hypertech November 30, 2011 Share November 30, 2011 i guess its all in the objective. I want my tank to look like a reef. I don't want it to look like a black light 70s disco party. LEDs, particularly blue ones, just don't do it for me for main lights. I think I will add a string to supplement my 2 metal halides though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowieReefer84 November 30, 2011 Share November 30, 2011 i guess its all in the objective. I want my tank to look like a reef. I don't want it to look like a black light 70s disco party. LEDs, particularly blue ones, just don't do it for me for main lights. I think I will add a string to supplement my 2 metal halides though. The thing I like most about led's is adjusting the color. It is not necessary, but sure is fun. Here are a few showing the range of color you can get with led's... 1 by mteske1, on Flickr 6 by mteske1, on Flickr 4 by mteske1, on Flickr It is limitless. This was only two colors (cool white, and royal blue). I have since added some more led's with different colors to balance things out even more. That said, T5 and MH tanks can obviously be just as nice or nicer. They ALL work just fine imo, and it comes down to budget and preference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowsingle December 1, 2011 Share December 1, 2011 Which reef do you want it to look like? Down deeper, say 60 -90 feet where most LPS and softies are found / collected.....the water is almost entirely blue......you see very little red as it is absorbed by the water! At the surface the water is 3600K, which is not that pretty if you ask me (I ran these lights years ago with MH, I got great growth for SPS, but the colors sucked). It's all what you like really....that said, it drives me crazy when people talk about what color the reef is when they really don't understand that the color temperature of the light on the reef varies from the surface to the deep...... cheers, Darren i guess its all in the objective. I want my tank to look like a reef. I don't want it to look like a black light 70s disco party. LEDs, particularly blue ones, just don't do it for me for main lights. I think I will add a string to supplement my 2 metal halides though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunWyrm December 1, 2011 Share December 1, 2011 (edited) Lowsingle - What camera do you use?! That's spectacular. Edited December 1, 2011 by YiatzOfEden Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hypertech December 1, 2011 Share December 1, 2011 Which reef do you want it to look like? Down deeper, say 60 -90 feet where most LPS and softies are found / collected.....the water is almost entirely blue......you see very little red as it is absorbed by the water! At the surface the water is 3600K, which is not that pretty if you ask me (I ran these lights years ago with MH, I got great growth for SPS, but the colors sucked). It's all what you like really....that said, it drives me crazy when people talk about what color the reef is when they really don't understand that the color temperature of the light on the reef varies from the surface to the deep...... cheers, Darren I've been there. I've seen it. The corals don't glow psychedelic colors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowsingle December 1, 2011 Share December 1, 2011 I too have been there.....many times....you have to remember that the corals that really glow are not that common and are specifically chosen for their color. I have seen corals glow crazy colors on dives......in the shallow reefs it is mainly from reflection of light, but in the deeper reefs it is from pigment fluorescence (this is a well known phenomena in biology). It is common for biological pigments to down convert, that is convert higher wavelength light to a lower wavelength light...... I've been there. I've seen it. The corals don't glow psychedelic colors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowsingle December 1, 2011 Share December 1, 2011 I have a Nikon D60....it is nothing special though Lowsingle - What camera do you use?! That's spectacular. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind December 1, 2011 Share December 1, 2011 I've been there. I've seen it. The corals don't glow psychedelic colors. I'm with you 100%. I have been on many dives and the water doesn't have the blue look that some shot for in their tanks. It just isn't natural. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowsingle December 1, 2011 Share December 1, 2011 So you never have seen green fluorescence? What about in a green slimer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowsingle December 1, 2011 Share December 1, 2011 By the way, I'm not hatin' here I just recall when 15K and 20K halides came out and everybody said how fake they look and now those same people are using them because corals tend to look much nicer under bluer lights........ cheers, Darren Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowieReefer84 December 1, 2011 Share December 1, 2011 (edited) I like it when the corals "pop" under the royal blue led's or VHO's. I think it is pretty neat, and don't care if that is what they really look like in nature. I think my favorite tank I saw was lit with 250 watt 20k radiums on PFO ballasts with VHO's as supplements. VERY NICE imo! Those ballasts drive them to make the radiums almost pure white light, and the VHO's definately added a pop factor. I know PFO ballasts are out of production, but Hamilton Technology makes an M80 ballast to drive radiums properly as well now. Edited December 1, 2011 by BowieReefer84 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hypertech December 1, 2011 Share December 1, 2011 Perhaps people are misunderstanding what I am saying. I want my corals to be colorful and I want them to pop. Although most don't do that in nature, some do and those unique ones are the ones I like to keep. What I don't go for is the super crazy glow paint look from a ton of blue LEDs with maybe a couple whites thrown in. Some are even lighting their tanks with nothing but blue LEDs. For whatever reason, there seem to be more supporters of the glow stick look in the LED crowd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trockafella December 1, 2011 Share December 1, 2011 I would say Darren (Lowsingle) tank has the glowstick look, but if you look at his tank its absolutely amazing, and as he mentioned above there deeper water corals he keeps.. I dont think any other lighting would really do his corals justice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zygote2k December 1, 2011 Share December 1, 2011 I used to be a big hater of the blacklight look, but I realized that the corals have fluorescent pigmentation, so why not irradiate it and see the pretty colors that result? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa Julia Photography December 2, 2011 Author Share December 2, 2011 I am looking for a happy medium...as a child of the 70's i don't mind a bit of day-glo lol...when my new fixture and bulbs arrive, i will hopefully like the results..something in between day'glo and too yellow/white. I have a Nikon D700 (b/c i am a portrait photographer) so i am hoping that once i have the tank the way i want that i can post pics here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trockafella December 2, 2011 Share December 2, 2011 So what kind of light system did you buy.? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa Julia Photography December 6, 2011 Author Share December 6, 2011 The fixture came a few days ago with the 'stock' lights, and the new bulbs came today...even with the 'stock' lights i am happy...the bulbs i will put in tomorrow are: 2 ATI Blue Plus, 1 ATI Purple Plus and a KZ New Generation. I got the 48" Coralife. It was easy to put together but the one difference between it and the JBJ is that i can't 'lift' it so it sits back on the legs, if that makes sense. Other than that it seems to be in good working order. Excited to get the new bulbs in it tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trockafella December 6, 2011 Share December 6, 2011 Nice bulb choices, I think you will be very pleased.!! Post some pics.! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa Julia Photography December 6, 2011 Author Share December 6, 2011 i think they look tooooooo blue so far....i might pop out 1 of the blues and add back the 10k stock bulb...hmmm...it actually hurts my eyes to look at the tank lol! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m3fan8ic December 6, 2011 Share December 6, 2011 I have a Nikon D700 (b/c i am a portrait photographer) so i am hoping that once i have the tank the way i want that i can post pics here. I love D700, especially when paired with 85 1.4g for portraits;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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