Tip of the Day – 12/22/2014

Who doesn’t love actinic lighting? It looks great over a reef aquarium, causing the colors to pop with such vibrancy that you might just need a pair of sunglasses to keep your retinas from melting right out of your head. Ok, we went a little overboard there, but the fact remains that the heavy blue lighting can do wonders for coral colors. That said, using this type of lighting isn’t without its drawbacks. Depending on numerous factors, the blue lighting may not provide enough intensity to penetrate the depths of your aquarium. This causes slow coral growth, and some corals may even die due to a lack of light needed for photosynthesis. That’s where the whiter lights come in. White and yellow lights lack color, but make up for that with intensity and depth penetration. Because of these drawbacks, and subsequent pros, it is best to balance your lights to provide the best of both worlds. This might mean you run white lights during a majority of the day and just let your actinic lights run a little longer.