color change in palys

[maggiesaqsup]

Here they are at week one looking realy cool under 220w vho only.

Here they are now bla bla... under 10K MH and 4 96 w vho actinics. I think I should of left them in my frag tank.

Has anyone had any that has done this if so did the color come back?My tangs did do a good job of eating all the weeds off of them.

 

[jjmcat]

I had the same problem when I made the switch.All I did was add a 175 watt hallide.Now this only effected my zoas with orange in them and one frag of blues.

 

[MUCHO REEF]

What you are experiencing is not a color shift in that your coral changed colors. The colors in the second photo is normal when you are running 10 K's, especially Ushios which are yellowish white. Those green palys will look brown in any system with 10 K's. I can assure you this is the case and here's how you can tell.

1. Note the intense purplish coralline on the rock in the first picture. Now look at the background in the second pic. It's simply washed out by the 10 K, this is normal.

2. Note the orange eyes, blue rings and orange skirts in the polyps in the first pic. The color is still there in the second pic, just muted. Why? Nothing more than the 6500 to 10 K spectrum of the bulb. If you go with a 14K or 15K bulb, you color will be much more intense due to a higher K value.

Mucho

 

[maggiesaqsup]

While I agree with you that the 10k color spectrum appears to wash out the color, when I placed them under my 10k's originally it wasn't as green as it was under strictly vho's and now it is all gone. I think I'll try to move them back to my frag tank under vho's and see if the green shows back up.

 

[surfnvb7]

the 10k metal halides definitely *browned out*, or *washed out* the color.

comparing the color of softie corals under VHO's, to 10k's is just a huge shift. you should never expect the same colors under both tanks. just like you shouldnt expect to see the same color under 10k compared to 20k.

you may or may not get the color back. i tried out those new 175w 14k Iwasaki bulbs a while back, and they browned out all of my zoas. i only ran the bulb for a couple of weeks. i've since been running a 20k radium for several months, and i still have certain zoas which still looked very washed out. i'm not too confident they will ever regain the color they once had, at least not for a very long time.

 

[maggiesaqsup]

what is the par for a 20k Radium SE 250w with a HQI ballast. I am due for a bulb change in a few weeks.I try to change them out every 6-7 months.

 

[surfnvb7]

i dont know what the "PAR" is on the radiums. i dont beleive the science behind the PAR ratings even after reading all of the articles behind it. that new 175w iwasaki 14k bulb was supposed to have PAR higher than a 250w XM 10k bulb. yet, i got way better growth and color out of my XM 15k's than that bulb.

by far and away the best color and growth i've seen from zoas IME and from other people's tanks, are from the XM 15k on magnetic ballasts, and Hamilton 14k on electronic ballasts. and these 2 bulbs have dirt poor PAR ratings.

i'm still not getting as good color out of my zoas using the 250w radium on HQI ballast as i was running 2x175w XM 15k's on magnetic ballasts.

but, the reason why i had to go up to 250w is that i have alot of sps that required more light. the XM20k also gives great color to zoas, but i dont like the look of blue sand. the radium is a little less blue, and is very strong to color up my sps very nicely.

so i kinda had to compromise on that.

w/ that said, if i ever do an all zoa tank, i'm going back to the XM 15k's on magnetic ballasts.

 

[maggiesaqsup]

I know what you are talking about with the 20k xm I have 2 that was only used for a week and I could not stand the color.

This tank is 99% sps and the 10k xm has produced good growth on my sps but not the best I have seen for growing zoas. I have more growth in my zoa frag tank with only vho lighting.

 

[MinibowMatt]

Could the growth under the low par bulbs just be due to the fact that zoos grow naturally in "less than optimum" lighting conditions? and the higher par bulbs stunt the growth because the zoos dont really like the intensity? I have my prop tank lit with 10k ushio, and I am getting good growth. I have the xm15K bulb also, and now you guys have me thinking I should change it and see what happens..

just a thought...

 

[surfnvb7]

it may be possible. but i also know people who have excellent growth and color of zoas under aquaconnects, radiums, and XM20k. all of these bulbs have very good PAR ratings.

again, i used XM 15k's on magnetic ballasts. they are way too dim on electronic ballasts. i also noticed the XM 20k was brighter than the XM 15k, but heard that issue was *fixed*

but i think the main factor that people are missing, is that changing out bulbs so often really does more harm than good, regardless of the type of bulb. the best tanks i've ever seen, had been running the same brand/color bulb for consecutive years. with those kind of stable conditions, i would think most corals would learn to adapt, and thrive. its the constant changing of bulbs, pumps etc that makes corals have to reacclimate themselves to different conditions, i think this essentially will stunt their growth and color.

 

[MinibowMatt]

lighting conditions change daily in the ocean. you can have days or even a week+ of dim overcast days. I think your right, stability is key, but if you change the bulb correctly (lowering the light schedule, raising the bulb etc.) you can pull off a bulb change with no adverse affects. (or is it effects )