Acan going crayola

[nanoreefer14]

Hi RC,
I bought a few acan lords from a friend of mine and one of them in particular has been grabbing my attention lately. It was 100% red when i recieved it, and the past few days it has been turning orange in some areas, as well as a greenish color in other areas. It has only been in my reef for about about two weeks. Is this normal, bleaching, extremely rare and awesome, or what? Im not freaking out since I only paid $7 for the frag, Im just curious as I have never kept an acan before. Take a look...

 

[Tweaked]

nope normal as they settle in after shipping or being cut. Looks healthy

 

[Reef Frog]

Kinds of sounds like your regular "Grade A" acan is morphing into a rainbow variety.

It seems the opposite more often happens - Rainbows losing some coloration over time, turning into Grade A.

 

[nanoreefer14]

My buddy had the frag for about three months or so before I bought it from him. His frag tank was under a kessil that looked to be putting off around 15,000k. My reef is under T5HO with pure actinics. Could it be that the actinics are what is bringing out the new coloration?

 

[nanoreefer14]

This was taken within 15 minutes of introducing it into my reef when I was running one actinic and one 10,000K, but notice how red the polyps were. There is not a trace of another color.

 

[Whiterabbitrage]

There used to be someone on RC that kept the most amazing Acans. She said one of her secrets was bluer lighting.

 

[Reefstarter2]

LEDs do not make acans happy in my experience. And t5 brings out the true color of them

 

[Reef Frog]

My buddy had the frag for about three months or so before I bought it from him. His frag tank was under a kessil that looked to be putting off around 15,000k. My reef is under T5HO with pure actinics. Could it be that the actinics are what is bringing out the new coloration?

I'm not sure what true actinic (380nm-420nm) bulbs can do, but it sounds plausible enough. Now that I think about it, I don't think the zooalanthae reponsible for coloration could change that rapidly. If you had a fixture in another wavelength a little test could tell you for sure.

How long have you run 100% Actinic over LPS & other coral in this tank? Is that a good thing to do long term?

 

[Tweaked]

I am currently running an experiment on a tank that only runs blues- absolutely no whites, reds, etc. This is on a species only scloymia tank in which the corals typically are deeper and only see the blue light. This is true for allot of LPS.

my species only tank build:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2529896

 

[nanoreefer14]

How long have you run 100% Actinic over LPS & other coral in this tank? Is that a good thing to do long term?

I have been currently running pure actinics over them for about two weeks. I usually switch it up between two actinic bulbs, and one actinic bulb with a 15,000K bulb (I have a two-bulb fixture). I have tested the two spectrums out over a period of time in the past and It seemed like my corals grew slightly faster under the lower spectrum, but the higher spectrum brought out more color in the corals. I have just never seen one change color like the acan has in the past two weeks. As far as long term under actinics, Im not completely sure. I usually only run the actinics for a couple months straight. Mostly because I get bored of the look.

 

[nanoreefer14]

I am currently running an experiment on a tank that only runs blues- absolutely no whites, reds, etc. This is on a species only scloymia tank in which the corals typically are deeper and only see the blue light. This is true for allot of LPS.

my species only tank build:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2529896

Awesome tank man! Im gonna tag along and see how it goes

 

[Patwa]

Hi RC,
I bought a few acan lords from a friend of mine and one of them in particular has been grabbing my attention lately. It was 100% red when i recieved it, and the past few days it has been turning orange in some areas, as well as a greenish color in other areas. It has only been in my reef for about about two weeks. Is this normal, bleaching, extremely rare and awesome, or what? Im not freaking out since I only paid $7 for the frag, Im just curious as I have never kept an acan before. Take a look...
View attachment 331360

multi-colour a. lordhowensis will completely turn to varying shades of red/orange when exposed to too much light (ie. not too much that they'll bleach, mind you)

Seems yours are getting just the right amount of light and in the correct spectrum to allow the animal to return to its normal colouration.

 

[mr9iron]

Great job, that Acan looks beautiful.

 

[Reef Frog]

Tweaked

That's one of the coolest displays I've ever seen. How long has it been running?

I understand now the logic of running all blues for deep water species. What's your opinion on doing that with the full range of Stoney corals available to us in the hobby. I've noticed some folks, including a LFS are running all blues nowadays. They are running 100% blue on everything from acans , acros to zoamthids. I would think that it might be a risky choice for some shallow water species. Any thoughts on that?

 

[Tweaked]

Tweaked

That's one of the coolest displays I've ever seen. How long has it been running?

I understand now the logic of running all blues for deep water species. What's your opinion on doing that with the full range of Stoney corals available to us in the hobby. I've noticed some folks, including a LFS are running all blues nowadays. They are running 100% blue on everything from acans , acros to zoamthids. I would think that it might be a risky choice for some shallow water species. Any thoughts on that?

I have had it up maybe two months now, bud had most of the specimens were in a frag tank awaiting transfer under the same ai prime. The frag tank however was running a full spectrum setup and 78-79 degrees. At first, the animals looked shocked, I wasn't sure if it was the 74-75 degree water, the loss of full spectrum lighting, or just the new tank. I have however, been seeing amazing results the past two weeks with full plump colorful specimens.

 

[Ohioreef1700]

from my experience the scans change color pigments depending on light levels.

 

[Tweaked]

from my experience the scans change color pigments depending on light levels.

trace elements additionally

 

[nanoreefer14]

Here is an update. Its getting more and more orange

 

[Mark9]

I have been currently running pure actinics over them for about two weeks.

Just what kind of lights do you have?
Actinics is a supplemental bulb, not full spectrum.

 

[Tweaked]

Just what kind of lights do you have?
Actinics is a supplemental bulb, not full spectrum.

Yes and we just went over this. Specifically to a scoly only tank build I have- see post above. Blue is the last light to reach coral before blackness, and most LPS are deep and on the shady sides of the reef. Some of us are seeing increased colors and health running just blue light on LPS. On the flip side, I am not seeing algae :thumbsup: