Is 20k enough actinic

Adam said:

Some food for thought:
1) All those lights that make your corals glow and look pretty... are lights that aren't helping your corals grow.

True...corals have nice colors because they are blocking out light they don't like.

2) A good portion of corals reefs aren't pretty, their junkyards.  (not all coral reefs are pretty)

Adam, all reefs are pretty.  Even the brown corals growing on the rusted sewer outlets.

3) Red light may be more important, or less important.  I don't know, I'm just saying it is far more limiting. 

No comment.

4) I have a very difficult time believing we will over light our corals and bleach them.  Isn't it amazing to walk up to a reef at low tide and see miles and miles of acropora and montipora sticking out in the air?

IMO corals don't bleach because of too much light, but bleach because of too much light too quick, or too much light of the wrong spectrum.

5) Corals may not be making pigments to look good, but rather to absorb light as a protection (like sunscreen).

True, as I mentioned above.

6) When it comes right down to it.... none of us know what we are talking about.

True also.  This is all just speculation.

I've spent too much time talking to Jake about coral lighting and pigments.  I think I can safely say "I agree with Jake" on all of his comments (except for #3 above, what is up with the no comment?). 

I've even spoken with Jake about his crazy idea to grow flourescent green zooxanthellae and inject them to make green xenia. Or grow blue and inject them in claudiella to make a nice super blue colt coral. 
(scary part is that Jake may know what he is talking about, and this may be the future of coral farming)

Adam