Do 20K's Brown Out SPS Corals?

FSOL · 03/22/2006, 03:17 PM

I told the LFS that I want to switch from 14K to 20K bulbs and he told me not to. He said the 20K's have a tendency of browning out SPS corals.

Is this true?

manderx · 03/22/2006, 03:42 PM

no, quite the opposite in my experience.

Zoalander · 03/22/2006, 03:47 PM

20K's give out great color but have real low par, so not enough light will brown out sps. I had a nice piece of Superman danae and I put it under my 150 watt DE MH with a 20K bulb. After a month it turned brown. It is currantly in my other tank that has 150 watt de MH with 10K bulbs and PC actinics and it is coloring up to it's former glory.

nazzy_19 · 03/22/2006, 04:06 PM

Agree with Vetter. Lower wattage MH will brown out sps. I have both good growth and color under 14k 250 DE.

FSOL · 03/22/2006, 04:33 PM

I always thought too much light is what makes them go brown.
Anyways, I've seen some people's tanks w/ 20K's on them and everything looks beautiful w/ no browning. How do they manage?

How about getting a real good quality 20K bulbs that have as much par as a average 14K bulb?

Zoalander · 03/22/2006, 04:52 PM

20K bulb will never have as much par as a 14K. A friend of mine keeps sps real nice under 20K lighting, he has 2x400 watt DE MH's over a 75 gallon and everything looks great. It also depends how many watts your running. In my tank with the 20K lighting I only keep zoos and other corals that don't demand high light and I love 20K spectrum. I don't know what kind of 14k's your running but the only differance between 14K and 20K is the purple spectrum. I had a 14K phoenix for 1 month and switched back to 20K because the 14K was so blue.

Zoalander · 03/22/2006, 04:53 PM

oh and I thought too much light bleaches them out and not enough light turns them brown, I'm not certain.

FSOL · 03/22/2006, 04:57 PM

I"m running 3x250W DE Ushio's plus 2x165W VHO actinics on the current setup. I love the color when only the actinics are on, that's what made me consider going to 20K's.

I wish I had more actinic lighting w/ the 14K's to get the water a bit more bluish.

The 14K's are only a month old. Do you guys think they'll get more bluish ?

03/22/2006, 03:17 PM	#1
FSOL Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 926	Do 20K's Brown Out SPS Corals? I told the LFS that I want to switch from 14K to 20K bulbs and he told me not to. He said the 20K's have a tendency of browning out SPS corals. Is this true?

03/22/2006, 03:47 PM	#3
Zoalander Registered Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Oak Park Illinois Posts: 1,571	20K's give out great color but have real low par, so not enough light will brown out sps. I had a nice piece of Superman danae and I put it under my 150 watt DE MH with a 20K bulb. After a month it turned brown. It is currantly in my other tank that has 150 watt de MH with 10K bulbs and PC actinics and it is coloring up to it's former glory. __________________ Previously known as Vetter1980 Current Tank Info: 36x36x10 frag tank

03/22/2006, 04:52 PM	#6
Zoalander Registered Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Oak Park Illinois Posts: 1,571	20K bulb will never have as much par as a 14K. A friend of mine keeps sps real nice under 20K lighting, he has 2x400 watt DE MH's over a 75 gallon and everything looks great. It also depends how many watts your running. In my tank with the 20K lighting I only keep zoos and other corals that don't demand high light and I love 20K spectrum. I don't know what kind of 14k's your running but the only differance between 14K and 20K is the purple spectrum. I had a 14K phoenix for 1 month and switched back to 20K because the 14K was so blue. __________________ Previously known as Vetter1980 Current Tank Info: 36x36x10 frag tank

03/22/2006, 04:53 PM	#7
Zoalander Registered Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Oak Park Illinois Posts: 1,571	oh and I thought too much light bleaches them out and not enough light turns them brown, I'm not certain. __________________ Previously known as Vetter1980 Current Tank Info: 36x36x10 frag tank

03/22/2006, 03:42 PM	#2
manderx Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Christiansburg, VA Posts: 4,893	no, quite the opposite in my experience.

03/22/2006, 04:06 PM	#4
nazzy_19 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Vancouver, Canada Posts: 353	Agree with Vetter. Lower wattage MH will brown out sps. I have both good growth and color under 14k 250 DE.

03/22/2006, 04:33 PM	#5
FSOL Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 926	I always thought too much light is what makes them go brown. Anyways, I've seen some people's tanks w/ 20K's on them and everything looks beautiful w/ no browning. How do they manage? How about getting a real good quality 20K bulbs that have as much par as a average 14K bulb?

03/22/2006, 04:57 PM	#8
FSOL Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 926	I"m running 3x250W DE Ushio's plus 2x165W VHO actinics on the current setup. I love the color when only the actinics are on, that's what made me consider going to 20K's. I wish I had more actinic lighting w/ the 14K's to get the water a bit more bluish. The 14K's are only a month old. Do you guys think they'll get more bluish ?