MH lighting, washing out my corals color

BL1

BL1

.............
For the past 2-3 weeks I've been doing a semi-blackout to deal with some crazy green algae I had growing out of control. Instead of running a full blackout and risking losing my corals I've been running just my actinics ... Well on Friday, I started turning on my MHs for an hour again to get the corals acclimated again. Since they've come back on I'm noticing how much they wash out the colors, almost everything has a brownish tint to them (except the fish, they look so colorful now). Is the only thing that will fix my problem to change out my bulbs for a bluer one? According to the manufacturer the bulbs that came with the fixture are 14000k.
Anyone have any ideas?
 
No, the colors look great and vibrant with the actinics running (about 10 hours per day) it's only when the MHs come on that they all look very bland and poor coloring to them.
 
What brand MH bulb are you using? I would say its def the MH that causing the brownish look. The MH is washing out the actinic color. You could try a bulb with a higher kelvin rating like a 15k or even a 20k. A 20k is very blue and almost has a slight purple tint to it. My brother runs a 15k Phoenix and it gives him good color.
 
It's supposed to be a 14k bulb, it's just the one that came with the fixture so I can't say what brand or if it is really even a 14k ... I don't know if I should try a different brand 14k or go to a 20k, or even maybe try bluer T5 bulbs. I'm just afraid of making the tank too blue.
 
I was definitely planning on upgrading to a new name brand bulb soon ... I guess at the same time I'm al little worried that maybe the 2 250w MH might be a little too much.
 
The question is did they look washed out before the black out?

And have you been doing water changes during the black out?

If you haven't, all the nutrients from the dying algae gets back into the water. That could be the problem causing the colors to get washed out.

If you have, then I would think something else is the culprit.
 
bjohanson1234 said:
The question is did they look washed out before the black out?

And have you been doing water changes during the black out?

If you haven't, all the nutrients from the dying algae gets back into the water. That could be the problem causing the colors to get washed out.

If you have, then I would think something else is the culprit.
Click to expand...

Yea, they looked like that before as well. I still did my regular water changes, and I still ran my actinics during the "blackout" that's why I said it was really only a semi-blackout. Like I said under just my 4 T5s the colors on all of my corals really stand out, it's only under the MH that everything looks like crap.
 
BL1 said:
I was definitely planning on upgrading to a new name brand bulb soon ... I guess at the same time I'm al little worried that maybe the 2 250w MH might be a little too much.
Click to expand...

You'll be ok with the (2) 250W's and the T5's. I don't think its possible to have too much light. The corals that don't like very intense light will need to be moved lower in the tank.
 
BL1 said:
Yea, they looked like that before as well. I still did my regular water changes, and I still ran my actinics during the "blackout" that's why I said it was really only a semi-blackout. Like I said under just my 4 T5s the colors on all of my corals really stand out, it's only under the MH that everything looks like crap.
Click to expand...

Just misunderstood then :Cheers:
 

Similar threads

N
Lighting my tanks. MH for 90g LEDs for 30
Replies
0
Views
1K
NathanMI
N
Sidekick41
Lighting/Bulb Question
Replies
5
Views
1K
fastrd400
fastrd400
T
Lighting Help
Replies
6
Views
1K
rlsdsurfer
R
phastroh
CHeap LEDs?
Replies
6
Views
1K
ZyberGoby
ZyberGoby
A
My experience with Elegance Coral
Replies
3
Views
2K
Smitty
Smitty
Back
Top