Fluorescent corals are the primary reason that many of us got into the reefing hobby in the first place. Although we all strive to have daytime lights which show the fluorescence of corals under balanced lighting, there is no substitute for checking out fluorescent corals than by using some of the NightSea equipment.
NightSea is a fluorescence imaging company began by Dr. Charles Mazel at first as a curiosity experiment in excitation and barrier light filters to isolate out just the fluorescence of corals and other reef life. Over time many researchers and institutions consulted with Dr. Mazel on various undertakings requiring fluorescence imaging and we’ve used it ourselves to do counts of newly settled Acropora palmata larvae on preconditioned limestone blocks.
A few weeks ago Last spring Dr. Mazel took his fluorescence shinies over to Oceans Reefs and Aquariums and he left with a nice fluorescence photo shoot of the various corals growing at the ORA Farm. Green and orange fluorescence are from fluorescent pigments and the red coloration is from the fluorescence of Chlorophyll from algae, which is precisely why all the soft corals and walls appear red. If you want to see more, we strongly suggest that you visit the ORA blog where you’ll find a whole spread of fluorescent coral pictures.
