Black coral? What about Crimson?

[Schottman]

they don't look that good

JMHO

 

[NaH2O]

One thing you might consider is a fish-only tank with liverock and focus on the fish and inverts that will have the colors you're looking for. For a coral tank, you're pretty much guaranteed to get blues, greens, purples, oranges, etc if its well kept and healthy, which obviously every reef should be.

I agree. There are so many naturally occuring colors that are out of the scheme you are trying to accomplish. I know I've mentioned to you that this is a challenge - because it is trying to keep what naturally occurs in reef tanks at bay - or skew the environment. What will happen when you have the nasty green algae growing all over the tank. Also, you never know....you may end up enjoying the surprise coral growing from your live rock, regardless of its color, and want to keep it.....then buy more

 

[martygreene]

I am also planning a "normal" tank, for what it's worth. We'll see what happens.

 

[Macbeth417]

Martygreen,

I’ve seen two of your threads along this line and I know you are asking about coralline and specific corals right now, but outside of maroon and black coral and sponges, what other live stock are you thinking? I must say fireshrimp (Lysmata debelius) beg to be in this tank and of course a Black Tang (Zebrasoma rostratum) if size permits. I’m also surprised no one mention red Corallimorpharians, seems like you could find nice rich crimson shrooms easily. I also have an Acro that is black with white polyps, so they are out there (actually dark dark brown, but looks black unless you put it very high up in thank).

Llarian: "Black isn't a particularly good color for absorbing light energy."
What you talkin’ ‘bout willis… or I mean… Llarian? I would have to say white is the worst as it reflects the most light and in all wavelengths.

The pigments of zooxanthellae are not commonly black and I would venture that would have to do with the spectrum of light that penetrates the water, what wavelengths are most available for photosynthesis and also that you can’t achieve a blend of pigments that is something akin to black without a large mixture of photosynthetic pigments. But "true" Black absorbs more light than any other color being a combination of all pigments and should be absorbing radiation from about 400 to 700 nm, covering almost the entirity of the visible spectrum.

Sorry to trail off. I wonder why we don’t see more black coral then? Simple answer I guess would be that most zooxanthellae don't contain that wide array of pigments so the coral adapt to the one that will absorb the most for it's present location... Well I’m rambling now... Perhaps Tyree can shed some light on this at PNWMAC or non-light... depending on how you look at it.

-Erik

 

[Llarian]

What you talkin’ ‘bout willis… or I mean… Llarian? I would have to say white is the worst as it reflects the most light and in all wavelengths.

Ok, you got me. I was mostly basing my observation on the fact that in nature, there are very very few plants with black coloring. Green and dark reds seem most common outside the ocean, and blues and greens the most common under the water. I suppose technically a black organism should absorb all light, but they seem to prefer to evolve their pigmentation to match the spectrums necessary for photosynthesis rather than absorbing a full spectrum.

(I've forgotten a good deal of my biology at this point, but IIRC in land plants, Chlorophyll A has a pigment designed to absorb the red end of the spectrum, and Chlorophyll B the blue end. I suppose its more efficient to evolve pigmentation to target specific wavelengths than a "full-spectrum" pigment.)

-Dylan

 

[NaH2O]

The pigments of zooxanthellae are not commonly black and I would venture that would have to do with the spectrum of light that penetrates the water, what wavelengths are most available for photosynthesis and also that you can’t achieve a blend of pigments that is something akin to black without a large mixture of photosynthetic pigments

(actually dark dark brown, but looks black unless you put it very high up in thank)

Erik - the chlorophylls + carotenoid peridinins = brown. Maybe this quote from mojoreef in the Let's talk about ~Lighting~ thread will help...

your ZOOx are primarily brown in color, the zoox cycle food to the coral and the coral back to the zoox

pigments are basically protiens with in the tissue of the coral and/or zoox. each protien accepts light waves of different colors. Some take that light color and transmit a more useable light to the coral, some just reflects light colors away from the corals. and so on.

So when we are looking at this from a step back thier are two primary color sources in our corals. these colors sources are prtiens with in the coral and within the zoox. they have different requirements and do different things for the coral. When looking to growth of corals that are dependant on light/zoox controls we have to look at satisfing the needs of the zoox (explained previous). when looking at the appearence in the color of the color we have a whole new set of requirements and processes to satisfy. these are very important when going after lighting and since the requirements of lighting change from coral species to species so will the requirement of the bulbs needs and the intencity.

 

[martygreene]

I am thinking about a black and white, or a maroon (failing my ability to get a black and white) clown, probably some of the black and white legged hermits, a red star or two... I'm not quite sure yet- depends on what I end up doing with the whole thing.

 

[mojoreef]

Boy this could be like a GOTH biotype reef. Just think about it, a naso tang with black lips?, puffer with a dog stud collar? We could glue studs onto snail shells, maybe mini handcuffs hanging off the trigger fish?? Man the posibilities???????



Mike

 

[reedman]

Too funny! I know of a tattoo parlor that has a goldfish with a pierced lip. Looks happy as can be.

 

[Macbeth417]

haha that is a riot Reed.

 

[RockyHeap]

I've scuba dove amongst black coral on the back side of Molokini off of Maui.........

You've got to go deep, 100-150 foot.......it's a long and spindly coral like a gorgonian.......very rare and has been over-collected.

(FYI I've got some of that black sponge in my tank at home....VERY cool finger sponge has been growing and spreading. Maybe a frag or two of it will show up at the next PSAS frag swap.)

More info on Black Coral:

Black Coral: Antipathes Grandis
Mature colonies may take 50 years to grow. The first new black coral bed to be found in centuries was discovered by us in the waters off Lahaina, Maui in 1958. Today, Hawaiian black coral--the world's finest and the Hawaii State Gemstone--is carefully collected by hand by our divers at depths that exceed 200 feet. To ensure the future of Hawaiian black coral, Maui Divers strictly adheres to state regulations that prohibit the harvesting of immature colonies.

Black coral is rare and, when polished, it shines with such luster you can almost see your own reflection in it. Its stunning contrast against yellow gold makes it a wonderful gift as well as a beautiful keepsake for you to treasure forever. Our popular Paradise Ring features an ocean wave shaped by a graceful cut of polished black coral, gold maile leaves representing Hawaiian royalty, and diamonds that shine like the evening stars over paradise; a perfect reminder of a trip to the Islands.

Good detailed pictures here:

http://www.coralreefnetwork.com/stender/corals/black/black.htm

 

[martygreene]

(FYI I've got some of that black sponge in my tank at home....VERY cool finger sponge has been growing and spreading. Maybe a frag or two of it will show up at the next PSAS frag swap.)

Alas- I live in Pittsburgh, PA.

 

[martygreene]

wow... that Antipathes sp. (Midway) is LOVELY.

 

[nanome]

Well you can have black tubastrea if you have excess time on your hands. I had orange tubastrea and they are a royal pain in the bottom to feed because they don't host dinoflagellates...you have to feed EACH AND EVERY polyp to prevent starvation...what a pain!!!. I gave my tubastrea away because I was sick of their very high maintenance.

Curt,
Got some questions regarding orange tubastrea since I just bought one yesterday. Can't I just use a pipet to squirt some phytoplankton on the entire coral at once? or just let water currents carry foods for entire tank? Would either of these two approaches be sufficient for this sun coral (?) in my nanocube tank (about 9 gals)? What happen in nature for these corals? don't they have to stick their tentacles out waiting for food to float by?
Thanks