Natural light spectrum.. Why do we use these so much blue lights?

[Anxur]

Good morning everyone.
Below are some photos taken by a friend (yesterday and the day before yesterday) in the tropics while snorkeling.. (1 - 3 meters deep)

As you can see the light spectrum in the Reefs is completely different from that of more than 90-95% of the event in our aquariums.
Our homemade Reefs are always extremely blue..

Why do we use these lights?
Why don't we try to have light in our aquariums that is as similar as possible to natural light. Aesthetic reasons? Does blue mask the real colors more, highlighting the fluorescence?

I was wondering, in my case, how can the natural light in these photos be replicated with T5 lamps? Using the 6500 kelvin as well?

Let me know in the poll..
@jda @Big E

 

[Polymate3D]

I feel like there is a mixture of answers to this, so just gonna go for it!

(1) People new to the hobby look like a good light (Ai Prime, Radions etc) and then suggested profile. Almost everyone and there mate suggests AB+ or similar (100% blue, 20% white), so they do it

(2) More enthusiasts look at the chlorophyll involved and the wavelengths they absorb, which is heavily in the 380<490nm region which is mainly...blue. They therefore focus on giving the corals what they need. Coral farms also will focus on blue as the white is not required, and would cost money.

(3) Most people these days LOVE to show off anything they have. Be it themselves where they apply a million filters, there car or whatever else. We know under the blue light is where most corals produce there most vibrant fluorescent colours, and so they do that to the extreme and then use a orange filter to try and make it out that is what they look like to the naked eye.

Maybe I am a oddity and I am fine with that, but I am not watching my tank with orange glasses on. I want to be able to glance at my tank any time of the day and admire the beauty of it. I also do not want family members moaning about how blue the tank is.

So I am focusing more on a 50/50 ratio. Closer to a 14<20K white light. Some florescent coming out, but still pleasing to the eye naturally. I couldn't care less about photos to show off to others. If the animals inside are happy, and I enjoy the tank I have created, that is all that matters.

- Paul

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Not everyone likes blue lights, there should be a selection for "does not like blue lights"

My main tank uses MH lights which are very white. My other 2 tanks use led lights but my whites are up 30%-40%.

 

[Bruttall]

I always thought the reason for powerful blues was that "most" coral grow under 50 foot of water and the deeper you go, the more White, Yellow spectrum gets filtered out by the water, while the lower spectrum light, blue, violet penetrates farther and that is what "most" coral is acclimated too.

 

[twentyleagues]

Back in the day I used mh then mh and t5. The mh I was happiest with was the phoenix 14k 250w. Blue but not as blue as say a radion 20k, but definitely more blue then the 10k or 6500 mh out there. I have always liked that 14k look and usually try to replicate it since leds are now basically what we have. I went t5 for a while also but the look was too flat to me. When I ran mh and t5 I would have the t5 which were mostly blue+ and actinic come on about an hour before the mh and turn off an hour after. The mh usually overpowered the t5s for the most part. Now with the leds I run about 2 hrs of blue/purple in the start and end of the day and the other 8 hrs as close to the 14k I can get. I do believe that its a bit whiter than 14k but not much. I do like the pop the blue gives the corals but I also like to see them in whiter light imo 14k is the best for mix for viewing pleasure.

 

[Doctorgori]

Don’t get me started …
tons of lighting misinformation; misunderstanding..
… I think I might dig up the history of blue LED’s

 

[piranhaman00]

There is someone on this forum that runs 6 Blue plus with 2x reef Brite XhO actinic.

I think the blue tanks with fluorescent corals look bad. You can tell most people have never seen wild coral that have reef tanks.

 

[The new fish on the block]

Don’t get me started …
tons of lighting misinformation; misunderstanding..
… I think I might dig up the history of blue LED’s

I would be interested in reading about that.

As you can see the light spectrum in the Reefs is completely different from that of more than 90-95% of the event in our aquariums.
Our homemade Reefs are always extremely blue..

Why do we use these lights?
Why don't we try to have light in our aquariums that is as similar as possible to natural light. Aesthetic reasons? Does blue mask the real colors more, highlighting the fluorescence?

I feel like it’s a mix of the 3 reasons you mentioned above.

I recently added a 6500k spot light above my tank for an anemone and I will say somethings it makes them look great, others the colors really dull out under the whiter lighting.

Another, reason i believe ( someone correct me if I am wrong) is that the whiter lighting is better for algae growth.

 

[PotatoPig]

I feel there should be an option:

“I tell people it’s because corals are evolved to use bluer light due to water filtering out reds, but really it’s because it makes the colors pop like crazy and hides algae better”

 

[BristleWormHater]

I'm not a fan of the overwhelming blue light a lot of people run it just makes the tank look fake to me. I like to run a good mix and keep white light right around 50% while my blues and violets are at around 80% I have an ai prime 16hd
Not the best photo but my lights look like this at peak hours and I really love it!

Edit: Here's some more pics

 

[SpSDrew]

I refuse to give up my halides for this reason. You can’t beat a 10/14k halide over a tank….. with some blue LEDs to supplement.

 

[spsick]

Individual channel control is the main answer.

Traditional lighting methods such as fluorescent “hide” the big blue peaks to our eyes better than LEDs.

 

[Anxur]

Mi sembra che le risposte a questa domanda siano molteplici, quindi ci provo!

(1) Le persone nuove all'hobby sembrano una buona luce (Ai Prime, Radions ecc.) e poi hanno suggerito il profilo. Quasi tutti e il loro compagno suggerisce AB+ o simili (100% blu, 20% bianco), quindi lo fanno

(2) Un numero maggiore di appassionati guarda alla clorofilla coinvolta e alle lunghezze d'onda che assorbe, che si trovano in gran parte nella regione 380<490nm, che è principalmente...blu. Si concentrano quindi sul dare ai coralli ciò di cui hanno bisogno. Anche le fattorie di coralli si concentreranno sul blu, poiché il bianco non è necessario e costerebbe denaro.

(3) Al giorno d'oggi la maggior parte delle persone ADORA mostrano tutto ciò che ha. Che si tratti di se stessi, a cui si applicano un milione di filtri, della loro auto o di qualsiasi altra cosa. Sappiamo che sotto la luce blu è dove la maggior parte dei coralli produce i loro colori fluorescenti più vivaci, e quindi lo fanno all'estremo e poi usano un filtro arancione per cercare di far sembrare che sia così che appare a occhio nudo.

Forse sono un po' strana e mi sta bene, ma non guardo il mio acquario con gli occhiali arancioni. Voglio poter dare un'occhiata al mio acquario in qualsiasi momento della giornata e ammirarne la bellezza. Inoltre, non voglio che i familiari si lamentino di quanto sia blu l'acquario.

Quindi mi sto concentrando di più su un rapporto 50/50. Più vicino a una luce bianca 14<20K. Un po' di fluorescenza in uscita, ma comunque piacevole alla vista in modo naturale. Non mi interessano le foto da mostrare agli altri. Se gli animali all'interno sono felici e mi piace la vasca che ho creato, questo è tutto ciò che conta.

-Paolo

Ho 4 Aquablu Special e 2 Coral Plus. Questo è il mio White Spectrum...

 

[Tamberav]

I don’t like overly blue tanks and washed out fish colors, washed out blue and sometimes red corals…

I run led which still has plenty of blue but crank up the whites to make it more balanced.

 

[Lasse]

Don’t get me started …
tons of lighting misinformation; misunderstanding..
… I think I might dig up the history of blue LED’s

Please - get started on all 8 cylinders

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Solo McReefer]

Good morning everyone.
Below are some photos taken by a friend (yesterday and the day before yesterday) in the tropics while snorkeling.. (1 - 3 meters deep)

As you can see the light spectrum in the Reefs is completely different from that of more than 90-95% of the event in our aquariums.
Our homemade Reefs are always extremely blue..

Why do we use these lights?
Why don't we try to have light in our aquariums that is as similar as possible to natural light. Aesthetic reasons? Does blue mask the real colors more, highlighting the fluorescence?

I was wondering, in my case, how can the natural light in these photos be replicated with T5 lamps? Using the 6500 kelvin as well?

Let me know in the poll..
@jda @Big E

One has no fluorescence with natural lights on their tank

Natural light makes most reef tanks look like a big glass box of urine

Natural light is the best light for growing nuisance algae

I have no intention of producing a "natural reef". A natural reef can have a 50 foot by 50 foot area dominated by one species of brown pocillipora. My growout tank is 40 gallons and currently has a couple hundred different animals

I did natural when I started. 7500K was considered blue back then

If you want a Julian Sprung type reef tank, more power to ya

I like Vic Fornari from WWC type of tank myself

 

[Lasse]

This last photo of yours - do you know which depth the photos was taken?

Sincerely Lasse

 

[madlos123]

I currently live in Iowa but I used to live in the Philippines for 13 years and would snorkel a lot. Our house was only 10 min walking distance to the nearest beach.
I still visit every few years back home and i have scuba dived a few times.

When I first started keeping a reef tank back 9 years ago, that was the common cheaper set up (Chinese Black Box) running heavy blue light.
Since the learning curve is very high in starting a reef tank. I wanted to make it simplier for my mind and wallet.
I just wanted to copy somebody's tank from youtube or forums that is decent and replicate it so I can have a reef tank of my own.

I have success with it and that was I stuck with for a few years until I am comfortable with my own set up.

Maybe thats one of the reason that people run heavy blue light.
People just stick to what they know that have success when they first started. Also the majority of youtube tanks are heavy blue which are eye catching. And the cycle continues.

Plus all the other reasons too mentioned before and after me.


Now I am running this with my 90 Gallon

I have a few non reefer friends that was blown away when they first saw my tank.
No orange glasses required.

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[rhitee93]

Some day people will look back on the extreme blue lighting the same way we look at 80's hair, bell bottoms, or really wide ties. Then again, we may be aghast if we were able to look at what will be common practice in lighting in a couple of decades...

 

[Anxur]

This last photo of yours - do you know which depth the photos was taken?

Sincerely Lasse

1-3 meter deep all photos