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View Full Version : Light Spectrum and Placement of same species items??


chuckdallas
12/27/2010, 07:20 PM
I know from scuba diving that in the ROYGBIV light spectrum, that the blue & violet parts of the light spectrum will penetrate the water column farther than the red & orange parts of the light spectrum.

Question: My friend told me that (in general) that either the red, orange, yellow corals sit at the upper most of the water column or the BIV ones. I would think that since the blue, indigo & violet parts penetrate farther, that if you want to make a generalization, then red cousins would sit higher than blue cousins of the same species.

I have a nice Ricordea Florida with purple in the center, orange circle around that and a small green ring around the outside. It sits about 9 inches below the surface and there are 2 inches of air between the new HO T5 bulbs and the surface of the water. It's doing VERY well so far. The T5s are producing 1200-1300 PAR (2 whites/2 blues) right below the fixture and 1100 at 6 inches.

I just bought a new Ricordea Yuma with a white center, pink around that and yellow on the outer rim. It's a Ricordea so I thought it needed moderate to heavy light, but it seems washed out at 9 inches below the water surface. I gave it 2 days at the bottom before moving it up. Should a lighter color Ricordea sit lower in the water column or higher? Does placement in the water column different for Ricordea Floridas versus Ricordea Yumas??

_reefermadness_
12/27/2010, 07:52 PM
Colour has nothing really to do with it. It all depends on the coral and it's flow and light requirments and they should be placed accordingly. We are not really talking about deep sea here, we are talking about a shalow tank, so that rule would not really apply.