corals losing vitality

[salt no pepper]

I'm hoping someone can help with this.
I go to all these lfs and see the vibrant colors in the corals.
when I put them into my tank they lose those beautiful colors.
My zoos have all turned brown all losing there bright green colors.
Is my lighting the issue? the corals are doing well in the tank.


here is my setup

72gal bf
20 gal sump
seaclone skimmer (i know its next to nothing)
260 watt corallife cf

 

[GMAX]

How about your water parameters? Especially NO3 and PO4.

 

[outy]

water quality is more important then lighting [doesnt matter how good your lighting is if your water quality is suffering]

with that little wattage its going to be hard to get a good balance of color that has enough penetration to grow much [and thats with new bulbs]

my zoos love shade so color/kelven and water quallity may be a large part of the problem