White Sand and Coralline

[MUCHO REEF]

White sand and various shades of pinkish purplish coralline algae really serves as a great back drop, back ground, contrast or canvas, for the lack of a better word, to highlight/showcase a wide variety of colorful zoanthids and playthoas. Is it important to you to have them/this in your tank or not? If so, why, and how do you achieve this? If not, why?

 

[MUCHO REEF]

Anyone?

 

[LoudProudNPunk]

i found that taking pics of blue/purple shades of zoanthids isnt as effective if they are next to alot of coraline growth. It takes away from the contrast. But if its a green or yellow polyp the contrast makes them look cooler.

I dont move my polyps when i take pictures though.

Do you?

 

[MUCHO REEF]

I don't either, but then again, I don't have a decent camera.

 

[kiran523]

I have a corner bowfront. I have never scrapped the back panel in order to let it encrust. Most of it is covered in coralline and I like the look. I am using white sand but I have a few tanks with Tahitian black sand. I liked the look. Here is a pic with different colors, coralline, and eggcrate as a white contrast. I guess it really depends on the camera and macro lens. This is a regular top-down with a compact digi-cam. The exposure, brightness, and saturation was adjusted to make it as accurate as possible.

 

[MUCHO REEF]

I really love the coralline algae in as many shades as possible. For me, it adds a since of realness, ( if there's such a word ) to the overall theme that I try to create. I often enjoy seeing totally encrusted reef more so than the corals themselves sometimes. Thanks for sharing my friend.

 

[MUCHO REEF]

no one else?

 

[Questin]

I like the white sand, but when I see black, it really makes me want to change over to it. There is something about the black sand that brings out the color of zoanthids better to me. Coralline algae with black sand really is awesome looking, the white substrate takes away from the pink coralline algae in my eyes.

I have trouble with coralline algae for some reason thou, I never get it to grow.