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coral color

Printed From: Utah Reefs
Category: Specialized Discussion
Forum Name: SPS
Forum Description: This is the place to ask questions SPS corals.
URL: http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4712
Printed Date: February 18 2026 at 6:02am
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Topic: coral color
Posted By: bugzme
Subject: coral color
Date Posted: December 19 2004 at 5:56pm
Other than type what makes corals the color they are? type, lighting, water quality and what else?

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Jeff
125 tank
50 gallon sump
T-5 lighting
Rum drinker, Carbon User
I KNOW ROCKS THAT ARE YOUNGER THEN ME!! I AM A Realist! I write what I think!!



Replies:
Posted By: Adam Blundell
Date Posted: December 19 2004 at 6:43pm

Jake and I discuss this all the time.  Enough to drive everyone else crazy at dinner each month.  I could go on for hours on each item, but will probably try to stay out of this topic.
My list- UV, Visible Light Spectrum, Phosphate, Available Zooxanthellae, Nitrate, Current Reproductive Stage, and most importantly the type of eye viewing them.

Adam



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Come to a meeting, they�re fun!


Posted By: ewaldsreef
Date Posted: December 19 2004 at 6:54pm
I belive lighting is the largest factor. That is just from my limited experance

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Contact me for professional aquarium maintenance and localy grown coral frags. [URL=http://www.aquatitranquility.com][/URL]



Posted By: j's55
Date Posted: December 19 2004 at 9:04pm
Don't corals change color with age. I read a book at
barns & noble and it showed pics of corals and how
much they can change with age and lighting.

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Josh Zorn
45G reef
lots of tropical plants
Cell it 910 3924


Posted By: reptoreef
Date Posted: December 19 2004 at 9:21pm
IMO, lighting is the greatest factor.

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www.captivereefing.com


Posted By: Jake Pehrson
Date Posted: December 20 2004 at 10:09am

I mostly agree with Adam.

I think the two biggest factors are light intensity and spectrum.



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Jake Pehrson

Murray

http://coralplanet.com" rel="nofollow - coralplanet.com

http://utahbeeranch.com" rel="nofollow - :)


Posted By: coreyk
Date Posted: December 20 2004 at 11:04am

I think that in our tanks (in my limited experience) that lighting intensity and spectrum have the most impact on color of my SPS. From everything that i have read 6500K and 10K will give better growth and 14K and 20K will give better color.


Personally i have found that my blue corals are really looking good under a 14K Hamilton and my purple corals just become sort of washed out under this bulb. However, my purple corals are looking fantastic under my 20K 250s BLVs . I had a purple/purple cap that was actually starting to die off under the 14K bulb, until i put it under my 20Ks.

One thing that i have not done is to take a coral out of my 20K tank and put it under the 14Ks to see if it looses color. I doubt i will get the chance ... I think i am going to switch the 14K for a 20K when this bulbs is due for a change. I am VERY happy with the BLV 20K bulb.

I am currently running 3 light configurations and have kept the same frag(s) in all three. I can post some really interesting comparison pics of a frag that i got from shaneH, if you'd like. The pics of this coral are under 14K(Hamilton)/T5s, 250w 20Ks(BLV), 150w 20Ks(Ushio), and  a pic of when i very first got the frag from shaneHs tank (10K/VHO). The difference in color of this coral is simply amazing under the 20K 250s. I think i may have pointed this out to Jason, when he was over recently...



Posted By: jfinch
Date Posted: December 20 2004 at 11:53am

First off, I don't think there is a definative answer to this question.  It can vary between different corals.  if you give coral A too much light it will develop more of pigment Z to act as a sun screen.  Pigment Z might be a desired color or it might not.  If you give that same coral A too little light it might develop more of pigment Y to better harvest what little light is available.  Pigment Y might be very different then pigment Z... it might even be more desirable.  It is the intensity of a particular quality of light that is important as near as I can tell.

And water quality does play a role.  I don't think SPS will really color up if they're in nutrient rich waters.



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Jon

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6y_EzjI_ljbIwf2n5uNzTw" rel="nofollow - What I've been doing...



Posted By: ssilcox
Date Posted: December 20 2004 at 12:23pm
I have also read a few articles that say that alkalinity plays a large role in the color of corals


Posted By: Will Spencer
Date Posted: December 21 2004 at 12:54pm

I took this question to mean what makes a coral red or green or some other color.  Lighting can make for different shade and even different colors, but I have a frog spawn in my tank with 2 heads.  Each head is a different color. For all intents and purposes this coral gets the same light.  With this coral being pretty much the same thing, (they share a skeleton,)  why is one green tipped and the other pink tipped?




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