Why all the blue??

[jgvergo]

Many (but not all!) of the tank pictures on the net have a very washed out, blue tint to them. I assume that is because people are running blue lights and I further assume that is healthy for photosynthesis and, ultimately, the corals. However, there are some gorgeous, colorful tanks that don't have the blue problem. My question is, are they likely running blue lights and then switching over to white when they take the picture, or are they able to grow colorful corals under white lights?

 

[TheEngineer]

This is probably more a problem of the camera people are using. Cell phones are the most popular and they get really blown out in the blue spectrum even if the tank isn't so blue.

 

[steelheader.262]

Agree

 

[Breadman03]

Corals need a lot of blue light around 475 nm. As such, our lighting fixtures provide a lot of blue, which tends to overpower the cameras (cough cell phones) that many people use. This can be rectified with filters on the camera lens, post processing, or with the white balance settings on the camera itself. Oh, and changing their light settings is also another solution.

 

[DeniseAndy]

A photographer can explain, but most tanks do not look like that with the naked eye. It has to do with what the camera can process and whether a white balance is used, etc. However, most of the coral as stated above do use the light spectrum in the blue zone (that is what we will call it). This is the light waves that can actually penetrate the water and get deep enough for the corals to use.

 

[Mike in CT]

Yes, the wife is not always happy that all our pictures near the tank are tinged with blue......

 

[luxauterna]

I recently ordered some small filters to help with the camera phone. They work ok, but nothing great like a true DSLR camera with proper white balance.

 

[NanaReefer]

I got filters for my iPhone. Love them!
Before

After

 

[m88a2]

very cool, where did you get your filters from?

 

[Vpham]

Second to know...

 

[NanaReefer]

Mfinn sent them to me [emoji2] but just google iPhone filters, they're everywhere. The ones I'm using range in color from light orange to brown. Still experimenting but so far the lightest orange works best.

 

[MrDJeep123]

White balance.

 

[jgvergo]

Yes, the wife is not always happy that all our pictures near the tank are tinged with blue......

There are others who are not happy with the blue tinge either!

Yes, the wife is not always happy that all our pictures near the tank are tinged with blue......

 

[DeniseAndy]

Nice. I love the cat pic! Cool you can get them for your phones.