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Originally Posted by dread240 View Post
Meh it's all opinion, every bit of it.
In that line of reasoning:
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In fact, we should ask ourselves a broader question. Is our quest for more color misguided? May we reach a point where our quest for more color compromises the long-term health of these corals? There are additives available to kill and reduce zooxanthallae in corals to unmask more color pigmentation. ULNS (ultra low nutrient systems) are the latest hot thing because browned out corals are undesirable. Browned out? A coral with a wealth of brown is a coral with a lot of symbiotic zooxanthellae. When corals undergo stress, they brown out. That means they are loading up on the symbionts that feed them and give them the nutrients to recover and grow.
If anything should be an indicator of health, it should be growth. Anyone veteran hobbyist will tell you corals calcify faster under lower kelvin bulbs. An Iwasaki 6,500K metal halide grows corals faster than a Radium bulb of equivalent wattage. And let's compare coral colors to growth. Some of the notable slow growing acropora are the blue hoeksemai, torts and purple monster. There seems to be a discrepancy between growth and color. A purple monster grows pretty fast under an Iwasaki, but its not going to be a deep purple.
Perhaps we lose growth, hardiness and stress tolerance when pushing towards excessive pigment expression and photo-inhibition. Again, this may not be wrong. The hobby places immense value on coral color. So it may just be a double edged sword. You should illuminate your tank the way you want. But don't make the mistake of believing your goals and desires should be the "œstandard" that others should be compared against. It's a lot more fun and engaging to discuss a diversity of metrics for success in reef aquariums.
June 26 2013, Mark van der Wal
Oldie but goodie..
