Coral Color Fading

[rj ripetide]

I was just wondering if anybody can begin to tell me why some of
the zoas and polys fade to lighter shades of thier original colors.
I have tried placing at the top of the reef and at the bottom with no change.
Thanks
Rj

 

[Jim_Leyland]

your lighting maynot be strong enough? that's the only thing i would think would affect that..

 

[rj ripetide]

I have 6 t-5 s running on 660 icecaps.
All the rest of my corals do fine, monti, acros....
it's just the polys and zoas
Rj

 

[Jamokie01]

Well first off you need to know what kind of lighting and what color that lighting was that your fading corals came from.

 

[rj ripetide]

How does that affect the coral now after 4-6 months later?
Rj

 

[Jamokie01]

Well if youve had the coral for 4-6 months and the color just recently changed as opposed to slowly over time since you got it, you can narrow it down to a few issues.
Quality of water
Age of bulbs
Change in feeding

 

[MJAnderson]

Wondering if maybe its time to change the bulbs? Actinics seem to have a very short life color wise. I've had my T5s for a year and just replaced some. I was very surprised at how "dull" my ULV Superactinic has gotten. So you might be getting less par and less pop from your blue/actinic bulbs.

 

[GSMguy]

i think 6 t5s is too much light??

get some in the shade see if they do better. t5s are like light sabers (sp?).

if your sps are doing fine i doubt its the bulbs?

 

[itZme]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10198915#post10198915 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by GSMguy
i think 6 t5s is too much light??

get some in the shade see if they do better. t5s are like light sabers (sp?).

if your sps are doing fine i doubt its the bulbs?

I have trouble believing that 6x T5 bulbs puts out anything even remotely close to the PAR readings you would get on a reef at noon in the sunlight. I don't think it would be a problem of too much light but the coloration problems may be caused by the spectrum of light you are giving them. I really like my T5 setup and I know that overdriven T5's are adequate for growing almost anything in the hobby but I don't think they get into the realm of "too much" light.

If you have some zoas to experiment with, you could try taking a few polyps and mount them to something that you can put in a shaded area and then move some up close to the light and see what happens to help decide what they like.

HTH
-- Kevin

 

[rj ripetide]

Thanks for all in-put.
Just to fill in some of the blanks....The t-5 tubes were new in Feb 2007. The feeding and water quality is the same as is the light cycle. The coral were placed in the tank and held the color for about 2 months and then slowly faded. I keep a log of everything about the tank, water changes, parameters, new additions, any and all changes to the systems. This has not affected all zoas. I have talked to others that had this problem but they had no explanation. Oh yea, I have place some in different areas of the tank to shade some of them and to give others more light. I have seen no change so far in about 7-8 weeks.
Rj

 

[rj ripetide]

One more thing after reading my last post.... There has been no changes to the system since the lighting other than a new skimmer.

 

[itZme]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10202356#post10202356 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rj ripetide
One more thing after reading my last post.... There has been no changes to the system since the lighting other than a new skimmer.

Well if your skimmer swap coincides with the color change then maybe it is removing more nutrients than the corals were used to and that has caused the changes in color. Just guessing along with you here. I am not suggesting that I have an answer for what is happening.

HTH
-- Kevin

 

[rj ripetide]

Coral fading color

Coral fading color

HTH
-- KevinWell if your skimmer swap coincides with the color change then maybe it is removing more nutrients than the corals were used to and that has caused the changes in color. Just guessing along with you here. I am not suggesting that I have an answer for what is happening.


The colr fading started before the skimmer upgraded....
I am hoping time will bring back more color.
Rj

 

[rj ripetide]

Coral fading color

Coral fading color

HTH
-- KevinWell if your skimmer swap coincides with the color change then maybe it is removing more nutrients than the corals were used to and that has caused the changes in color. Just guessing along with you here. I am not suggesting that I have an answer for what is happening.


The colr fading started before the skimmer upgraded....
I am hoping time will bring back more color.
Rj