Colors and SPS

JCnflies

New member
Two weeks ago, I got an order from reefscience that substituted an acro for a fungia (nice deal, huh:). I'm not sure which type of acro, sorry. THe caro came in tan but would floursece green under actinic. Slowly but surely, each day, I keep seeing a little more green even under the regular bulbs.

(1) Is this normal for acros to change color?
(2) Some days his polyps are out, some days they are not. They seem to be out less now that a cintron goby spends part of his day amongst the branches, but he also came in with a commensural crab. Should I worry abnout anything here? I can say after settling all the water parametrs out, my phosphates and nitrates are at the lowest readings the kit allows, calcium is a bit low, but as I slowly work up the Mg to 1250 (now about 1150), the calcium has gone up with it (now about 320.) Not far from the acro and in the same current stream, I have a pink stylo that has its polyps out all day. There is a lot of curtrent in the area.

Thx for the help:) Oh, yeah, T5s, total 324 watts lighting.
 
they do change color. and yea the citron gobies do stress them a bit, especially if its a small piece. i don't think there is much you can do to stop him. the acro crab should be fine though.
 
I have a frag from Dr Macs for about 3 months and it was plain but now has blue tips. Funny thing is I thought it died. I too am struggling with Mg. But since I got it closer to 1350 it is easier to adjust my Alk and Ca. I was down to 700 on the Mg.I think it's great that the Acros taking on better color. Sounds healthy. Good luck.
Tom
 
Acros will color up when they are placed in a relatively nutrient poor environment. The zooxanthallae reduce the amount of chlorophyll, and as they do the brown "mask" is made lighter, allowing color to come through.
Also, if they are placed into brighter light, there is a feed back mechanism and since they now have ample light, they don't need as much alga pigments to produce the same, so the concentration of pigments drop, again allowing the color of the coral to come through. Place the same coral in a nutrient rich tank and lower light, and the coral will need more energy so more algal pigments are needed and the coral will darken up.
New growth regions often don't have much zooxanthallae, and word is they also produce their own sunscreen which can fluoresce and show some nice colors.

With regard to Ca and Mg levels, what is your salinity? If its low, its very difficult to maintain both at proper levels. Once salinity is up to full strength, both Ca and Mg levels will also be much easier to maintain.
 
Thx Joe. My salinity is 1.023 with a refractometer. Would you suggest I go higher?

Also, waht are the most important keys to successfully keeping SPS?

Should I worry about the goby?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10441375#post10441375 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by JCnflies
Thx Joe. My salinity is 1.023 with a refractometer. Would you suggest I go higher?

Also, waht are the most important keys to successfully keeping SPS?

Should I worry about the goby?

The closer you keep it to natural reef levels, the easier it is to keep the other parameters in line like Ca and Alk. If you just raise your salinity, you'll see the others come up too.

Good flow, good light (both quality and quantity) and lower nutrients, esp. PO4 are key.
 
you gotta be kidding! Time for the goby to go - be someplace else. I'll catch him ..... I feel like it will caddyshack in the Tank.
 
GOT HIM!!!!!!!!!!! Bill Murray ain't got much on me and I didn't even need dynamite! A big net a quick hand work wonders:)

Free .. one gorgeous cintron goby now in my fuge. Yours for the asking ..... can;t wait to see the polyps again:)

Thx Sprackl:)
 
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