[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by Bob_I

The author reinforces what I have said for a long time , it is total irradiance (Lux), not color that is important.
I just hope that those who believe differently will read this article carefully.

Bob, we have all agreed that it doesent change the color of your corals.. it simplay tanks the look of the tank from but ugly to nice.
the other situation is where people have been using 6500 PC bulbs and they switch to a radium MH. They think it is the color of the bulb that changes the coral over time so that it is colored even with the lights off, but it is realy the increase in PAR that the MH has over the PC that stimulates the coral to creat color pigments. of course there are other factors that help in this also (feeding, Alk, Ca, ect)


He didn't use the measurment LUX and I don't belive it is a good one to be trying to inject into that statment either. This is because were not talking about lumens/area. I think if you look into that a bit more the value of PAR is what is important, as if you use LUX for a measurment you can measure light that has no effect on photosynthis. PAR is a direct measurment of light that is usable for photosynthis.

so the important factor to the coral is the level of PAR not color, to the human it has to look good to. Some people like the 20K look, some the 10K look, some even the 6500K look so the actual color temp is all personal preference, which by the way what I have always said is "as long as you are supplying enuf PAR for the corals needs then the color is a personal choice."

Steve