Coral coloring.

I was wondering what you fine folks do to get the color back in your sps.Alot of mine seemed to lose most of there color over a period of a few months.I changed my bulbs from reflux 20k-175 mh to hamilton 14ks.I then moved alot of them from my 150 to my 75 and that is when they went from not bad/not as good to bad.I didn't lose anything in the move and some have colored back up but most seem to still be browned out kinda.I switched the bulbs back to the 20ks and it helped a little but maybe it's just the color difference.I aplogize for the long post and thank you for all and any help.
thanks,
Daniel

 

doylef4i

the type of lighting the coral is under can influence the colour of the symbiotic algae
the same coral or frag from mother colony could take on a completely different appearance from a frag from the same mother colony in a different set up under different conditions

so lighting is important in determining the eventual colour of the SPS

Brown out can be caused by a number of factors

difference in lighting from 1 tank to another, can cause enough symbiotic algae to vacate said coral and thus change the color of the coral - the more that vacate, the browner the coral will look

nutrients also play an important part - SPS can extract nutrients from the water column
and if these levels are high, then the coral loses some reliance on the symbiotic algaes need to provide for it and browned out corals can grow and grow and not resume their best appearance

water movement , flow can also have a bearing, if the coral is not in an area of sufficient flow, then you can have build up of nutrients localised around the coral, between the branches etc and again this creates an enviroment where the coral can obtain sufficient needs without an excessive amount of symbiotic algae


IME
A low nutrient system, with good flow and adequate lighting, has been all I have needed thus far to take brown/ cream dull coloured corals and then over a period of weeks, even months, the colours will come back

so if your lighting is adequate - which it seems to be to me
I would look at water quality and flow, next

Steve

 

Thanks Steve.I test my water on a reg basis and all seems good.I just added a skimmer. Running a tank with fish and not having one to me is a bad idea.It's been pulling a lot of stuff out but I've been running it wet.Maybe I'll try to get 2 more evo 14's and see if that helps.
Once again,Thanks.
Daniel

 

I am not sure on your timeline of when you moved them from place to place. It takes some of my corals up to 3 months to regain their color after a change. So... when you changed bulbs... that affects them, then switched tanks, then changed bulbs again. All these changes have an affect on color and overall health. Pick a color of bulb and let them adjust. It is not a quick thing.

 

I think there is something to be said for feeding the system. I notice that my coloration really improves when I feed my corals Rod's foods at night, just a very small amount.
It contains so many vegetable products and marine algaes that I believe that it adds some esstential electrolytes that can not be found in trace element supplements.
There is a fine line between adding excess nutrients and feeding the system and fish enough that exhibit a postive outcome, and also keeping the algae and phosphates at bay.
Sps frag tanks always look better to me if they have a few fish in them.

 

I will stick with bulbs because I like how the look and the growth appears to be good.I'm not sure on par levels for my setup but they seemed to be doing good before.I only replaced them originally because it was time to replace the bulbs.
Thanks.
Daniel

 

Very interesting.Which rods food would you recommend?I just bought some cyclopeze-do you think that might help?And should I always feed at night?
Thank you for your help.
Daniel

 

Blue Lable has a F on it.

I feed cyclopeez for along time, but not until I tried Rod's did I notice a difference. It also has Oyster pearls and pretty much every other food recommend for acropora and other sps.
I feed it every three days. Target the lps in the day and a small amount in the evening after the lights have been out for a couple of hours.
The acorpora really show the PE about an hour after I introduce it to the system.

 

I'll pick some up this week.

 

Here are the main things that determines color. HTH

1) parameter stability (pH, temp, Ca, dKH, phosphate, photoperiod )

2) adequate alternating flow and lighting

3) Run Carbon and Skim well

The main thing is to keep everything as stable as possible. Temperature swings has an affect on pH. Also, I like to keep temperatures below 83 degrees at all times, even in the hot summer months. In the winter, my temperature stays between 76 - 79 degrees and everything is much more stable in the winter vs the summer.

Some people like to run certain supplements to try and reduce the nutrients. I personally don't suggest and nutrient reducers besides GFO, which you should still use it very slowly. Nutrient reducers can obviously strip the nutrients in the system if it is used to fast. When the nutrients are stripped, the corals will look very pale. Branches will look very thin and weak to go along with no polyp extension.

Not to go into too much detail but the polyp eats the phytoplankton off of the water column. Adequate flow allows nutrients to reach the polyp along with keeping the tissue from growing over the tunnels that the polyp uses to extend out of the acropora skeleton. If the polyp cannot extend out of the acropora skeleton (usually much more at night vs the day) than it cannot eat.

Now, the tissue that grows on the outside of the acropora skeleton is a type of algae called zooxanthellae. This tissue has a certain organelle similar to the chloroplast in plants which allows photosynthesis to occur. The tissue produces waste which feed the polyp. The polyp's waste also provides nutrients for the tissue.

Here is a few resources for information in acropora. The first one is only 2 pages long but the second file is 202 pages and 4.85 GB

http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/pdfs/species/acropora_factsheet.pdf

This article is another about acropora corals in the atlantic ocean. It is just another reminder of why we need to further educate everybody about how to raise these wonderful creatures in captivity.

http://www.reefrelieffounders.com/s...antic-Acropora-Status-Review-March-3-2005.pdf