SPS Color Question..

[kirru]

Ok, so I have a few SPS in my tank... well a lot actually... besides the one that were green upon purchase or were browned out... they seem to turn green... take for instance, I have a ORA Red Planet from a member... got it at the frag meet... just a little over a month later... it is turn green, didn't notice it till it fell over and the polyps retracted..

What is the reason behind this?

Though, I do have an acro, or is it a milli, anyway, it was brown, turned green, and now has a slight hint of purple in it, looks awesome.. but besides that, what is making them turn... green?

 

[weaglereefer]

I know if you take the glass shields off of DE fixtures you can turn stuff green!



And also, I think green is one of the easier colors for the photosynthetic zooanthell (sp?) to produce. Don't know the chemistry behind either one, but I'm pretty sure I remember reading both of those explanations somewhere.

 

[kirru]

not halides so that couldn't be it, it is a 4x39w T5s with bulbs that are 6-8 months old.. it is probably time to replace anyway but waiting for another power buy that will be just bulbs or the like.

i was just reading an article/talk_log by Steve Tyree on the subject of coral colors.

http://www.reefs.org/library/talklog/s_tyree_060202.html">http://www.reefs.org/library/talklog/s_tyree_060202.html</a>

wonder how hard it would be to get him as a speaker for one of the ARC meetings.. that would be amazing.

 

[weaglereefer]

Nah, everyone would have the same question: "How do I get colors like in Mojo, Big D, Acroholic, and Darren's tanks?"

 

[kirru]

au01st;482154 wrote: Nah, everyone would have the same question: "How do I get colors like in Mojo, Big D, Acroholic, and Darren's tanks?"

Psh... just Acro's tank for me since i have two of his corals

 

[johnr2604]

It could just be that these corals are supposed to be green. I know red planet has a green base with red coralites under the right lighting. Mine fluctuates and tends to turn white and red when I'm getting a lot of growth.

 

[kirru]

hmm, interesting. well even the blue milli from Acroholic is reddish with green but that is ok. looks interesting... the only "true" green sps i have is the green milli from someone lol i forgot who... and the tyree soli is partially green, it has changed to a reddish color now... i'm sure it will go back to green as usual lol

 

[weaglereefer]

I should be able to frag you a bit of my green slimer in another month or two. You want green, that thing is green with the lights off!

 

[kirru]

bahahaha, now that is funny.. if it "glows" in the tank after lights out, that would be freakin awesome to have lmao

 

[honeyb627]

au01st;482166 wrote: I should be able to frag you a bit of my green slimer in another month or two. You want green, that thing is green with the lights off!

I love our Green Slimers from the Frag Meet... they are so beautiful in the blue moonlights and still fairly bright with the regular lights on...

Do you know what the brown acro or milli is from the frag meet? We have 2 that started off as brown and are beginning to shade to green especially in the moonlights. They are pretty as well.

 

[snowmansnow]

ive heard that phosphates can cause that.

i've never tested it or anything, just something that surfaces every once and a while.

anyone else ever hear of that?

 

[ichthyoid]

Everything that I have read indicates 2 things are at work on coloration:

1) The right spectrum and strong enough intensity stimulate production of certain pigments, many of which in essence act as 'sunscreen' for the coral. Blue's/shorter wavelength's especially make this happen.

2) Low nutrients- The presence of too many and/or too large zooxanthellae tend to mask the above pigments. The zooxanthellae which are technically photosynthetic dinoflagellates contain algae, and as such have chlorophylls in them. When the nutrient levels, especially nitrogen/NO3 and phosphorous, in the water are high, this promotes the growth of the zooxanthellae. When that happens they show the natural green/brown colors of the chlorophylls which mask the more colorful/desireable pigments/colors.

What to do?

1) Keep nutrient levels low.

2) feed the corals, using marine snow/plankton products and/or stimulate the growth of bacteria in the tank via carbon dosing. The carbon dosing/bacteria growth will have the added benefit of exporting nutrients via skimming.

3) Light the <u>corals</u> up! Use lots of actinic/blue spectrum, which is directed at the corals. It does not matter if you have 1000 watt halides if your reflector spills 90% of the light onto the walls/carpet in your fish room. This is basic physics.

Contrary to much popular belief, feeding on bacteria/plankton is how coral derive much of their nutrition on low nutrient reefs out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and these also happen to be the most colorful reefs I have ever seen. Please don't just take take my word on this, as there is a lot of research which backs it up. Go look for yourselves.

 

[tromblydavid]

HoneyB627,

I think the green slimer and the brown acro are from my tank. I donated them to the frag swap. I have never been able to get much color out of that acro except for the white tips. Under the right lighting it can have some peach like color too it and a top down view usually shows some other colors like most corals look better from the top.

I don't have a name for it but it can grow in at least two dif formations in my tank. I have some that grows mostly like a stag and another that has tabled out with smaller diameter size branches.

I am betting that it is possoble to get some good color out of it since they usually don't harvest brown acros for sale. I think I bought this one original as a brown out for like $10 but unlike the others which have good colors this one has been slow to respond.

 

[honeyb627]

tromblydavid;482928 wrote: HoneyB627,

I think the green slimer and the brown acro are from my tank. I donated them to the frag swap. I have never been able to get much color out of that acro except for the white tips. Under the right lighting it can have some peach like color too it and a top down view usually shows some other colors like most corals look better from the top.

I don't have a name for it but it can grow in at least two dif formations in my tank. I have some that grows mostly like a stag and another that has tabled out with smaller diameter size branches.

I am betting that it is possoble to get some good color out of it since they usually don't harvest brown acros for sale. I think I bought this one original as a brown out for like $10 but unlike the others which have good colors this one has been slow to respond.

Yep, those are probably the ones. They are very brown with hints of peachunder normal light and a dark green under moonlights. It's fascinating to me to see how differently corals react to different lights. I love it. They are great pieces. I think we have one that will end up branching up and out, and I think the other one will end up tabelling out as you described above. Love them either way, they have been doing very well.

 

[kirru]

I know all the corals I recieved at the frag meet are green, most of which i believe are acros... with one being a redish/orange color, it is a monti though.

the zoas that i got which were a greenish/white color, has started to disaapear but all the other zoas i have are doing great... not sure what is wrong with them but all in all, i believe my nutrients are extremely high as I have a cyano outbreak but i am correcting that, slowly.