I completely disagree with this statement, the ocean in its most pristine places is naturaly an Ultra Low Nutrient and naturaly bright enviroment using the power of the sun. Some of the reefs are comprised of miles and miles of shallow ultra clear water with prodominant coral colors that would put most tanks to shame. It is incorrect to think brown is the only "natural" color or the most common color of the natural reef. By using Zeovit or other similar pricipals we are only trying to replicate the fact that our corals are not stuck in an enclosed glass box.

Also remember that the ocean does not have powerfull actinic lights poised over top of it; however, it does have the ultra power of the sun sitting somewhere around the 5500K range. Stick a 5500K rated 1000 watt light over your tank then see what the colors look like! One would be pretty surprised how dull they would look.


http://batchisthenewshit.files.wordp...coral_reef.jpg

http://files.myopera.com/kaylinq/blog/elkhorn.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/36/88...410736.jpg?v=0

Well. I agree there are some nice colors in the wild, but honestly, for every blue coral, I've seen 3 brown ones. Just saying brown is a natural color variation for corals.

come on guys, it's not ALL about colours.
doesn't anyone just like their reefs for the natural mini microcosms that they are?

No, pretty much it's all about colors. Sometimes I brag about the little ecosystem, but honestly, I want a blue and purple ecosystem, not a brown one.

ya that is true the colors are what make the reef stand out IMO. It just seems very hard sometimes to get it looking amazing , may be that is why every tank is totally different .. some need more TLC and other s well its just luck of the draw.

A "natural looking reef" was not part of my intent in that statement. The ULN was.

I never said super colourful corals don't exist just that they are in the minority. As a matter of fact your third pic illustrates my point for me.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/36/88...410736.jpg?v=0

Compare that to something like this month's TOTM at reefkeeping mag.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/20...totm/index.php

Quite a difference no?

Why would an animal dependent on photosynthesis invest some of it's energy in creating so many pigments that block PAR? It must benefit from it in some way and the only way that makes sense is the same reason you tan when you spend time in the sun, protection.

Look up some of Dana Riddle's articles on coral pigments for more explanation.

Well the sun happens to generate plenty of light in the 420nm range. Due to the water this light is moving through, shorter wavelengths are well represented at the depths you find photosynthetic coral.


I never said I disagreed with this methodology or others like it but I don't think the idea of promoting it as "natural" made any sense. If it works for you then great but don't try and tell me it's wonderful because it's "just like nature" or some such BS. Save it for the granola munchers in the smelly sandals. I'm not paying $30 for 2 grams of potassium with a pretty label on it.

midgetwaiter you work at a LFS?? by chance

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Good point; however, take a frag off each coral you see in that pic and put them in an LFS, which coral are people most likely to buy? I happen to think that most of us populate our tanks by choice with the specimens that have a natural tendency to be more colorful than the next average coral. The picture does illustrate lots of browns and this is exactly why I posted it.

The corals pictured are all at about the same depth and receive the same amount of light; however, some are colorful and some are not. At the depth pictured the corals are getting less light in the 420nm range, the deeper they are the more light in the blue range they are getting (albeit less par).

Take these naturally colorful corals and flood them with high intensity blue spectrum light matched with bright 10k-20k halides, throw in excellent water conditions in regards to low nutrient saturation and what do you have?

TOTM at reefkeeping mag

Are these corals naturally colorful? I think the ones we choose happen to be. Remember that many of these corals are aqua cultured in the Ocean on big racks, they are then collected and shipped, strange how they show up with great color without having the opportunity to spend some time in a Zeovit tank first.


In regards to the suppliments, ie Potassium,

I agree that it is sometimes ridiculous to spend $30 for a bottle of Potassium. There are alternatives to the more frugal type persons like yourself. Many people are successfully using Potassium chloride from here....


http://www.iherb.com/ProductDetails....1&pid=777&at=0

Essentially it is the same thing from what I understand. For those that do the research there are almost always cheaper options without the fancy labels.

Yeps I do. We don't sell any pro biotic systems currently but we may soon.

Keep in mind though that what I said here is my opinion and does not reflect my employer's etc etc.