colors of coral in nature vs our aquariums

[michaelr]

your right they do grow faster in lower kelvin light

 

[billsreef]

the water filters the light. deeper water means more bluish light. Shallower water is more towards yellow.

Deeper water does not mean more blue light, but simply less of other colors of light. Many of the corals we keep are from shallow enough water to still receive and utilize the red, hence the observation that daylight bulbs in the 5500 - 6500K range often support faster growth.

 

[snorvich]

Deeper water does not mean more blue light, but simply less of other colors of light. Many of the corals we keep are from shallow enough water to still receive and utilize the red, hence the observation that daylight bulbs in the 5500 - 6500K range often support faster growth.

Red Shallow
Orange \/
Yellow
Green \/
Blue
Violet Deep

 

[KafudaFish]

Ever seen silver light underwater before? It looks like silver paint everywhere.

It is that depth where if you are looking down you see black and if you look up you see that deep blue.

I know it sounds strange but.

 

[michaelr]

Ever seen silver light underwater before? It looks like silver paint everywhere.

It is that depth where if you are looking down you see black and if you look up you see that deep blue.

I know it sounds strange but.

no ive never been that deep. that sounds stunning

 

[michaelr]

Deeper water does not mean more blue light, but simply less of other colors of light. Many of the corals we keep are from shallow enough water to still receive and utilize the red, hence the observation that daylight bulbs in the 5500 - 6500K range often support faster growth.

exactly right.

 

[PokerReefer]

A par meter we use in the hobby is Electronically Calibrated. Using it to determine The suns par is going to be useless. There is a sun Calibrated model though if you would like to try both.

 

[billsreef]

Ever seen silver light underwater before? It looks like silver paint everywhere.

It is that depth where if you are looking down you see black and if you look up you see that deep blue.

I know it sounds strange but.

Doesn't sound strange at all. But then I see that on a fairly regular basis

Down around 60 feet and deeper, red is pretty much gone, and red things look black. Makes bringing a flashlight on daytime dives worthwhile to bring out the colors.

 

[Agu]

One should understand that we buy the most colorful corals available in nature.

There are all sorts of brown corals around, and I have some in my tank alongside the colorful ones, but we greatly enrich our collection and buying for the most colorful ones.

Like keeping pet birds. Birds at a pet store are way more colorful than your average bird, but that's not because of conditions in the store. It is because that is what people collect for sale.

I think Randy nailed it regarding the current availability of increasingly colorful corals.

However I think it evolved over several years. Years ago I had a 180 with 6500K 400 watt Iwasaki bulbs. I was known as the guy with giant brown SPS corals. As I gave away frags my friends with higher color temp lighting were getting pinks,blues and purple colors I never saw from my corals. I also suspect that's a result of manipulation of tank chemistry in some instances but that's for the chemistry specialists to address.

As the hobby evolved and people saw the colors that could be generated with specialty lighting demand grew for more colorful corals. The collectors and distributors are just filling that demand (at increasingly higher prices and higher profit margins.)

 

[michaelr]

at increasingly higher prices

haha you can say that again. That is a good way of putting it. you kinda wrapped up all the good points made in this thread into one. Because although selection has a great deal to do with the colors youd have to imagine due to the fact lighting is their source of food it has some effect on them