chatting to Mark the manager who I have known and respected for szometime about them and yes they looked very impressive. The Radion's were replacing some AL Sol's that the shop had been using for a couple of years. I have to say the colours of the corals in particular reds were very bright, reds, pinks, blues and greens also stood out almost as if the were lit from within so strong was the corals colours.

That's my concern, you see the corals looked like they had been Photoshopped. I have seen lots of pic's on here and other sites that have been photoshopped and the colours look more than just brilliant. IME they are just not natural looking under these lights IMO. I have been lucky to dive and snorkeled in the Red Sea and although the colours of the corals were fantastic none looked like the corals I saw under the new Radion's. Seems now we are trying to improve on nature and IMO when you try and do that you introduce unnatural looking corals.

I am sure many will simply say so what I love the bright red blues and greens I see under these lights. Fair enough but after being knocked out by these unnaturally bright radiant corals i'm now not so sure that we are going in the right direction with lighting. I am sure my thoughts will be a contentious issue with many and you will have your own views on such.

If you have seen these lights or have a set I would be interested to hear your views on them and esp the look of the corals under them. .

[Horerczy]

Color morphs of coral bred in this hobby certainly aren't natural.

 

Our lighting is never natural except for greenhouse coral shops and sun tube users.

[LynkUK]

I certainly can appreciate the sentiments, but for me there are two main per-requisite rules for any aquarium:

1.The inhabitants are healthy

2.It looks good

 

The way I look at aquariums, it starts as a blank canvas. From there it's up to the individual to create something to their liking...as long as they don't break my previous 2 rules.

 

I have to agree with Horerczy. A purist only has one option - natural sunlight.

[Nano sapiens]

I've noticed a tendency to have too much light intensity, for too long, in the hope of getting the coral coloration to it's peak intensity. On top of that, many corals don't get a break as they would in nature every time a cloud passes, the day is overcast, etc. The artificial conditions that we subject corals to can certainly cause the corals stress if we over do it.

 

My son and I came back recently from Palau and as you mentioned coloration of corals in nature is often quite different from what we have in our tanks. Much of the color we see in our tanks is due to 'unnatural selection' by us as we invariably pick the brightest, most eye-catching colors and then we try to enhance that pigmentation through specific lighting, feeding, etc.

 

My take on this is that as long as the organisms are thriving and the aquarist is happy...then 'it's all good'

[kush.]

i agree that the look you get with radions are not what you would experience in a natural reef. my take on this is that everyone has their preferences on what they like. I have a friend that really doesn't like the colouration from atinics in his tank because he doesn't think it looks natural. I have another friend who cranks the blue on his LEDs because he prefers a more popping look from his corals. The way i see it is that the radions, in particular, can please both groups because of the versatility in colouration. some lights aim to create the most natural look, other aim to create the brightest lit, show-stopping aquarium that looks like a computer image.

[BradVincent]

Natural light is blue/green at depth, and yellower the shallower up you go. Boosting these wavelengths will look more natural but less colorful. Red light fades fast, so it shouldn't be present unless the whole color balance is close to sunlight at the surface. There is a tradeoff between "natural" and "colorful", with most consumers intentionally choosing colorful.

[DrVENKMAN]

There is nothing "natural" about having a reef inside your house. Everything about coral in your living room is unnatural whether the colors appear whimsically vivid or subdued.

[GoingPostal]

Nobody wants "natural" looking corals. The brighter the better, seems like most don't want a reef, they want a rainbow in their tank. It's eyecatching and pretty which has always been the appeal of a saltwater tank for most. I've been looking online for corals/fish more lately and really unhappy with the extreme blue lighting everything seems to be under. It made me think and I left my blue leds off for awhile last week, when I turned them back on I was shocked how artificial and goofy it looked. But my fiance on the other hand is partially color blind and loves the blue look. To each their own.

[atoll]

I have found the new full spectrum LEDs much more "natural" looking. The light is not blue but of course there is a hint if it. Nor is the light a harsh white. I think the mixture of various colours of LEDs inc warm white reds green and orange help give the tank a more natural look to me anyway. I can understand why people plug for the coral pop look but it's not to my taste.

[D Z]

I have found the new full spectrum LEDs much more "natural" looking. The light is not blue but of course there is a hint if it. Nor is the light a harsh white. I think the mixture of various colours of LEDs inc warm white reds green and orange help give the tank a more natural look to me anyway. I can understand why people plug for the coral pop look but it's not to my taste.

I agree with this. I am planning on building a full spectrum light for my Nuvo 8 so that I can still get a good amount of coral pop throughout the day, but with a more natural looking overall color from the lighting in the tank. I think this provides the best balance, but that is just my opinion.

[tibbsy07]

Nature is great and has its own way of doing things - but it doesn't mean that things can't be improved (take for example medicine). If we used different lighting and it gives our corals more color for us to look at while at the same time providing them the proper spectrum for growth, I don't see an issue. If you like your coral more natural looking, do it that way. For those who do like their corals a bit more "poppy" they can have at it, too.

 

There is nothing "natural" about having a reef inside your house. Everything about coral in your living room is unnatural whether the colors appear whimsically vivid or subdued.

+1

[Horerczy]

One has to face that most of these animals are brown and greenish brown with natural sunlight. There are exceptions, but when a sliver of sunlight passes my tank each sunny morning, most of my colorful corals turn blah brown to blah greenish brown. No rational person would pay what we pay for these animals if all they could ever look like is what they look like under sunlight.

 

Every sun tube user ive talked to has said their corals browned out for 2-4 weeks then bounced back more vibrant thsn ever. I believe a lot of this has to do with how we raise new morphs designed for bright colors regardless of color temp.

 

It should be noted that in green house tanks and solar tube tanks the color temperature of the light shifts throught the day.

[atoll]

I have found the new full spectrum LEDs much more "natural" looking. The light is not blue but of course there us a hint if it in there. Nor is the light harsh white like many are with just blue and white LED's. I think the mixture of various colours of LEDs inc warm white reds and orange help give the tank a more natural look to me anyway. I can understand why people plug for the coral pop look but it's not to my taste.

[Horerczy]

A full spectrum led that looks natural would be doing this.

 

[Nano sapiens]

^^ ...and we'd have a lot more nice creme/brown corals

[atoll]

^^ ...and we'd have a lot more nice creme/brown corals

my eyes must have been decieving me when i was in the Red Sea as I saw plenty of colourful corals just non that looked as if they had a colourful disco ball in them or had been sprayed with illuminous paint.

[Nano sapiens]

The full spectrum shown is what corals receive in quite shallow water. If you were diving, you were likely down where some of the wavelengths were either missing or reduced and is more indicative of our blue-skewed reef tank lighting.

 

Those corals out in the open shallow areas that receive the greatest intensity and longest daylight tend to be creme/brown. In Palau, these were 80-90% Acropora. The more colorful corals tended to be mostly LPS that were either in partially shaded areas for part of the day or corals on rock walls a bit deeper down on the reef proper.

 

There are certain generalities we can make looking at reefs around the world, but conditions can be quite different from one to the other. As a result, some reefs have more colorful corals, others...maybe not so much.

[atoll]

i both dived and snorkeld and saw colourful corals in the first few feet not just lower down on the reefs.

[Nano sapiens]

The Red Sea is known for colorful corals, especially the soft coral Dendronephtheas. Lucky you to have dived there

 

Could have to do with the increased salinity, water temp, types of food ingested, turbidity, water flow, the way the sun's light refracts, etc, etc.

[Horerczy]

You really have to think about where the sun is at the time of diving. Depending on where the sun is ambient light can shift in color temperature by a wide margin.

 

There are also many corals out there that are naturally nice in coloration. Scollys for instance have lovely colors but aren't fragged due to their typically low rates of survival from the ordeal and even the survivors would take years to regrow their round shape.

[pwreef]

Next time bring a flash light to your day dive! You will see colors that are not visible under just sunlight. Even better at night! Hence the colorful pictures that you see of divers using massive flashes to illuminate corals.