sps under royal blue only

[ailachami]

will sps grow with just royal blue LEDs? I've seen a lot of tanks with blue on and white at a minimum or not on at all. I like how everything pops under the blue.

 

[Djmm1177]

A local shop just disclosed that their sps tank is solely ran off blues only, and they look good.

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[jda123]

The light provides 2 functions. First, it has to give energy to the coral to grow. Second, the light is reflected from the coral into what our eyes perceive as color - the fuller the spectrum, the more color. Depending on the wavelength, you might be able to satisfy the first function with just blue LEDs. Once you leave the other spectrum out, the pigments in the corals might shift. As such, the colors that they reflect might shift too. After a while, the coral might not show the same color that it does now under just blues if the colors/proteins in the tissue change with the lack of the other light. This would totally depend on each individual coral.

 

[Vance]

If memory serves chlorophyll B's peak absorption wavelength is right about 460nm, the same output of royal blues. Chlorophyll A peaks at a slightly smaller wavelength, while carotenoids a little longer. There are other peaks as well, but in theory it would make sense that corals could survive without the secondary wavelength's.

I agree with jda123 that color might be a different story though. Usually florescent pigment works like a sunscreen, blocking out the wavelengths that inhibit or impede photosynthesis. The color you see is the color reflected away. So without these additional wavelengths the coral has no need to expend the energy to reflect them away.

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