Here is a good read that is related to this topic. This does not always apply to corals but for the most part it does because the Photosynthetic proteins are the same. What I find of interest is that not all colors provide the same energy nor do they penetrate water equally. Blue and green light penetrate the water the best and red, orange, and violet not much more then 10m.
Photosynthesis
Photosynthesis takes place within specialized organelles within a plant's cells, called chloroplasts. Plants convert solar light, along with water and carbon dioxide, into chemical energy that the plant uses for growth and nourishment. The solar light consists of photons, or light particles, that have varying wavelengths. Each wavelength within the color spectrum is absorbed or reflected by the plant, depending on the individual color.
Blue Light
Blue light absorbs into a plant's chloroplasts, promoting leaf and vegetative growth, as opposed to green light, which reflects off of a plant's leaves. The blue light wavelength actually causes a plant to respond faster to light stimulation. The chlorophyll, or light-absorbing pigment, within the chloroplast becomes fueled and stimulated. As a result, more solar energy changes into usable chemical energy for growth.
Blue Light Mixed with Red Light
A mixture of blue and red light generates flowering in plants. The red light possesses more energy than the blue light because of the different wavelength values. Adding red light to blue light creates a high energy level, stimulating a plant to reproduce through generating a flower bud. Both of these colors are easily absorbed by a plant's chlorophyll.
Growing Plants
Many gardening enthusiasts enjoy growing plants indoors. Plants naturally clean the air by removing the carbon dioxide and providing expelled oxygen. Growing a plant from a seed requires quality lighting, specifically light that emits blue and red wavelengths. Fluorescent bulbs, with cool white light, have a high level of blue wavelengths that develop seedlings better than other wavelengths. In fact, many light manufacturers create specific grow lights with mainly blue and red wavelength outputs, imitating the sun's light rays. As an alternative, some gardeners use incandescent bulbs. Incandescent lights offer a red wavelength source coupled with orange wavelengths. However, these bulbs generate excess heat, negatively impacting a plant's growth.
Specific Plants
Lighting Laboratory reports that specific plants respond greatly to blue light stimulation. Radishes, spinach, lettuce and wheat exhibited greater growth production compared to other plant types exposed to blue light. In particular, blue light stimulated radishes by encouraging the movement of chemical energy from growing leaves to developing the radish tuber, or root.
Light
Light travels in waves but also as little energy packets called photons. A photon of light contains the entire visible spectrum: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. Plants absorb red, orange, yellow, blue, indigo and violet wavelengths of light but reflect green. When wavelengths of light are absorbed, they are no longer available for eyes to see, which is why plants look green.
Pigments
Pigments absorb light. The pigment chlorophyll, found in green plants, absorbs violet, blue and red wavelengths. Carotenoids absorb red, orange and yellow wavelengths, while phycobilins absorb red and blue wavelengths.
Photosynthesis
During the process of photosynthesis, pigments absorb light and convert it to energy. The energy, along with carbon dioxide and water, is used to make sugar. This sugar molecule bonds with the adenine, a colorless crystalline substance, and three phosphate groups to form the molecule adenosine triphosphate (ATP).
/>Carbon dioxide exists in the air just like oxygen. It's true that plants use carbon dioxide and give off oxygen as a waste product. During photosynthesis, six molecules of carbon dioxide plus six molecules of water plus the light energy yields a molecule of sugar and six molecules of oxygen. The carbon dioxide is broken into its two elements, carbon and oxygen, and water into its component parts, hydrogen and oxygen. The elements carbon and hydrogen recombine with some of the oxygen to form sugar, which the plant uses to grow. The rest of the oxygen is excreted into the air.
Limited Light Spectra
Plants grow best when exposed to the entire visible light spectrum. Scientists experimenting with different colors of light agree that exposing plants to limited light spectra alters the process of photosynthesis. Indoor-plant growers use blue light, because plants exposed to blue light grow better than plants exposed to other wavelengths. Red comes in second and yellow, third. Plants grow badly in green light, which make sense, since green light is the color reflected by plants.
Other Light Phenomenon
Plants with little light exposure grew taller because they are trying to reach the sun. They are also pale in color but change back to green when exposed to more light.
Plants living deep in the ocean aren't exposed to enough sunlight to produce the sugar they need for food. Instead of photosynthesis, they use chemosynthesis. They obtain their energy from sulfates, nitrites, iron compounds and other substances.
