Quote:
Originally Posted by Snaz
I would agree that corals are more pigmented where the "sunlight" hits them but a glass interface reduces the amount of light through.
Imagine looking at penny top down through one foot of water. Then imagine looking at the same penny through one foot of glass. The penny under the glass would look dull compared to the water penny.
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Interesting logic but I'm not sure who's tank was 12" thick glass or who even has a piece of glass like that lying around to try such an experiment
Glass actually has a refraction index close to water it's about 1.4 compared to 1.3, so given that tanks are generally built with thin glass when compared to the amount of water you're looking through the effects are not that relative. Try looking through glass from top down, which is often done for photography, you won't see a real noticeable difference.
The fact is, like already said, everything looks brighter and more vivid because you're looking parallel to the light source. Our vision is based on how light reflects back to our eyes and parts in direct light look brighter while other parts not in direct light are more shaded and dull. Look around outside as some stationary objects when the sun is low in the morning and when it is high in the afternoon.