Why do people ask for coral pics under "daylight" lighting...and does anyone ACTUALLY use this type

[that Reef Guy]

I don't get it. most of us keep all their lights on for more hours than just blue. many corals like softies look terrible under blue lights. I want to see how the coral looks with all the lighting. this pic is jpeg with blues turned down. no alterations to color. it doesn't look as good under blue only.

If it does not look good under Blue Light then I refuse to buy it.

 

[Up2no6ood]

If it does not look good under Blue Light then I refuse to buy it.

Ditto. What's your lighting schedule? I run blues for 2 hrs then blue/white for 3 and back to just blues for 4 hrs.

 

[saltyhog]

If it does not look good under Blue Light then I refuse to buy it.

LOL! Heck I look good under blue light!

 

[that Reef Guy]

Ditto. What's your lighting schedule? I run blues for 2 hrs then blue/white for 3 and back to just blues for 4 hrs.

I only use Blue (No White).

Well one tank has 2 Blue Plus and 2 Coral Plus Bulbs and I cannot stand it.

I am going back to 4 ATI Blue Plus once the Bulbs Need to be Replaced.

Then I will be Fully Blue Again.

 

[SFREEF3R]

Ok. So I've seen more requests than I can count (or want to) for corals under "daylight" color/lighting. Anytime someone posts a coral that looks like the picture was taken under lighting with a bluer spectrum that brings out the coral's colors, it seems someone asks for a picture under "daylight" spectrum...or makes fun of the photographer for "smurf" fingers (bc there's a blue tint to the fingers) or "blue frag plugs" (the poor etiquette in the latter case is worse IMO). I'm not talking about photos that are "blued out" (bad photography) or grossly over saturated (photochopped)...I get the issue with those, but...the very term "daylight" lighting seems strange to me to begin with since (from what I understand) most corals are not found under anything that looks like white light (except at low tide)...wouldn't most of them be under a predominantly blue spectrum during their daylight hours on the natural reef anyway (since that's the one that is penetrating to the depths where they are growing)? :noidea:

I get people keeping corals under 14k or 20k (which is where I have my radions set), but 10k or less?? I get that people want to see coral under the same kind of lighting that they will see it in under their own lights, so if people are actually keeping coral under a 10k (or less) color spectrum, I understand the request...but it seems odd to me that people would keep corals under those conditions (maybe because everyone I know has gone to a 14k or higher spectrum). I even saw where someone told a guy to photograph his tank inhabitants with a flash to get their "natural" colors (again...I don't get this unless you're aiming a strobe at the tank). :doh: I personally hate seeing corals photographed (or kept) under white/yellow light...which makes them ALL look brown (or at least dull) IMO. So could someone please help me understand the obsession with "daylight" pictures?

Sorry for the rant. I am hoping someone can help me understand what seems to me to be a strange request. Maybe I'm misinterpreting the whole "daylight" thing. ...or maybe I'm naive and there's a whole reefing trend of 10k or less spectrum tanks out there that I haven't been aware of.

I personally prefer a warmer light - it looks more natural to me, like a shallow reef. I worry trying to buy corals on line from folks that have the blue cranked up, because under a warmer light it might not look good at all. No doubt though that color will always pop more under a bluer light. While daylight colors make a lot of corals look brown...in my experience you see a lot of brown coral in the wild.

There's a notion that the very blue light is natural because that's what corals see on the reef - but that isn't my experience diving. I've never seen corals glowing the way they do in a deeply blue tank. My guess is that's because to get lighting that is so far biased blue, it also implies you are very deep...and also not that bright. Closer to the surface the longer wavelength colors are attenuated, but not totally absent so you get closer to full spectrum (though of course cooler). But that's just my inference from my experience.

I totally understand the draw of really blue lighting - and, assuming the corals are getting the light they need, the best spectrum for tank is the one that makes you happiest! And definitely no reason to be rude to those with a different aesthetic (with regards to folks giving a hard time to people who prefer their corals under bluer light).

Funnily, I happen to run into a thread of folks like me wondering if they are the only ones that like the warmer look right after seeing this post:

Anyone still prefer the 10K look, or even 6.5K? What's with all the windex colored tanks?

Before LED's became the preferred lighting solution, you had two camps of reefers. Folks that preferred the white(6.5K,10K) look with some blue actinic at dawn dusk, and those that were in the 20K camp. 20K was popular with SPS keepers. I was a daylight look reefer, and preferred the appearance...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[bigkamp]

Ok. So I've seen more requests than I can count (or want to) for corals under "daylight" color/lighting. Anytime someone posts a coral that looks like the picture was taken under lighting with a bluer spectrum that brings out the coral's colors, it seems someone asks for a picture under "daylight" spectrum...or makes fun of the photographer for "smurf" fingers (bc there's a blue tint to the fingers) or "blue frag plugs" (the poor etiquette in the latter case is worse IMO). I'm not talking about photos that are "blued out" (bad photography) or grossly over saturated (photochopped)...I get the issue with those, but...the very term "daylight" lighting seems strange to me to begin with since (from what I understand) most corals are not found under anything that looks like white light (except at low tide)...wouldn't most of them be under a predominantly blue spectrum during their daylight hours on the natural reef anyway (since that's the one that is penetrating to the depths where they are growing)? :noidea:

I get people keeping corals under 14k or 20k (which is where I have my radions set), but 10k or less?? I get that people want to see coral under the same kind of lighting that they will see it in under their own lights, so if people are actually keeping coral under a 10k (or less) color spectrum, I understand the request...but it seems odd to me that people would keep corals under those conditions (maybe because everyone I know has gone to a 14k or higher spectrum). I even saw where someone told a guy to photograph his tank inhabitants with a flash to get their "natural" colors (again...I don't get this unless you're aiming a strobe at the tank). :doh: I personally hate seeing corals photographed (or kept) under white/yellow light...which makes them ALL look brown (or at least dull) IMO. So could someone please help me understand the obsession with "daylight" pictures?

Sorry for the rant. I am hoping someone can help me understand what seems to me to be a strange request. Maybe I'm misinterpreting the whole "daylight" thing. ...or maybe I'm naive and there's a whole reefing trend of 10k or less spectrum tanks out there that I haven't been aware of.

I’ve asked sellers for multiple photos as if I’m spending 40$ on a frag and 40$ on shipping I wanna see as much as possible and being a newb to salt but 4 decades of fresh/brack experiance and seeing scams and bs non stop it’s a defense mechanism... I don’t even have a single frag yet because all my lfs went down hill all the displays and holding tanks are a mess and I’m afraid to crash 135 gallons of work or buy a blue what ever and get a pink or yellow or brown half dead something or other lol... I think we are looking for the “what u think it’s fake” response to not pull the trigger on a late night shouldn’t be shopping anyway purchase inquiry lol only been shopping for salt animals for two month I already have ptsd lol especially after seeing this(see pic) in my Facebook feed with no price like ohhhhh I gotta get it(they hold stuff if u pay for it) I pooped alil lol I asked sooo many questions and asked for a lot of pics and vids lol someone else bought it lol

 

[bigkamp]

I’ve asked sellers for multiple photos as if I’m spending 40$ on a frag and 40$ on shipping I wanna see as much as possible and being a newb to salt but 4 decades of fresh/brack experiance and seeing scams and crap non stop it’s a defense mechanism... I don’t even have a single frag yet because all my lfs went down hill all the displays and holding tanks are a mess and I’m afraid to crash 135 gallons of work or buy a blue what ever and get a pink or yellow or brown half dead something or other lol... I think we are looking for the “what u think it’s fake” response to not pull the trigger on a late night shouldn’t be shopping anyway purchase inquiry lol only been shopping for salt animals for two month I already have ptsd lol especially after seeing this(see pic) in my Facebook feed with no price like ohhhhh I gotta get it(they hold stuff if u pay for it) I pooped alil lol I asked sooo many questions and asked for a lot of pics and vids lol someone else bought it lol

 

[bigkamp]

Is that a normal price for that? Wrong thread sorry...anyone have them do they actually look that good? Anyone selling them here or are they as rare as this place says?

 

[duke62]

I get the opposite. People want to see them under my blues. Most people online know that the coral won’t look like that under whites. They want to be impressed with the glow of blue lighting. Back ten years ago it was different all photos were shot with daylight. Times change and so do people’s taste

 

[1guydude]

Whats your question? Lol
Anyone can turn up the blue led actinics and make coral glow like under black lights. Its called supply and demand. Marketing.

 

[Hermie]

If a vendor can't appreciate the need for color temperature information in photos, they lose points in my book.

It's not a deal breaker, but it shows sophistication (knowledgeable and capable) and builds trust to see corals in both blue and white light spectrums (more yellow green red wavelengths).

 

[blasterman]

I know very few serious reef keepers who run royal only LEDs or actinic only T5s. In fact, I know none. ATI blue plus are not actinic, nor are they as monochrome blue as LED fixtures running royal blue only LEDs. Sunlight at any depth in the ocean is not the same as a blue LED either. If you swim down to 150 feet corals don't glow actinic. Right?

Most people ask for 'daylight' because they dont know the terms. What they really want is a picture of the coral under more typical tank lighting. If you've ever been to a frag swap zoa/paly sellers in general like to run their LED lights with just the blues on, which I find annoying. I always ask them to use a normal tank balance and ask nicely, and they always smile and do what I ask. They know the gig, and they always seem to know what dial to turn because they dont run royal only on their tank either. Its just to sell to kids setting up a softie tank in their dorm. The ugliest and most bland coral can look radioactive under royal blue only LEDs.

 

[zuri]

It is funny because here I see people complain on this site about not having pics that are not Blue.

But when I go to other sites they flame me for blue pics.

I think the High End Collectors that spend the Big Bucks that Hang Out here on this Site use a lot of Blue.

But other more Casual Coral People on other Sites that do not pay 100's or thousand's on Frags use more 50/50 Lighting because that is what a lot of LFS use (At least here in Michigan).

They say that having Blue Lights are just to Scam People to Sell Coral and that you cannot use Blue Long Term. They say you need Full Spectrum and the more Colors the Better.

I think things are slowly changing as more people (Including Myself) went Blue.

But a lot of people have not caught on and it seems they are mostly the casual crowd that buys more common cheaper corals from their LFS.

They do not care about the latest and greatest from Jason Fox or Reef Raft (If they even know who they are that is).

They tend to call people who spend a lot on coral bad names and do not understand our obsession.

My 2 Cents.

nailed it this so much

 

[Lasse]

(from what I understand) most corals are not found under anything that looks like white light (except at low tide)...wouldn't most of them be under a predominantly blue spectrum during their daylight hours on the natural reef anyway (since that's the one that is penetrating to the depths where they are growing)?

This not total true. Blue (below 480 nm) never dominate in any depth - in reality it is blue green to green that dominate (480 - 560 nm) IMO - most of our corals comes from 0 - 10 m and it means a lot of more "white" lights dominate the natural environment for our corals. This article sort it up well (IMO).

One interesting thing is - if you think twice - the amount of blue photons (between 400 - 480 nm) (or the intensity of the light below 480 nm) will not increase with depth - rather the opposite but the decrease of photons over 550 nm is much higher - hence the percentage of wavelengths between 400 and 480 will be higher. But as someone said . if you dive in natural waters even there the blue dominate - you do not see (with our eyes) as much "pop" as you seen under only blue LEDs even if the amount of photons or intensity still is the same as was in the first place. There is something else that make us not "see" the "pop" (or florescence ) from our corals when there is other wavelength together with the blue ones. As usual - it is our brain and eyes that trick us. When you have a lot of wavelengths between 500 - 580 nm (the lumen window) they block our ability to see the very week light sources that we call florescence. If we could minimize the wavelengths between 500 -580 nm - we could have a rather white light and still see the POP. And it is possible - many T5 tubes use the RGB trick to do that. With blue wavelengths, one green and one red one - you trick your eyes to see a 6500 K light but with visible florescence. You can do the same with LED.

The reason is when you see it in person, your brain auto corrects the white balance. A picture does not, so adjusting to daylight settings in the photo yields a better idea of what it will look like to your eye.

True

Sincerely Lasse

 

[AZMSGT]

Nothing like responding to a 6 year old thread.

 

[atoll]

Not sure what the issue is here. Many in the UK and Europe don't run very blue lighting on their tanks. I have plenty of blue in my lighting but it dosent look so blue. If I am buying a coral I would like to see it under similar coloured lighting to my own no under very blue lighting. What's so wrong with that?
If you run your tank heavily blue then fine. Most LFS will changing the colour spectrum for you here if you are interested in buying.
Many corals needn't be run under heavily blue to get a nice colour but of course blue plays an important part of course. This is my last tank under lighting colour as I like it.

 

[Lasse]

Nothing like responding to a 6 year old thread.

Did not seen that

But I think that the discussion still is valid and not solved

Sincerely Lasse

 

[SFREEF3R]

AZMSGT said:
Nothing like responding to a 6 year old thread.

Did not seen that

But I think that the discussion still is valid and not solved

Sincerely Lasse

Oops looks like that's my bad not sure how I stumbled upon this thread.

 

[burningmime]

I like how Tidal Gardens has shots under both, eg:

Some corals flouresce like crazy (eg that one), while others barely change at all.

 

[SFREEF3R]

I like how Tidal Gardens has shots under both, eg:

Some corals flouresce like crazy (eg that one), while others barely change at all.

I've never ordered from Tidal Gardens, but have been spending a lot of time perusing their website. I really like that they show actinic and 10k for almost every coral. Seems pretty rare in that respect.