The Blue Lagoon...

[Slamajamajama]

OK, before i begin...
No vendor bashing please..you can refer to vendors as the "retail " business...also I don't want to offend or put our friends on the defensive so lets talk in generalities...
Have we sold out?
Are we selling out to LED special lighting, with its array of colors? Are we selling out to what we can enhance with light or with over-saturated photos?
We originally started this hobby was the idea of having a reef in its natural state in our homes. It was so we could enjoy and learn how to keep such a delicate ecosystem, which not more than 10 years ago only a small number of people could.
I'm finding more and more over the last 3 years the enhancement of corals under heavy actinic blue lighting whether it be through photography or retail displays. The practice of enhanced photography under heavy actinic lighting to bolster the colors of corals was taboo. I remember when we came across those sites we would avoid them for miss representing the color of corals. The "retail industry" I feel has started this trend, that has been now adopted by most of the reefing community. The reefer has now succumbed to heavy saturated blue lighting over their display tanks when you hardly go visit a tank now a days where the reefs in a natural state. The heavy actinics look awesome, don't get me wrong, as i look i wonder and question myself.
Is it really a naive ideal to want to buy corals that look great in a natural setting, where they don't have to look like every color is radioactively charged? Do we really need to see our animals in such a glorified way instead of in their natural glory? Or is it that this is the evolution of our hobby and we have to keep up with trends....
Have we sold out?

 

[NYreefNoob]

< sold out now bring me that watermelon so i can see how it will look under led's, personally ive always tried to stay around a 14k appearance whether t5 or mh and my led coming is around a 14k color, not too blue nor too white

 

[prattreef]

The extent of the skew to the blue is mindboggling to me. I find it very difficult to buy corals either in stores, on-line or at the swaps because they are so often displayed in a way so unlike anything that I would ever consider running in my reef. The blues give me the blues.

 

[jaa1456]

I second that on the blues, They just aren't right. I have never seen that in nature. It's just like a blacklight that makes white objects glow.

 

[House of Laughter]

am I allowed to separate myself as a hobbyist and reply?

House

 

[Wes]

old schooler here...

blue means the halides have turned off and it's time to get ready for bed.

 

[Slamajamajama]

am I allowed to separate myself as a hobbyist and reply?

House

Of course...you should never have to ask that

 

[tosiek]

You guys gotto get with the times. Slama your starting to sound like the old guy down the block that sits on the stoop all day complaining about how the cars drive too fast. :theyareon

 

[Slamajamajama]

You guys gotto get with the times. Slama your starting to sound like the old guy down the block that sits on the stoop all day complaining about how the cars drive too fast. :theyareon

lmao...god your right...shuuddup and answer the question...lol

 

[beerfish]

While I like a fairly white looking tank, I think it depends on what you're trying to replicate. Light penetration in the ocean varies greatly by depth, and a full light spectrum is really only seen at depths above 50'. While most reefs are found in shallow depths, I think a deeper blue is very acceptable for deeper looking tanks.

Here's a light penetration reference:

 

[JimmyR1rider]

< sold out now bring me that watermelon so i can see how it will look under led's, personally ive always tried to stay around a 14k appearance whether t5 or mh and my led coming is around a 14k color, not too blue nor too white

Im with Rick, Mike and Randy on this one. I just dont know how to do more than 1 quote in a reply lol. I love the way my animals look under my 14K halides and I have only 2 actinics- 1 true blue and 1 violet Geissman powerchrome- was going to see which ones gave better growth- not pop. I love the way the LED's make corals pop- who doesnt but I cant replicate it at this point because of price as well as I like the natural look with my corals- I usually buy ones that I see under halide lighting or whiter led lighting. Theyre beautiful creatures in their natural state and I dont need crazy flouresence to have me like them. Although I would love to have a nice LED setup dont get me wrong lol

 

[Wes]

Blue LED's and a Macro lense make your chalice worth $200 an eye :theyareon

 

[JimmyR1rider]

blue led's and a macro lense make your chalice worth $200 an eye :theyareon

lmfao!!!

 

[tosiek]

First off, thank the overpopulated coral retail economy and the plethora of make a quick buck in home coral farmers. But that has more to do on many different levels than too many blues in the tanks and how wrong that is and why people like or dislike them.

Tanks back in the day looked pretty drab and bland in the pictures i've seen. Usually filled with overgrown leathers and anemones and plenty of damsels. Alot of the pictures i see from natural reefs are pretty bland as well. But its not about the colors as much as it is the growth vastness and diversity found there. Theres alot of other factors that come into play when looking at that.

There is no comparison to the visual effect that a slightly supplimented tank has over a "natural" light tank. The colors pop just enough and highlight what you want instead of the coral blenidng into the rockwork and sand. All reef tanks are are displays of our creativity and dedication to a big wet box and people want to make it look nice as well as efficient and diversified. 90% of the people that look in my tank don't really know what a coral is or even notice it unless its a different color than my rockwork and waves around a little bit. Properly highlighting things with lights help me point out the things i want to point out.

You forgot completely about the middle road. And yes people will take lighting to the extremes because they think it looks great. But in the long run, as with alot of different hobbies and industries, trends rise and fall and eventually balance out to the norm. People take things to the max, then get rid of it almost completely then find that happy balance between what it started from and that extreme and in the end progress to something better than what was started with.

There are more people than you think running 12-14k light spectrum which is that happy balance between a more natural light and the extreme blues that people sell coral under.

And since keeping a delicate ecosystem is extremely easy compared to 15-20 years ago, people are now concentrating their energy on other things. Im more worried about what the next new trend will be in the hobby and how its going to change things as much as the designer coral craze and lighting did.

 

[SevTT]

I like a white tank, around 10K, with actinic supplementation. A very natural look, yet still making the more fluorescent corals 'pop'. At the same time, I -do- love the aquatic neon rave look -- in short doses. It's nice during the dawn and dusk periods for my tank.

I'm rather disappointed in a couple of purchases I made at the swap, though I blame myself for not doing more research or for asking to see the corals under 10K. I really don't get the appeal of Tubb's Blues.

...Now, my nuclear greens, those were worth every penny. %)

In short: keep your tank how you like it, so long as it supports the life of the organisms in it. But if you're selling corals which look radically different and -only- show significant portions of their color under heavy-duty actinic or blue LEDs, for god's sake, make sure to point that out. Not everyone runs 20K radiums w/ actinics or massive LED banks.

 

[adamt]

isnt light in the 420 nm range good for corals? I was under the impression it was usable light, if the only reason for it is to make corals flouresce Im gonna swap out the bulbs right now for 12,000k's

 

[SevTT]

isnt light in the 420 nm range good for corals? I was under the impression it was usable light, if the only reason for it is to make corals flouresce Im gonna swap out the bulbs right now for 12,000k's

AFAIK T5 actinics actually have equivalent or slightly higher PAR than the usual 6.5K and 10K bulbs. So, yeah, it's not a wasted fixture.

 

[Slamajamajama]

Blue LED's and a Macro lense make your chalice worth $200 an eye :theyareon

if this dont sum up this thread...

 

[Awibrandy]

The extent of the skew to the blue is mindboggling to me. I find it very difficult to buy corals either in stores, on-line or at the swaps because they are so often displayed in a way so unlike anything that I would ever consider running in my reef. The blues give me the blues.

I'm with you Randy! This is why I asked to see the corals under white lights when I saw something I was interested in. Except for 1 coral that I was looking for. I got it home, and now under my 20K it is not as red.;(

I did run my reef under 10K for a year or 2, and I was fine. That is until a friend recommended a certain bulb that happens to be a 20K. My animals never looked better. I saw colors that I had never seen before in my tank.
The 20K bulbs I run now are not crazy blue either. I do not like dark tanks, so these are just right for me, not to blue nor to white.rangehat

 

[pnoyreefer]

Where are all the LED peeps?..

LED -doesn't do it for me yet ..maybe later on in time:lol: