Elements that promote green?

wrassie86

wrassie86

Premium Member
Hi guys for the last several months now i have been having a problem keeping green acro's green.They all turn to a tanish/yellow look with just a hint of green.They grow very fast but the colors are just not there.about 1-1/2 months ago i bought a test slimer that was very dark green now it is a yellowish green on its way to looking like my other pieces.
Anything that is suppose to be blue/purple/pink retains it color and looks fine.

My tank runs pretty stable and clean.for the last few months ive tried feeding more.bought more fish,ammnio acids and such.less water changes ,less W/C's have seemed to help alittle.Also starting today i'm gonna run with out sump bags.(this tank has had them from the start)
I do run phosban and have a nitrate reductor so those levels always test 0.
here is a pic of a coral taken on 6/11/06 the coral was put in on 5/3/06 and was neon green, it has had great growth and is much larger now.
the pic shows it much whiter than it really is, more of yellowish tan with green.

Any advice would be great since i'm kinda out of ideas.I feel that the water is lacking something,but not sure what.


64647DSCN0260.JPG
 
Hmm i have wondered if Iron was the missing thing.8 mos ago i moved and changed tanks, in my old tank i never had a problem with green or blues and Iron was dosed from time to time.but i also thought it promoted algea.In this tank, blues and such are great,but we see what the greens do.I do have some Iron supplement maybe i'll try it.
 
Also a higher kelvin rating with the lights also keeps corals green. Even the algae turns green....and the eggs...and the hams...
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8039554#post8039554 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by trueblackpercula
dumb question do you have actinics on your tank? If not than this could be a good reason why your greens don't stay green.
Michael
Click to expand...

Yup 330 watts uri supers.I did just swap to 10k bulbs from 14k alittle over a week ago, so i hope to see some change.most of my corals that had purple tips now have very bright blue to them also my tort has blued up a few shades .with positive changes in these corals and very fast i might add.i hope to see the green come out.
 
I am a loss of words, hope you fine the answer.
Michael
P.s. what about with the halides off are your greens popping out? or are they the same?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8039751#post8039751 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by trueblackpercula
I am a loss of words, hope you fine the answer.
Michael
P.s. what about with the halides off are your greens popping out? or are they the same?
Click to expand...

heh MH off and vho on they dont look to bad there is some green.But not nearly what they should be.And to think i thought blues were the harder color to keep.:rolleyes:
 
I have a similar problem with acros, montipora, hydnophora, etc. I moved a frag of my yellow, "green slimer" to the bottom and it seems to be getting a little greener. I have heard a number of people say higher Kelvin bulbs help, but I run the reeflux 10k which has a fair amount of 450nm output?
 
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As mentioned above, too high a par without enough blue spectrum could be the issue. In other words need smaller 14K or 20 K bulbs or higher strenght actinics.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8040920#post8040920 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jdieck
As mentioned above, too high a par without enough blue spectrum could be the issue. In other words need smaller 14K or 20 K bulbs or higher strenght actinics.
Click to expand...

So it's a balance issue?
I don't see how actinics would help b/c both 10k bulbs and actinics put out mostly violet light (420nm) while 20k/14k bulbs put out mostly blue light (450nm).
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8041725#post8041725 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jdieck
Yes you need lower PAR and a higher ratio of violet and blue to greens, reds and yellows
Click to expand...

Are you refuring to the coral in the pic or to shelburn61? or both?
One thing i for got mention was the 14k bulbs i was running were 400w with 330 watt vho but only had par level of around 65 (according to sanjay) and used for about 8 mos, the new 10k bulbs are 250w the par level is unknown.As your saying i hope for me this is a spectrum issue.since i really dont think the tank is over lit but who knows.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8040643#post8040643 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by shelburn61
I have a similar problem with acros, montipora, hydnophora, etc. I moved a frag of my yellow, "green slimer" to the bottom and it seems to be getting a little greener. I have heard a number of people say higher Kelvin bulbs help, but I run the reeflux 10k which has a fair amount of 450nm output?
Click to expand...

I think your problem is over lighting.sounds like my old 125g tank with 3 400w 10k XM's over it,every thing that went in lightend severly.even at the bottom.
 
You have 400w halides and a big skimmer......what's your fish load? How much of what do you feed? Do you need phosban to keep PO4 in check?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8042735#post8042735 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jackson6745
You have 400w halides and a big skimmer......what's your fish load? How much of what do you feed? Do you need phosban to keep PO4 in check?
Click to expand...

400watt halides have been replaced with 2x250 watt 10k for more than a week now,yes big skimmer Pm bullet 3. fish load is
3-blue cromis
1-blue eye tang about 3 inch
1-6 line wrassy
1-blue damsel
1-ocelaris
1-copper band -med
So 8 total

feeding is pretty much Eric B's mix of blender mush every 2 days.added also during the week on/off is oyster eggs, kents zoo plankton, cubes of frozen plankton also started dosing Sechems amino acids with food

Not really sure about needing the phosban.I started using it a few months ago to see if it would help with the greens.Of coarse there was no change.but it did help with some pest macro's i wanted gone.If it means anything i do have to clean a light dusting off the glass every 3-5 days depending on how much i feed.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8042519#post8042519 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by wrassie86
Are you refuring to the coral in the pic or to shelburn61? or both?
Click to expand...

In general I am referring to both. In my experience pale corals are in a defensive mode to excessive light by expelling some of the zooxantelae plus trying to reflect more ilumination. Darker colors absorve radiation a lot more than lighter colors.
When I compare what I have seen diving with what we see in our aquariums, even in very clear and shallow waters of the Caribean everything down there looks blue, much like what we would see with 20K plus actinics.
On top of that seems we try to keep all sps under bright ilumination when there is a big difference between them. Some like the Hydonopora are corals for low light, Montiporas, pocilloporas and dark colored corals like torts or deep greens are medium light corals (175 to 250 watts max) and really the only ones I would say require very high lighting are pink ones like the birdnests and stylophoras.
The trick here is not only to provide the required PAR but also the right ratio to blues and violets being careful not to over do by getting into the UV band.
Bulbs like the AB 10K (Advertized as a 13 to 14K) despite the glass shield have an excessive amount of UV radiation. You will notice with those bulbs that corals will also pale under those conditions so at the end is a combination of Proper PAR, red/green yellow ratio to blue and violate and trying to avoid UV as much as possible.
 
Jdiek, maybe thats the issue I've been having. I've been running AB10Ks, and had some issues with things bleaching out in the past. I just recently changed to different bulbs, we'll see what happens.

Thanks.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8042896#post8042896 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jdieck
In my experience pale corals are in a defensive mode to excessive light by expelling some of the zooxantelae plus trying to reflect more ilumination.

I agree. Well said.

I would pull the phosban since a slightly higher PO4 level will help darken corals and also expirment with shorter photoperiods.
Click to expand...
 
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