walla2butterfly":2s2aspzg said:
Well I guess I just give up on trying to get anything going on this forum. Just aint happening or wasnt meant to be
Tami
wow, i'm really sorry about missing this. i've been checking "new posts" all week, and saw olaf's post about missing chat saturday, but somehow i overlooked this thread and your question.
As with a lot of the material covered in this course, much of it is at the "edge of the envelope" where some is known on these topics, and a lot isn't. So, with that in mind, realize that while real-world data is sparse and sketchy, true scientific data about captive reef settings like aquaria are almost entirely extrapolated.
So a few considerations:
First of all, the roles of carotenoids and xanthophylls in photosynthesis are fairly recent knowledge. Second of all, their
specific roles in various zooxanthellae are completely unknown. A third consideration is that zooxanthellae pigment distribution can be variable even within species; this is evident by corals of the same species with different coloration.
What this all adds up to is the possiblity/probability that xanthophylls and carotenoids are playing SOME role in photosynthesis in corals. The exact role is unknown, but based on the odd absorption spectrum of many corals it's likely... and therefore a consideration in terms of covering the entire natural spectrum, even though one can certainly weigh the spectrum for aesthetic purposes.
