Anyone keeping green monti cap under 14k Phoenix or 13k Gieseman MH Lamps?

[Homeytwist]

Hey everyone, I've got a few green monti cap frags that have gone from green when I picked them up to a light tan color and have stayed that way for a number of months and are currently under a 10k Ushio lamp with ATI Blue+ T5 supplementation. (thread here: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2098094) I've slowly been working through the possible reasons for the color change such as light intensity, water chemistry etc. and I'm down to the color temp of the light source. I'm considering changing the MH lamp to something cooler like a Phoenix 14k or Gieseman 13k Megrachrome and I'm wondering if any of you are running these lamps and keeping green monti cap that are actually green?

Thanks in advance

 

[baskin]

Looks like too much light.mine gets the brightest color on the bottom of the tank. Almost a green blue shade

 

[baskin]

By the way. Mine are under 20k 250 mh

 

[Homeytwist]

I don't beleive it's an issue of too much light as I took one of the frags and put it on the sand bed, in the corner, and left it there for 2-3 months. Growth slowed to a crawl but no color change. Besides, I've only got a single 250w MH lamp and 50w of T5 over a 24x30x24 tank so I don't think I've got TOO much light...

Good to know you're seeing desired color from a 20k lamp. I've considered going to a 20k but they don't make the 250w Radium in a DE format...

 

[allsps40]

I have 3 different types of green caps and all are fairly high up under 250W 20K lighting. It could be too much light to soon or it could be pale from lack of nutrients.

 

[keon]

What brand of salt are you using for wc's?

 

[Homeytwist]

I'm using standard IO salt. If you'd like to see the water chemistry discussions please see the accompanying thread here: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2098094

 

[eww]

We have a monti that has always been a chocolate milkshake brown with a white rim under T5 lights. We actually liked it that way. We moved a frag of it into a different tank under 150w Phoenix 14K MH and it turned green.

 

[Winwood]

Here are some green monti caps I was keeping under a combination of 14k phoenix bulbs and a 20k radium.

 

[acropora1981]

My three types of montipora cap. Looked like that when I was keeping my tank too clean; like undetectable n and p. I solved the issue by adding fish and letting nitrate climb to about 1 ppm and phosphate very low, but not undetectable. I used potassium nitrate to test my theory before adding additional bioload.

 

[Homeytwist]

The low nutrient issue could be a possibility.... My 90gal system has a grand total of three fish (an azure damsel, a clown, and a small kole tang) and they're fed pretty lightly so very little bioload. I've never read any detectable amount of nitrates or phosphates... Guess I need to get some more fish! Now to find some reef-safe, invert safe fish that aren't prone to jumping from open tanks! :lmao:

Winwood, eww, thanks for the feedback. If I can find a deal on a phoenix lamp I may throw that back in for fun.

 

[Bill@IA]

Hey everyone, I've got a few green monti cap frags that have gone from green when I picked them up to a light tan color and have stayed that way for a number of months and are currently under a 10k Ushio lamp with ATI Blue+ T5 supplementation. (thread here: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2098094) I've slowly been working through the possible reasons for the color change such as light intensity, water chemistry etc. and I'm down to the color temp of the light source. I'm considering changing the MH lamp to something cooler like a Phoenix 14k or Gieseman 13k Megrachrome and I'm wondering if any of you are running these lamps and keeping green monti cap that are actually green?

Thanks in advance

Both of those bulbs will work but you are going to need quite a bit more Actinic supplementation with the Giesemann Marine 13 K bulb. I have used both. I had the same issue with a Monti Cap going to a tan colour from green. Turns out it was lack of nutrient.

 

[allsps40]

The low nutrient issue could be a possibility.... My 90gal system has a grand total of three fish (an azure damsel, a clown, and a small kole tang) and they're fed pretty lightly so very little bioload. I've never read any detectable amount of nitrates or phosphates... Guess I need to get some more fish! Now to find some reef-safe, invert safe fish that aren't prone to jumping from open tanks! :lmao:

Winwood, eww, thanks for the feedback. If I can find a deal on a phoenix lamp I may throw that back in for fun.

Yep sounds like you need to feed more. You dont have to get more fish just feed the ones you have a little more and feed the tank a good coral food like Reef Roids.

 

[Tater11]

here's some of my monti garden before the crash under phoenix 14k de

 

[Homeytwist]

Thanks for the shots Tater11, confirms for me that the desired color is acheivable under a 14k Phoenix lamp. Not necessarily my problem, but atleast that's one more variable I can eliminate (going to LFS today to pick up a 14k Phoenix).

As for the feeding, I've recently started exprimenting with feeding the corals and the LPS in particular. A buddy had some Coral Frenzy which I tried and seemed to go well so I've got that on hand now which I to target feed once very week or two.

On the topic of low nutrient levels, I've also noticed in the last couple months that my LPS (branching hammer and Candy Cane / Trumpet) is not expanding as much as it used to. They are still growing very quickly but the flesh doesn't seem to inflate nearly as much as before. Also, the Trumpet and Favia have been attempting to feed WAY more than they ever did before with polyps coming out before the lights are even out and still out after the lights have come back on in the morning. In my mind the expansion of the LPS could be either nutrient related or it could be due to the change in color temperature of the lamp. The feeding of the LPS though would suggest to me that there are fewer nutrients in the water column and are trying to make up for that by feeding. Am I interpreting this behaviour correctly?

 

[allsps40]

There is no question that the Phoenix 14K is a great bulb. Unless it is time to change your bulbs out I would not go and get a new one just in hopes of better color. I use Oddysea 250W DE 20K bulbs now, used to run Phoenix. But after testing both bulbs with an Apogee meter the $10 Oddysea bulbs perform almost exactly the same as $80 Phoenix bulbs, only different was the Phoenix spread the PAR out a little farther.
As for feeding just increase feeding, I feed 3-5 times a week and I feed coral food 1-2 a week. I do fairly light feeding as I only have 3 fish as well 2 Clowns, yellow tail damsel and a red head nano goby in my 75G. If LPS are extending their feeding polyps them they are wanting food. My trumpet, orange acan and tracaphilia (spelling?) extend at night to feed so I try to do a night feeding once in a while. If your euphilia/hammer coral is not opening up so much it may be getting to much flow, mine was unhappy until I moved it between 2 large rock with low flow around it.