Sps color change

[reedrodz]

Why does sps from the wild or cultured in the ocean change color and become more colorful in our tank after awhile? Is it because of the type of light? If im not mistaken a normal sunlight is on 6500 kelvin vs to our tank which is higher than that. Or it could be something else affecting it. Im just puzzle by it. Thanks

[sigster500]

SPS normally come in more colourful depending on how you define actual colour from the wild, They tend to change colour in our tanks due to nutrients whether its a lack of them or not.

As you said light plays a major part of the eventual look of the coral depending on par/light intensity as well as nutrient export

[redfishsc]

Sunlight is somewhere between 5000K and 6500K, I can't recall the actual number.

However, that certainly does NOT mean that the light reaching the corals is 6500K.

By the time light filters through 10-15 feet (~2-3 meters) of water, some of the red light has been blocked by the water.

Some corals live shallower than 10 feet deep, but most of ours live deeper than that.


The light that actually reaches corals will have a higher "kelvin rating" simply b/c the red has been largely filtered out, depending on the depth.

This is part of the reason why some people will say "I get better growth with 10,000K bulbs" and other say "I get better growth with 14 or 20,000K bulbs".

Some corals simply like bluer light b/c they occur at greater depths than others.


Yea for photosynthetic adaptation!

[redfishsc]

I just realized I didn't offer any answer to your question.

My theory is that the bluer the light over your tank, the more color you get from the corals.

Aquacultered (oceanic) corals are done in pretty shallow water, meaning they get more of the ~6500K light. Most of our tanks have MUCH more bluer light than that.