coral changing colors

[justforfun]

well i have a 75dt with 2x250 hqi and 2 t-5.....all coral grows great and amazing colors....when i take frags and put in my 40b frag tank (1 250 mogul 4x power compacts) after about a month the nice sps frags turn a dull brown.....still have amazing growth & encrusting & polyp exstension but they loose all color......i try to make sure there at the same hieght when fragged....all other zoas and lps stay the same color just my milis & acros.....some montis (rainbows & shamrock).....
i was thinking its too much light? i did the math for watts per gallon
DT- 7 watts per gallon
Frag tank- 9 watts per gallon
plan #1 is to put some new trimmings on bottom of tank
plan #2 new light

 

[Sasquatch]

dull brown over time equals nitrates

 

[justforfun]

i should mention there all in same system....same turnover rate in both tanks......so dont think its anything with water parms.... mother colony are bright and vivid

 

[Sasquatch]

hmmm? only leaves lighting really but I don't see that as a brown out, do both tanks have substrates? is one older than the other?

 

[justforfun]

bare bottom....over 1 year old on frag tank....2 on display tank....

 

[Sasquatch]

only leaves the obvious lol

 

[justforfun]

thanks for your input i just wanted to get second opinion.... i moved some lower but its wierd all my setosa, rainbow montis, rainbow acro, ice tort look great. but my birdsnest , millis & 2 diff acros just brown out.....they are still very alive and growing just no color....the tank does have a algae issue like i would think it would if lights were not putting out right spectrum....i really dont wanna trow 150$ worth of new bulbs at the fixture to have it do no diff......really contemplating on leds......building a led light for seahorse tank(55gal) now so maybe just have to switch it up and build one for frag tank instead

 

[tat2z_21]

Let me know if you go that route

 

[mojoreef]

Look at it this way. You have to loom at sps and similar light dependant corals as farmers. In order to get the energy they need they use Zoox, so as an example coral A has 100 zoox that supplies the the energy they require or growth, and so on, and thus these 100 zoox are receiving an amount of photons from the light you have over them. So you end up with X amount of light photons times the amount of zoox = what you got in the tank with the better lights.

Now you take that coral out of that tank and put it under the tank with less lights?? Whats just happened?? now the 100 zoox are getting less photons and thus are giving the coral less energy?? So whats a farmer got to do to get back what it has been getting and what it needs? Simple add more zoox so their is more of them working and they go from 100 zoox process say 1000 photons to 150 zoox processing 750 photons. Make sense??

Mike

 

[Sasquatch]

Look at it this way. You have to loom at sps and similar light dependant corals as farmers. In order to get the energy they need they use Zoox, so as an example coral A has 100 zoox that supplies the the energy they require or growth, and so on, and thus these 100 zoox are receiving an amount of photons from the light you have over them. So you end up with X amount of light photons times the amount of zoox = what you got in the tank with the better lights.

Now you take that coral out of that tank and put it under the tank with less lights?? Whats just happened?? now the 100 zoox are getting less photons and thus are giving the coral less energy?? So whats a farmer got to do to get back what it has been getting and what it needs? Simple add more zoox so their is more of them working and they go from 100 zoox process say 1000 photons to 150 zoox processing 750 photons. Make sense??

Mike

so your saying there are more zoox under less light and they are brown?

 

[justforfun]

ummmmmm......not quite sure if im taking this is right.......but my main display(7watts per gallon) (where i frag my mother corals) then put in frag tank(9 watts per gallon).......are you saying that the frag tank light might not be putting out enough light or too much.... enless i have done my math wrong i would think they would be getting too much light

 

[Sasquatch]

ummmmmm......not quite sure if im taking this is right.......but my main display(7watts per gallon) (where i frag my mother corals) then put in frag tank(9 watts per gallon).......are you saying that the frag tank light might not be putting out enough light or too much.... enless i have done my math wrong i would think they would be getting too much light

lol, must be your math

 

[justforfun]

dt
2x250 mh
2x54 watt t5
608 watts / 75 = 8.1watts per gallon
frag tank
1x250 mh
4x 65 watt power compact
510 watts /40 = 12.75 watts per gallon


so my math was off a bit but still around the same diff. of watts per gallon......

what are most people running on a 40b....

 

[Sasquatch]

the wpg thing is not relevant any more, t5ho's are crap without good reflectors, pc's are crap anyway you use them lol, the dt has overlapping MH lights and t5, the frag has 1 mh and some algae growers, by the numbers you look to be winning but its just like life, a good wife will say your the best even when haha

 

[mojoreef]

Watts per gallon has little to do with what a zoo needs in order to complete a photosynthetic cycle. Within the zoo their are two primary pigments (yellow and green) these pigments require colors within a certain wave length we call that PUR. So even thought you are getting more wpg its not in the our range the zoo requires for photo.

The brown comes into play because when the coral adds zoo it also would be adding more of the pigments in it. And when you mix yellow and green you get?????? Yep..... brown


Mojo

Sent from my AT100 using Tapatalk

 

[NC2WA]

and for those that want more reading on PUR and the difference between PAR vs PUR, this article by Sanjay Joshi might be helpful:

Aquarium Frontiers On-Line: Feature

 

[justforfun]

so its probaly the diff. between a 1000$ light vs a 200$ light?....so maybe the bulbs are my issue?......cause i thought power is power just depends on how its broadcasted....then in my mind the bulbs must not be at right spectrum.... or im i missing something?...mike what would you suggest my plan should be?.....NEW LIGHT? or waste money on new bulbs?

THANKS FOR ALL THE HELP!!!!!

 

[justforfun]

i know the bulbs are all less then 1 year old... so maybe ill sell the light to a plant grower and build the led setup i want....


so with that said who wants to help design a economical led setup for a 40b 36x18.....
i wanna beable to grow everything in there
i dont want to have multiple channels to dim just on/off
i have a apex to control the lights....

 

[NC2WA]

i would agree that the bulbs are not at the correct spectrum and that new bulbs or light system that CAN give you that spectrum needs to be purchased.

 

[justforfun]

yah i kinda expected this.....oh well it has worked for the time being now its just a rush to build a light lol....good thing this community is awesome with helping fellow reefers out.....
THANKS REEF FRONTIERS