Every now and again I like to cover a larger topic in the hobby and lighting in particular
is a loaded topic.
Last week I did a short video on just how much of an effect our choice of lighting makes
aesthetically and in the comments people overwhelmingly asked for a deeper dive into the topic of
lighting.
Let’s start with some basics and then work our way to the different types of fixtures.
Grab your favorite beverage because this one might take a while.
Lighting is important because it directly affects how we visually enjoy the hobby and
the vast majority of the corals in our tanks are photosynthetic.
Coral as we know it are a symbiotic relationship between the actual coral animal and dinoflagellates
called zooxanthellae.
Zooxanthellae live in the tissue of the coral and are like algae in that they contain chlorophyll
for photosynthesis.
The byproducts of photosynthesis are things like simple sugars that the coral hosts can
then use as an energy source.
The color of zooxanthellae is varying degrees of brown, but there are over 80 known varieties
of zooxanthellae which can give coral a different look.
Corals occasionally expel zooxanthellae to control both the amount of dinoflagellates
and the varieties residing in its tissue.
This is easiest to see in LPS where one might see brown stringy material getting spit out.
This is usually done to adjust for some change in the environment or a stress reaction.
The color of light is important not only for aesthetics but for the photosynthetic process.
Chlorophyll in zooxanthellae does not absorb light uniformly.
There are certain spectrums of light that are absorbed highly and other spectrums that
are rejected.
The type of chlorophyll most commonly found in corals is Chlorophyll A and it has two
major absorption peaks.
One at the 440 nm wavelength which is a violet light and the other at the 675nm wavelength
which is a red light.
Light spectrums neighboring those spectral peaks are also absorbed by Chlorophyll A but
also by different compounds such as Chlorophyll C and carotenoids so it is important for whatever
lighting you choose to have a robust spectrum outside of just the 675nm and 440nm spectral
peaks.
The color of light is measured by a Kelvin rating.
If you recall from high school physics and chemistry Kelvins is basically Celsius but
starts at absolute zero rather than the freezing point of water.
So zero degrees Kelvin is equivalent to -273.15 degrees Celsius.
Anyhow, once you start turning up the temperature, this theoretical black body starts to emit
light.
The best way to visualize this is to imagine a star.
Our sun burns at just under 6,000K and we get that yellow light as a result.
Once you get to about 8,000K to 10,000K in temperature the black body radiates white
light.
Between 15,000K to 25,000K the radiation appears blue.
So just to clarify, the bulbs in your tank that are 10,000K are not burning at that temperature
they are just a similar color as a star that is actually burning that hot.
A common misconception about higher Kelvin light bulbs is that they don’t necessarily
have more blue than lower Kelvin bulbs that appear more yellow.
The blue light in these bulbs is achieved by reducing the red, green, and yellow phosphors.
It’s entirely possible for a 6,500K yellow looking bulb to have a great deal more blue
spectrum available for photosynthesis than a 20,000K bulb.
Still, there are perks to using higher Kelvin bulbs.
Bluer light is aesthetically pleasing but has the side perk of algae control as algae
tends to rely more on the reds, yellows, and greens compared to coral.
Having said that, lower K bulbs grow coral faster.
Possibly the best bulb I have ever seen at growing corals was the 6500K Iwasaki although
it was arguably the least attractive color unless you are looking for a very yellow-looking
shallow water reef.
When I started into reef keeping, the rule was get the brightest lighting possible.
End of story.
The most I have ever had on a tank was two 400W metal halides, and four 110W VHO fluorescents
over a 75 gallon tank.
Needless to say it was bright and warm.
Fast forward about 20-something years and I have some corals in extremely dimly lit
tanks doing just fine.
So in the bright tank example the intensity was probably close to 1200 PAR if not more.
In my low light setup, the PAR was about 50.
In both cases, coral grew just fine.
In fact, with the exception of Acropora the vast majority of the corals we keep here do
quite well in low light.
What seems to be more important than raw intensity is consistency.
I get asked fairly often what light is the best light.
Unfortunately there is no right answer.
First off, there is the difference in aesthetics.
That is a purely subjective decision that only the hobbyist can make for themselves.
In terms of coral biology, what type of lighting that will work the best for your tank will
depend a great deal on what animals you intend to keep.
As I mentioned before, corals will adapt to lighting by regulating their zooxanthellae
so most coral will grow under any of these lighting technologies.
Having said that, it is also entirely possible to have some corals take on a desirable appearance
while other corals become less attractive under the same light.
As far as the type of technology to use, it will depend on what aspects of the technology
are most important to you.
There are also pros and cons to any type of lighting technology whether it is LED, T5,
metal halide, or even natural sunlight.
Depending on your situation, the drawbacks of one technology might not matter to you.
Conversely, the benefits of another technology might not be meaningful to you.
Let’s talk for a bit about each one in turn, starting with the most popular.
LED fixtures are nice because they are offer the most in terms of control.
It is possible to control each LED individually, so the hobbyist can customize the schedule,
colors, and intensity.
Of all the types of lighting I think LEDs do the best job of showcasing corals by bringing
out the most appealing fluorescence.
They are energy efficient and the LED’s themselves are long-lasting.
Lastly, the fixtures tend to run cooler than T5 fluorescents or metal halides which is
a big deal for hobbyists in warmer climates that have to battle to cool their tanks.
It is far more difficult to cool water down than it is to heat it up.
The downside to LED’s is that some corals do not color up as well under LED as they
would under other types of light, in particular SPS and certain LPS such as Acanthastrea and
Micromussa.
I use a lot of LED in my greenhouse currently mainly to conserve energy, but I prefer both
T5 and metal halide when it comes to growth developing color.
Some aquarists have issues with the spotlight nature of LED’s where dark shadow areas
on the underside of corals cause the colony to die off.
Also, while the LED’s last a long time, the longevity of the fixture can be substantially
shorter than the rated life of the LED because other electronic components fail.
The last downside to LED is not going to affect too many people, but for those interested
in photography, LED is the worst light ever invented.
For better or worse, LED are quickly becoming the most popular form of lighting in the hobby
if it isn’t already.
Compared to the other types it is the newest technology and could see some major improvements
down the line that eliminate many of the drawbacks I listed.
T5 Fluorescent bulbs are thin glass tubes that produce a very robust light spectrum
that colors up corals nicely.
Almost every insanely colored SPS aquarium that simply blew me away implemented this
type of lighting.
There are a lot of bulb choices available which can give your tank pretty much any type
of aesthetic.
I say pretty much because the neon disco look that an all blue LED light gives is pretty
unique.
While they are not controllable to the extent LEDs are, there are some fixtures out there
that can dim T5 bulbs to give that dawn/dusk lighting effect (though I don't know if that
reduces the life of the bulbs).
Lastly, because the light emitted by a T5 bulb is spread out evenly over the length
of the bulb, there is almost no trace of shadowing effects that plague point source lighting.
No lighting system is perfect however, and T5 fixtures have their drawbacks.
First off, the bulb life is frustratingly short.
They begin to erode both in terms of spectrum and intensity right around 6 months and by
12 months, they are a drastically different bulb.
Here at the greenhouse I run them a lot longer than that just because they are supplementing
the sunlight we receive, but when I do finally get around to swapping out the bulbs, the
difference is staggering.
The second downside is the energy efficiency while not horrible on a per-bulb basis is
not as good as the LED lights.
Depending on the number of bulbs in the fixture, it can get expensive to operate.
For example, if you have an 8-bulb fixture, the electrical consumption along with the
cost of bulb replacements, might make for the most expensive lighting upkeep out of
all the technologies.
Lastly, the bulbs themselves are fragile and can easily break during shipping, especially
when you consider the longer bulb lengths of 48” and 60”.
Finally we get to metal halide which I would venture to guess is the least popular form
of lighting at the hobbyist level and likely the most popular lighting at the commercial
level.
The positive aspects of metal halide are its intensity, spectrum, and longevity.
When it comes to growing light loving corals, I don’t think any other technology does
it as well.
Metal halide bulbs are a point light source like LED’s but are even more concentrated.
When shining down into the tank they create a very pleasing shimmering effect which is
almost absent under the diffuse light of a T5 fluorescent bulb.
Those shimmer lines closely replicate what is seen in nature and there was a study done
several years back that indicated corals actually benefitted from them.
The major problem with metal halide is energy consumption and heat.
Metal halide bulbs consume a ton of electricity and it will be noticeable on your monthly
electric bill if you just installed a new halide fixture.
The heat generated by metal halides is also something that had to be dealt with.
In large aquariums situated in a large room, some well-placed cooling fans might do the
trick.
On smaller aquariums or in tight quarters where heat builds up, one might need to install
a chiller or crank up the air conditioning to compensate.
Either way, heat management will further increase the electricity bill.
In terms of controllability, it is practically absent from these bulbs.
They can turn on and off.
In some ways, they don’t even do that well all the time because some require a cooling
off period before being able to turn back on.
There are dimmable metal halides, but from everything I’ve read it’s not great for
the bulbs and some bulbs will shift colors as a result.
Now that we have gone over the types of lighting hopefully you can see that all of them have
their pros and cons.
What will make for the best light in your tank will depend in large part on the factors
that are important to you.
I can say up front that most corals can be kept under just about any kind of light fixture.
The list of corals that demand extremely intense light is surprisingly short but who am I kidding,
we aquarists are trying to squeeze out that last 1% of color from our corals.
Picking what light to go with can be daunting but the obvious solution to deciding on a
fixture is to not really decide on anything.
You could get a light that incorporates more than one tech.
Hybrid lighting systems exist that combine either LED and T5 or metal halide and T5 or
metal halide and LED.
There might even be some systems out there that is a combination of all three, I don’t
know.
So if you really need the best of all worlds, I’m sure there is a fixture out there for
you.
That fixture might shockingly expensive so I can give you a cost saving tip.
Let’s say you have some LED fixture you are happy with but want to supplement it with
T5, but you don’t like the look of the T5 bulbs.
What you could do is purchase an inexpensive T5 fixture with all white bulbs and only run
it for about 4-6 hours while you are away from the tank.
That way, the corals still benefit from the light and color up nicely but it doesn’t
interfere with the aesthetic of the LEDs when you return home.
Tidal Gardens uses a mix of natural light from a greenhouse structure and supplemental
light from mainly T5 and LED fixtures.
The idea when the greenhouse was constructed back in 2002 was that the sun is the perfect
light on the perfect timer and corals grown under this light would be the healthiest specimens
for lowest electrical cost.
This premise still might be true, but not necessarily in Ohio here where the greenhouse
is located.
The difference in lighting from season to season has a drastic affect on the corals
and some species don’t like it at all.
One might guess that it is the cold dark Ohio winters that are the problem, but it is actually
the summers.
The winter months it turns out are some of the best for growing just about every coral.
If I had to guess it has to do with both the change in light intensity as well as the photo
period.
In the summer it feels like the sun is in the sky twice as long and that is not a good
thing.
The shorter photoperiod of the winter months has proven to be a much better situation for
the corals here.
Setups that are designed to use natural light would be the most successful in areas that
have the most consistent climates, but preferably not in crazy hot climates because it is far
more difficult to chill water than it is to heat it up.
So that does it for lighting.
Clear as mud, right?
Hopefully it helps you decide on what type of lighting you want over your reef.
If you like this kind of content give this video a like.
It helps me figure out the sorts of things my viewers are interested in.
Thanks for watching!