SPS gurus chime in...

[endlessblue]

My question is based on a statement I heard and I'm trying to understand it. In the wild are most SPS brown and not full of color? I want to know what happens them in our tanks to bring out the color. It's is our light alone? Thanks guys

 

[Tater11]

watch this vid they are not brown in the wild.
http://youtu.be/I69isSS1TvI

 

[dvanacker]

no...a lot of them can retain colours in the wild we can only dream about. And even some can only seem to thrive in the wild and ultimately never do well in a captive aquarium.

Clearly a nice area in a natural reef TRUMPS an aquarium. We can only wish to provide them such a good environment.

 

[endlessblue]

watch this vid they are not brown in the wild.
http://youtu.be/I69isSS1TvI

So my question is why to they colour up in our tanks?

 

[dvanacker]

They don't. They are generally more healthy and colorful in the wild .

If you think they are more colorful in our aquariums it's only because of the actinic lighting we use. When you see them in the wild they are under natural sun light.

 

[Reef Bass]

I have scuba'd reefs in the Caribbean and Hawaii. +1 for healthy natural reefs being more colorful than tanks.

The main reason corals "color up" is because they browned out during collection and shipping. Should they be fortunate enough to finally land in a suitable environment, they return to their original glory.

 

[endlessblue]

I have scuba'd reefs in the Caribbean and Hawaii. +1 for healthy natural reefs being more colorful than tanks.

The main reason corals "color up" is because they browned out during collection and shipping. Should they be fortunate enough to finally land in a suitable environment, they return to their original glory.

Thanks that answers my question. The "color up" was what I didn't understand. Simple answer, I thought it was more complicated, thanks

 

[NVfishman]

I have gone diving all over the world. The wild corals I have seen are never as bright as in a well established tank. This is mainly due to the lights we use. Penetration of bluer lights, and leds changes the apearence of the corals. Granted I have seen some bright stuff but they are not everywhere on the reef. Our lights bring out more intense color.

 

[acroholicreefer]

They defiantly don't color up but many acros will change colors over the years of being grown in captivity. You really need to propagate the acro a few times to get a true idea of the color of the tissue in captivity vs being in the wild.