Steve Tyree's chat the other night

[reefburnaby]

Hi,

Actinics tend to be centred around 420nm and they spread between 400nm to 490nm (at least that's what Hagen says). Hence...this lamp spans between the purple and blue fluoescent areas. I bet ya that an old actinic will tend to produce more blue than purple.

The paper mentions that certain corals have certain light collecting pigments. But corals do adapt....and IMHO they will adapt to what is optimal for the given conditions (like lighting). If we are blue deficient...does that mean it is bad ? Well...we don't know. But we do know that if we provide more intesity (i.e. light energy) in the right spectral areas (i.e. light than it can use...not reflected), then the coral will do better in general. The spectral spikes and holes will be adapted by the coral.

MH vs tubes...probably doesn't matter in the big picture. Lighting is not the only thing that is need to keep corals well.

- Victor.