the colors of corals

[525]

hallo.. this is my first post here.. I use to read this very interesting forum..
but now I need your help ..
the problem is the colors of corals … for example .. when I bought my ancora the tips was totally green but now is light green .. the same happen with my montiporas the same with my mushrooms .. they lose color . .
they are growing well almost all of them except xenia and hystrix
.. xenia stop growing after 2-3 weeks .. still alive ..
.. hystrix not growing but still alive
.. Stylophora growing very fast. .
my water parameters is ok ..
my lighting system is 3X250 MH 14000K 2X58 T8 actinic ..everything is Arcadia .. replace every 6 months …
.. do you thing the total spectrum may be the problem? something else?

Thank you in advance

 

[coil1002]

Welcome to Reef Frontiers

What size is your tank ?

 

[Krish]

Welcome to RF! Sorry to hear your corals are losing their color. How long have you had them in your tank? If they are newly added, what was the lighting like on the tank they came from? It is quite possible they haven't adjusted to a possible change in intesity from the tank they came from into yours if not acclimated properly. That's the first thing that came to mind when I saw the amount of wattage you are running, but then again we don't know the size tank so it may be just right. You said your parameters were ok. Any way you can post some figures? May be something there someone may be able to pick up on as to why things are as they are...Just a few thoughts. I hope you get sorted out really soon

 

[525]

Thank you for replies !!!
my tank is 200X70X70 cm
about 800 lt of water
I start stoking corals one year now .. but the most of them are in my aquarum 4-8 months now
and they came from T5 lights
in my tank I have
sal 1025 refract meter
ca 440-450 salifert
d kh 9.5 salifert
mag 1350 salifert
ph 7.85-8.05 pin point

strontium 0.0 salifert ..

I don’t have sump and I over use anti phos and activate carbon in a canister filter
.. I have 2 Remora for skimming..
.. do you thing is limitation of nutrients the problem..?
thank you

 

["Umm fish?"]

I think you're right. I think they're starving. Light alone can't provide all that a coral needs (except maybe with some zoathids). You might try feeding a little more in general, and maybe with some really small zooplankton. It can't hurt as long as you keep up on water changes.

But, it's hard to say. Can you remember any changes to your system about the time the colors started to slide?

 

[morgan]

i think u need to cut back on the carbon it takes lots of trace elements out do u dose with a trace element soloution,
i had a canister filter gave it to a mate doing freshwater...soon to be a salty
canister filters are nitrate traps it u use one just put phosban or phozorb and a little amout of carbon
i dont use eaither anymore just good husbandry

 

[525]

Thanks everybody for the useful answers :idea: …
i will make some changes…

 

[Anthony Calfo]

and then there is the light issue: impossible to have one light suit all such unnaturally mixed corals (the garden reef displays have corals from a wide range of the reef) and these lights in particular are best suited for deep water LPS, not shallow colorful sps that need more daylight and more UV exposure. The long term solution is to have a more natural grouping of corals, my friend.

This lighting scheme is fab for Scolymia, Trachyphllia, most corallimorphs, deep water zoanthids (Palythoa and Protopalythoa species), LPS like Euphylliids, red/brown/pink Mussids, Lobophyllia, et cetera.

 

[coil1002]

Good reading here

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-08/ac/feature/index.php

 

[Anthony Calfo]

much obliged for the dig/link

 

[525]

Thanks everybody for your help :idea: :idea:

as far I can understand with my poor English ..
for best results on sps growing I have go to 10000K or less

 

["Umm fish?"]

Anthony--If I may ask, which part are you objecting to on his lights? The 250W halides or the 14,000K color?

I'm using 250W 20,000K halides on a 24" deep tank with no loss of color. My growth rate may not be maxed out, but I'm willing to put up with that for the gorgeous show (it's a display tank and not a propogation tank, after all).

 

[Anthony Calfo]

Anthony--If I may ask, which part are you objecting to on his lights? The 250W halides or the 14,000K color?

 

[Anthony Calfo]

Anthony--If I may ask, which part are you objecting to on his lights? The 250W halides or the 14,000K color?

the real concern here is species selection... the mix is just too wide of a range. Theres no way to have optimal color of shallow water Pocilloporids while keeping deep water Acroporids (the Montipora species) and deep(er) corallimorphs. I would expect the latter to look much better under such heavy blue lamps... excellent for Euphyliids, Blastos, Acans, shrooms, zoanthids, Montis... but not shallow Acro species or shallow Poci family species.

 

[coil1002]

much obliged for the dig/link

It’s a great article and has made me change the way I think when stocking a tank. I do enjoy the term "Garden reef" and have adopted the use of it.

Luckily I am just getting back into the hobby so I have a 29 gal with very few animals in it. So I am able to choose corals that would actually be together in the ocean. I have a 14k bulb so I am sticking with deeper water corals. I am not too fond of sps any way.

 

["Umm fish?"]

Okay. Thanks for the clarification!

 

[Anthony Calfo]

hard to say... but its in the ballpark if you have a lingering amount of nitrates (5ppm or so).