Effect of wattage on coral colour...
 

Could one expect decreased colour intensity and less attractive hues under 175w halides versus 400w halides?

I would say for sure! I went from 150w to 250w for just that reason to increase the colors and the intensity of the colors. Big difference so 175w -400w would be more so.

Dave

Re: Effect of wattage on coral colour...
 

yup. growth will likely remain the same though..

Steve

Re: Effect of wattage on coral colour...
 

what is this based on?

Gets out some popcorn to watch this one...

Doug

Still out of work, eh Doug?

All I'm asking is how Steve thinks a light with a lot more intensity won't affect growth rate. My experience going form 175 to 400 says he is mistaken.

<has a job thankya, I know I'm kinda curious about that too. Then again I've heard arguements that the difference between 175 and 250 watts will effect appearance more than colour( edited, I mean growth). I'm just not aware of any thing to substantiate that side of the conversation.

Not sure what you mean by appearance vs. colour....

DOH I mean appearance more than growth. IE under weaker lights the colour seems to drop off.

Doug

Doug, that isn't always the case. I have an acro that colors up better for me when it is on the sand as opposed to up high. Different light will change the appearance, but not always for the better.
As for growth, I'm sure the increase isn't linear, but more light does equal more growth. I know this from experience. I've also taken stuff from my tank and put it under 400w Iwasakis, and the growth increased even more over what I had under my 10k bulbs.
So all else being equal, more light will give more growth in most cases. Or maybe I just got the super duper 400w bulbs! :razz: