Source for natural (less colorful) coral frags

[Reefing102]

I do hate to say it but it’s lighting. Take a look at CoralSavers on eBay and Facebook (also a sponsor here). His pics are what the corals look like under natural light. It’s the blue actinic that gives the pop of color.

 

[PicassoClown04]

I used to grow corals under 6500k, it works just that they are brown….. btw, I think all TOTM photos should be under 10k lighting …
…. @footgal while we are at it, what’s the source for Carribean stuff (I keep asking )

lol hi! There are a couple of places to get stuff like that. On KP's site, they have what I assume to be locally collected corals which should be what yall are looking for. I'm sure that there are stony corals they just don't collect, maybe a very nice email could persuade them? KP Aquatics

 

[jda]

Most of the corals that you are going to be be choosing from are from the south pacific where they look good under sunlight. You won't get any many true/hard corals from the Caribbean - most are protected.

Just choose what you want and light them with 10k and they will both look good without being trick-light and grow well.

I would plan a spot for a nice, big pink stylo in the middle. These look great under daylight and are impressive when larger.

 

[jda]

These are beautiful, natural and look great under the water. ...all kinds of colors. Of course, corals look better in the Coral Sea than they do in other parts of the world where people dive and stuff.

The unnatural look is due to the lighting, IMO, in most cases.

 

[malacoda]

You mentioned you're a fan of using aquacultured corals. Have you taken a look at ORA's corals.

IMO, some of the coral species they offer have a little bit of vibrant color pop ... but most have much more natural color tones than all the blue-lit designer frags on offer at most places.

https://www.orafarm.com/

Their site has good pics and info, but you have to order through retailers. LiveAquaria carries some. And even some of the popular online designer frag coral shops usually stock a few.

As far as the lighting route, it can give you the flexibility of both worlds. I use LEDs, and run a whiter spectrum most of the day for a more natural appearance ... and let it naturally drift into a bluer spectrum at dawn and dusk which lets the fluorescence come alive for a few hours.