Dragon eye lighting?

[LeRenard]

I've only got a Current USA Orbit Marine LED fixture, so I've generally assumed I've got weak-ish lighting. I have some Tubs Blue and Green/Orange Dragon Eye zoas halfway up from the bottom (halfway down from the top?) of my tank. The Blues were stretching, so I moved them to the top and now they look "happy" - more open, colorful, and I see some growth. The Dragon eyes are growing, but they've completely lost the bright orange they had. The green is a bit more muted than it was as well. They used to really "pop". They aren't stretching at all. Could they be getting too much light? Why would they lose just the orange?

 

[MUCHO REEF]

Sorry to hear that. There are numerous reasons for bleaching. See this thread ( Bleaching, Intentional Premeditated Color Shifting ) in this forum.

Your polyps had a color shift possibly due to a shift in intensity by elevating them too high and too fast which causes a coral response whereby the chlorophyll containing cells called zooxanthellae began to expel thus causing the shift in color. This single cell algae population is vital in maintaining coloration.

Check out this thread also in this forum entitled, ( Bleached out Zoas ).

I would lower the polyps back to where they were until they color up and then make one or two small incremental moves slightly higher. Just my opinion. Good luck.

MUCHO REEF

 

[MUCHO REEF]

Any updates?