# Coral Fluorescence



## UnderTheSea (Jun 2, 2008)

I have received many phone calls and emails over the last couple of months in regards to the deep water zoas people are picking up from their LFS. Many are complaining that the coral does not look the same as the pics posted on certain forums and they don't look the same as they were in the store.

First, most LFS will use photo's sent by suppliers and may not receive the exact colors within the colony, there could be slight morphs or something totally different. They tend to use the photos as it drives interest ahead of time and saves them time from bringing in the shipment, having to wait for the corals to open and then posting pics.

Secondly, have a look at the lighting the LFS has the colony under. More than likely they are running intense actinics (more often then not they will be under T5HO's). In order to get the same colors (coral fluorescence) you will need to come close to matching their lighting setup.

There is a good article in the " Marine Fish & Reef USA 2009 Annual " starting on page 32 " Aquariums All Aglitter ".

I had come across this link in the past by Advanced Aquarist

Here is a thread I've been following, have a look at the colors, they are amazing. Check out what lighting he is using - no MH's !!!

I hope this helps other, if you have any other questions feel free to ask.


----------



## Sunstar (Jul 29, 2008)

I seem to get mine to glow under the blue LED that I got from cid when she did that order. I have 20 blue led bulbs, 10 on eithe rside of my 5 gallon tank. the things glow pretty good.


----------



## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

wow. That coral prop guy is sick. That first post is stunning.

Chris, when are your prop tanks going to look like that


----------



## cablemike (Jan 7, 2009)

yeah i just went throught this.. bought some deep water zoa's and they look like s**t in my tank.. they were glowing yellow and the other was glowing orange.. get home and the yellow looks like cream and the orange is well blah.. i have too much 10k right now though as im waiting for another halide unit so im running 2 pc's to suppliment and they trow all my corals colours off.. Hey chris ever since i went reefoptics 14k i cant stand any other lighting, everything looks super yellow to me under any other lighting.


----------



## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Yesh, I have some DW zoas, and they really look great under actinics only. As soon as my daylight bulbs go on, they're less 'poppy'.

BTW, go through that thread. Every post with one of his frag tank pics makes me giddy.

Example:


----------



## cablemike (Jan 7, 2009)

my acro's were just starting to colour up then I upgraded the tank and now my lighting is insufficient and there browning out real fast.. when i get my new lights im sure they will return but i just find it crazy how fast they go brown versus how long it takes for the colour to return. i just ran stricktly my halide and the corals do glow incredibly but as soon as the fluorescent lights go on the colours go to crap.. i cant wait until i get the other halide unit and i may not even run fluorescents or maybe just actinics. though my t5's are actinic and 18k powerglo's but the cf's are 10k and they suck. cf's have nothing on t5's. i must admit though that the cf's light up the tank more, its just not as intense.. the gravel glows under the t5's but i have shadows, under the cf's no shadows but blah.


----------



## UnderTheSea (Jun 2, 2008)

ameekplec. said:


> wow. That coral prop guy is sick. That first post is stunning.
> 
> Chris, when are your prop tanks going to look like that


Haha, I can only dream about tanks like his. Take some time and go through the 27 pages. Some really nice individual pics of frags.

As he mentions, if you are going for growth you won't have the fluorescence. Maybe I will change plans and do one of the 36x36x6 prop tanks as more of display to show potential colors.

Now my mind is running.......


----------



## cablemike (Jan 7, 2009)

i bought a led strip from the pickering flea market today.. its basically two strips 12" long and they have many led's in groups of 3, red,blue, and green.. and there's a control unit which lets you adjust how you want the colours , like individual or a mixture of the 3 primary colours.. these are very bright and cheap.. i got the two 12" units and it was $25.00 then the 18" is $35 and 24 inch units are $45. i should have gotten the 24" units. anyways.. there very bright and when set to just blue my corals fluorescence like ive never seen before.. it just looks wild.


----------



## cablemike (Jan 7, 2009)

i tried to take pics but it just doesnt seem to show up in the pictures.


----------



## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

LEDs are notoriusly difficult to get good pics under.


----------



## Sunstar (Jul 29, 2008)

the Blue LED's are great. I was only gonna use them as temp on my tank, but they've becomre pretty perma now.


----------

