[noodleman]

I found these two statements in article 4 to be pretty interesting

"The capture rate of the small polyped coral was 36 times greater than the large-polyped coral!"

"However, for the first time it was shown that feeding results in calcification rates 50-75% higher than in control corals (not fed). It was also found that feeding does not affect the light-enhancement process of photosynthesis on calcification. To make these results completely understandable, if corals can feed on zooplankton, they will calcify 50-75% faster irrespective of light levels provided."

[Pseudo]

Humans can live on water alone and no food for 26-38 days living off the fat stores inside the body, but we thrive if fed

Feeding corals does not enhance color but does give the coral energy to grow and facilite color change.

Kasei

[noodleman]

too bad this thread isn't titled "how to make my sps calcify"

	SPS Small Polyped Scleractinians - Sometimes known as Small Polyped Stony corals. These are hard corals that have extremely small polyps. They are typically on the difficult side and require Metal Halide lighting or dense Power Compact or T5 arrays. These corals are prized for their rareness and ability to be easily fragged into multiple colonies.

[Pseudo]

It's all in the same vain so this thread is still relevant. Who wants a colorful coral that never grows ?

Kasei

[Pseudo]

Enhancement of coral growth and color through chemical additions.

There are many ways to accelerate growth in corals. Lighting intensity, maintaining higher than normal Alk and calcium levels for higher calcification rates in sps. Higher flow rates also contribute sps growth patterns and growth rates.

Color on SPS corals can be changed by a few of the same ways but also in coral placement(higher in the water column for higher light absorbtion, higher water flow rates and orientation of coral will effect how the coral color will show on the encrusted bases and branches (shading).

Certain additives have shown to "enhance" coral color (Potassium, Iodine, strontium and Bromide) to make them lighter or darker depending on what you are using and dosages. Always remember additions of any of these chemicals can cause adverse effects in aquaria (build-up) if not regulated properly or not absorbed my the corals fast enough. You are dosing the whole tank and not target feeding with chemical additives.

Zeovit tanks are a good example of color enhancement through nutrient poor tank and additions of bacteria and elements to further the color scheme of SPS. I have never used this method so I will defer to other who have (MSHUR who has had tremendous success with this method is one)



Kasei

	SPS Small Polyped Scleractinians - Sometimes known as Small Polyped Stony corals. These are hard corals that have extremely small polyps. They are typically on the difficult side and require Metal Halide lighting or dense Power Compact or T5 arrays. These corals are prized for their rareness and ability to be easily fragged into multiple colonies.

[Pseudo]

Color changes in SPS due to Lighting Spectrum.

The color spectrum plays an important role in coral coloration. Different kelvin bulbs will change the way corals color up. Certain sps are from different levels of the reef (deepwater acros, shallow fringe reef sps and so on). They are used to differnet spectrums from the sun due to the saturation of light through water. But different wattages of the same kelvin bulb will give you different results. A 175W 20k bulb has a different PAR rating than a 1000W 20k bulbs. Here is where intensity comes in.


Kasei

[Pseudo]

Food additions (coral feeding)

Does the addition of food or target feeding SPS help in color change ? This is debatable. No, direct feeding of sps does not change the color of the coral. Yes, direct feeding of SPS helps relieve the dependency of the coral on it's zooxanthellae for energy, making the corals production of zooxanthellae less, thus making the coral appear a different color. SPS also absorb nutrients in the water column through the cell structure of the "skin". This also happens when the coral is stressed and it expels its zx or it dies off (not good). Browning" in SPS = Increase in CSD ("cell specific density").CSD refers to the number of zooxanthellae per host cell. This can be caused by high nutrients in the tank. SO just to make this simple... Color is NOT determined by zooxanthellae !

Ok this is getting complicated... What we really need is a IF-->THEN-->YES-->NO system in order to finally figure out how this all works.

I will work on that

Kasei

	SPS Small Polyped Scleractinians - Sometimes known as Small Polyped Stony corals. These are hard corals that have extremely small polyps. They are typically on the difficult side and require Metal Halide lighting or dense Power Compact or T5 arrays. These corals are prized for their rareness and ability to be easily fragged into multiple colonies.

[Pseudo]

I wont say that this is a conclusion but a valid Observation of all things in my tank(s) over the years.

Clean tank, Great lighting (higher PAR level and spectrum) Water changes and supplemental dosing (dont go overboard with snake oils) good husbandry. All of these will contribute to a low nutrient tank (not starved) that will have COLORED UP STICKS !


Can I close the thread now Rich ??

Kasei

[Spracklcat]

FI agree with the advice to feed heavily/keep a large fish load. Soem of the most healthy SPS tanks I have seen have been kept this way, contrary to the "low nutrient" method. Joe Burger (www.cnidarianreef.com) had an AMAZING tank, and I think a lot of the reason was that he was culturing phyto and rotifers and feeding heavily. When he broke down his tank this year some of his corals were so large they had to be donated to the aquarium.

All of which has nothing to do with color though--

My first question, especially pertaining to SPS is wht do you consider good color? Most people would say the fancy bright blue/pink/purple colors, rather than the boring brown. The boring brown colors are from large quatities of active zooxanthellae in the tissue, and these corals will probably grow faster given good food/light. in contrast, many of the pigments that are so pretty are there as UV protectors: the coral produces them in response to "bright" light to protect the tissues (at the expense of growth--limited supply of energy will go towards growth or UV pigment production, but not both well). This is not to say that the bright specimens will not grow, just that they will probably grow more slowly. When people grow corals for sale, they often keep them under low K bulbs for the bulk of their life, where they grow brown, but rapidly, then a few weeks before sale they put them under high-K bulbs to "color up".

What does this mean in terms of husbandry to produce color? I would tend to think higher K bulbs, and lots of them (this is why you see better color with MH), and feeding to make up for the decrease in photosynthetic activity.

Christine

	MH Metal Halide Lighting, typically used for high intensity light demanding corals such as SPS. Bulbs come in varieties of spectrums (7k, 10k,20k), and intensity (175W, 250W, 400W).

	SPS Small Polyped Scleractinians - Sometimes known as Small Polyped Stony corals. These are hard corals that have extremely small polyps. They are typically on the difficult side and require Metal Halide lighting or dense Power Compact or T5 arrays. These corals are prized for their rareness and ability to be easily fragged into multiple colonies.

[SlamaJama]

great stuff KC....good read.... wonder if it should be posted in the solby article thread or (cleaned up, lol) and stickyed for easy refrence...