Brain Coral color change

[tike]

Just wondering if anyone has had this happen to them. I bought this brain coral about 8 months ago. About 2 months ago it started to fade from it's red color to pink. It is expanding fully and contracting at night with tenacles exposed. It still has a healthy appetite. I did have a small high calcium problem but the color change happened efore that. I am not real worried about it since it is still behaving properly but just curious as to whether anyone out here has had this happen to them?? I attached before and after pics.
My params are 1.025 salinty, alk 8.4 DKH, calcium 450ppm, Mag 1580, temp 78-80F,pH 7.9-8.1, 20 gallon tank with DSB and 250 watt MH lighting 15K XM bulb.
Thanks!
willie

 

[matts125]

what kind of light do you have, how many watts and how many gallons?

almost looks like its under too much light but just a guess.


Matt

 

[tike]

Stated above. It was under 400 watt 20k bulbs at the lfs for about a month.

 

[matts125]

I may be wrong but 250 watts seems way too much for a 20 gallon, my guess is the brain is bleaching from too much light, you might want to either upsize the tank or downsize your halide to a 175w.

Just my opinion..

Matt

 

[tike]

I also have high light loving sps so........i don't think i wanna do that and harm them. I have the brain on the bottom in half shade. I too thought that maybe it was too much light but my buddy has one in a 30 with 250 MH on the bottom and in the light and it kept it's color. He's had his for over a year now.

 

[steve-s]

Each coral will repond differently and bleaching time varies. Some will bleach in days/weeks while other months. The above coral is in the process of bleaching from what I can see. Along with that, your pH is a tad on the low side.

If you cannot give the coral more shade and protect it from the light intensity, you should consider returning or trading it. The difference between your set up and your firiends could easily be the difference in height (object to light source). A 30 gal vs a 20 gal, the height of the light suspended above the tank as well as substrate depth (DSB vs ?).

Do you use any PO4 binding products?

Cheers
Steve

 

[Anthony Calfo]

agreed... the ph is (way) low. Especially so if this is a daytime pH reading. Try never to drop below 8.3 at night.

But as for the coral... clearly stress induced bleaching here. It could be the effects of long term excessive light (waaaaay too much light here for the tank overall). I expect other corals to show signs of stress in time. It's commonly misunderstood that photoinhibition can take its time slowy over a period of months and does not always happen suddenly). Or the coral could be responding to a severe increase in light as with an overdue water change recently, change of carbon or cleaning of dusty/dirty lamps or lenses that allowed a lot more light in.

This 20 gall only needs 100-150 watts of light to keep any(!) coral available in the hobby trade. The fact that this 250 watt lamp is so blue (low PAR) has bee a saving grace IMO.

For perspective... my 120 gall Tongan reef display was 440 watts of VHO and grows sps as well as LPS with fab colors.

Lighting is sadly used to excess too often among aquarists. Do consider it my friend.

 

[matts125]

Hey Anthony, a quick question for you about my lighting. I have a 120 gallon that is 30'' deep, is 2- 250 watt 10k halides along with and ice cap 660 pushing 4-4' vhos?? works out to about 964 watts.. (max)


Matt

 

[Anthony Calfo]

your two 250-watt halides are fine and appropriate for a tank of this size.

but the VHOs are wholly unecssary. In fact, if you unplug the halides and just test the lux of tghe VHOs in the water at say 18" depth... you will be very disappointed. You will then unplug the VHOs and save the electricty.

VHOs (like T5s) can be great color and quality lights... but they are really only good at penetrating the top 12" or so of water in aquaria ('tis where I have my Tongan corals mounted).

My advice here is for you to only use enough VHO blue to satisfy your aesthetic preferece for blue light and/or dusk-dawn effects.

 

[matts125]

Anthony, I use them to get the right color of blue, I wasn't satisfied with the 10k bulbs.. Thanks for the advice...


Matt

 

[sandmantis64]

anthony, i've read alot of your inputs/threads. you always seem to know the right answers. i felt my light was to bright, 130w orbit generic set-up. i'm moving brain to more shade, three days new and still not fully opened up. thanx again, devoted reefer.

 

[Katchupoy]

My 02 cents. My friend has the same situation like yours.
And the only common thing between you two is the XM 15K light. I suggest you to try a diff temp of bulb.