Bought Brown... How long will it take to color up.

[Mock]

I have been reef keeper for years now but never really dabbled in the SPS category...

I set up a tank a while back to make it just an SPS tank and try to mimic some of the awesome tanks I have seen. I also knew that I didnt have the money or the know how to keep the 75 dollar frags at the LFS safe or at least if I bought one I didnt want to lose it to a noob act so... I went online and purchased a pack of acros.

The acros came in half brown to brown.... My question is how long does it normally take to color them back up.

250w 14k MH
Ni, Na, Po, 0
Alk 7.5
Cal 480
temp 78.8-80

 

[cubman20]

1-2 months if the water and lghts are up to par. Thats what it takes mine to color up when i get them brown.

 

[Dave71]

1-2 months if the water and lghts are up to par. Thats what it takes mine to color up when i get them brown.

+ 1

 

[mike_cmu04]

ya it wont color up fast it will take time.

 

[sanababit]

yeap, if everything is up to par and parameters are ok, then it will color up in time, all you need is patience, lol

Sana

 

[buy_baff]

I agree 1 or 2 months that is if things are ideal and the corals are bug free.

 

[Mock]

I am excited to see the progression of these and watch them morph into pretty pieces...

Thanks for the comments... They have given me hope.

 

[r.d.m]

it depends why the sps went brown in the first place,if it was due to bad lighting but the water conditions were good they will colour up in a couple of weeks,if the water conditions were poor(high nutrient) it can take many months for them to colour up
Mock,how do you test your phosphate,a test kit or hanna checker?most test kits that read 0 are far from it,with a hanna checker you need a phosphate level below 0.05ppm, higher than that they will never colour up,even the salifert kits are not accurate enough

 

[manix man]

Is'nt there another thing here. Could these corals not be a very good colour in the first place. Haven't got a clue how you would confirm that. I guess If the other sps corals in your tank have good colour and these don't develop after the couple of months you could take it they are poor colour varients?

 

[Reef Bass]

I've seen some acros color up in as little as a month while other have taken over a year, both coming from the same distressed tank (why they were brown) and placed in the same new tank. The ones that took really long didn't grow much but when they finally did start forming new projections, the new growth was beautifully colored.

 

[tozzi]

I've seen some acros color up in as little as a month while other have taken over a year, both coming from the same distressed tank (why they were brown) and placed in the same new tank. The ones that took really long didn't grow much but when they finally did start forming new projections, the new growth was beautifully colored.

+1.

I had a few brown pieces i got for a steal. After 5 months new branches and old tips had a nice color and eventually about a year later the whole color colored up a little too. Never got as bright as the new growth though.

 

[Mock]

Here are a few shots just so you can see what they look like now

 

[Mock]

These were from Dr. Mac's..... I believe that the vat they keep the frags in are chemicaly okay but they are kept under normal sunlight... this I would think would cause the brown on them..

 

[Mock]

http://www.pacificeastaquaculture.com/RetailOutlet.aspx

if this is really the look of the place... They didnt look algae burned or anything just brown from lighting issues b/c they still had some color on the tips.

 

[TheDean]

I've had some change within weeks, but just recent experience. Your alk is on the low side it seems. Don't know if that's the issue, but 7 is definitely on the low end.

 

[Gold Stripe]

They will also color up at different rates. That birdsnest and slimer should color up fairly quickly if conditions are right. The other acros and deep water will take a while at best.

 

[Mock]

Any other info would be helpful like what to make sure I do to get faster colors or maybe someone has had luck supplementing something to speed up the process. Anything I can learn would be beneficial.

 

[cubman20]

mine were all brown heres some picks now

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[chessmanmark]

Lighting is a big factor. When I got into SPS I bought a few frag packs from Reefermadness. They came with great color and shortly browned out. I believe they took wild colonies and then clipped and shipped them. They also kept their corals under 400w 20K bulbs so my 250's couldn't keep up.

 

[Mock]

mine were all brown heres some picks now

View attachment 122567

View attachment 122568

View attachment 122569

How long did it take yours to color up?