How to replicate natural sunlight look more with Reefbreeders leds...

[davidinga]

I'm still semi new to the hobby and have only used led's (Reefbreeders) and they give off a very blue look compared to natural light. While I understand corals need the blue spectrum the most are their other led setups that give a more natural look or can Reefbreeders be altered to give that look?

I like the way the blue makes the coral colors "pop" but don't really enjoy the overall windex look. I have played with my settings but to get a more natural look I have the whites cranked way to high and the blues so low the corals would probably suffer...

Attached is a photo at evening when my tank gets some natural light and you can see the astounding difference in colors made by sunlight vs led's.

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[mcphock]

You're right, blue light is required, but natural sunlight is 6700k.... no where near the 14-20k most of us run.

 

[redstang]

Yes, but most corals never see "natural" light as we see it. Blue is used by corals extensively in part because of how far it penetrates water compared to say red. I am curious what "k" corals get naturally at various depths.

 

[mcphock]

That is a good question.

 

[tbub1221]

My tank catches a few rays in the afternoon for 40 mins or so and it does look good on some coral in my display , I noticed my clam looks more vibrant as well.

 

[davidinga]

I love how the natural sunlight is super super bright but that definitely seems like it would be hard to replicate without burning coral

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[jdavid]

Your corals will adjust to whatever you run your blues/whites at. Just slowly turn up your whites

 

[john wright]

I have a diy led set up but i put a couple of ocean white chips in it and it really helps brighten the tank more like natural light with out burning up the corals

 

[davidinga]

Allen;920311 wrote: Which RB fixture do you have?

I have the Value, and the best way to replicate sunlight is to completely turn off the blue channel. To my eyes, anyway.

If you have the Value fixture and only run the white channel, you will have something like 12 white LED's, 6 blue LED's, 2 red LED's, and 6 purple LED's running. All of that will appear white. I like to run my blue channel about 40% lower than my white channel for faster coral growth. I will run the blues and whites on the same gain when we have company over for aesthetic purposes.

I have two photon32's standard layout and 90 optics.

If you turn off your blues how are you getting corals to grow (or survive at all) as they need the blue spectrum the most...

You get faster growth with your whites turned up higher than blues?

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[jdavid]

Allen;920372 wrote: Yes.

Fastest growth, not as pretty the closer you get to 6,500k. Better color, slowest growth at 20,000k.


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That's not a factual statement :)

 

[davidinga]

JDavid;920375 wrote: That's not a factual statement

That's what I thought lol

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[jdavid]

DavidinGA;920443 wrote: That's what I thought lol

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This doesn't necessarily mean that Allen's statement is false, just that there is a lack of factual data to prove it. There are plenty of forum posts that say the same thing.

I like this article because it is very science-based. You have to read the whole thing (I had to read it several times, and still go back to it for reference from time to time)
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2012/10/aafeature">http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2012/10/aafeature</a>

Edit: I use a 400w 20,000k radium currently, and I don't plan on changing (unless to 250w)