Blue light needed for growth?

[boostat4500]

I am about to upgrade my sump size and want to make part of it a frag tank setup. I was planning on a 250W MH, I'm thinking 10k, but open to suggestions. As it will not be seen, do I need to worry about adding some T5's or anything for the actinic color? Thanks.

[mike_cmu04]

You dont have to but you will probably want to. 10k is going to look kinda yellow also your corals will not have good colors under it. being a frag tank that no one sees the color is ok but your corals will not look good and be harder to sell.

[boostat4500]

Do they actually lose color, or just appear to? I'm only looking to grow them bigger before they go in the display tank, not to sell. I don't really like seeing a bunch of little plugs and sticks in the main tank.

[chucktd321]

eh its more of the color is "hidden" once you put them back under nice actinic supplemention they will regain those awesome colors they once had.

You could always do a 14 k which is a nice balance

[ryunbaik]

get an EcoRay 60 LED lights :P corals look crazy under them, less heat and less power

[Gill_bucket]

[QUOTE=chucktd321;17561046]eh its more of the color is "hidden" once you put them back under nice actinic supplemention they will regain those awesome colors they once had.

Do you mean instantly or will it take time?

[shifty51008]

it will take time but only a couple weeks as long as everything else is stable

[boostat4500]

Thanks for the info. The fixture I picked up came with a 15k, and a 20k bulb. I'll try the 15k for now and see how it goes.
So if you did say a 10k or even a 6500k and a actinic T5 would that maximize growth and still keep some color, even if it did look a little funny?

[A.T.T.R]

seems as if red actualy slows the growth.
Maybe somthing to do with waterdepth in nature?

[mbl]

I use mh on my frag tank for grow out and t5 on my other one for color.