Green trumpet is turning brown..

[homebrewdude]

I bought this online about 2 weeks ago
I have been keeping it towards the bottom of the tank.

I am assuming the lighting it causing this?

Anything else??

 

[DesertBandits]

well, you really need to hook it up with some more info on what your tank setup when you ask a question like this, but I will attempt to help you anyway.

I was at this fish store that had some LPS corals in tanks about 12in deep with a superblue and a GE 6500k starcoat (individual reflectors) above them. I bought a sort of ugly browninsh brain with minimal green in it from them. After about a month in my tank which has 4 T5 and is 18' deep with no 6500k light, the coral colored up to completely green. Even though I had more light in my tank, the increased depth and lack of 6500k spectrum really colored in my coral.

My guess is that you have too much high spectrum light (red, oj, yellow light) or maybe just too much light. However, I think corals can take alot more light in the 20,000k range then they will tolerate in the 6500k range.

but, you still should post what kind of lights you are using and on what depth (inches) you are dealing with.

 

[homebrewdude]

2 250watt MH 10k bulbs
The coral is located about 18 inches down under the lights.

 

[lvreefer]

A lot of people forget about the water quality itself has a lot to do with coral pigments as well as lighting. It could be something as simple as adding carbon to remove "yellowing".
Also recent articles are starting to point towards water flow as being equally or more important than lighting.

 

[homebrewdude]

All of my other corals are going fine and have great color.
I do have low flow, I am getting ready to add more soon.

I do run carbon, my water is rather clear

 

[homebrewdude]

At night the tentacles still come out of the heads.

Here is a photo...

 

[DesertBandits]

Well, from your pic it looks like you bleached it. with your amount of light at a mere 18" you need to be careful with LPS, especially if they came from a tank with lower light levels (very likely) and won't be able to cope as quickly with increased pigmentation as your lighting demands. Also when adding LPS to your tank, it would probably be a good Idea to keep them as far as possible from directly under the bulb, where intensity can be as much as double a other spots. Lastly, 250w of 10k light at 18in is on the high end for any LPS; where I think a higher K# like 14,000 or 20,000 might be more inclined to encourage coloration and be less likely to bleach. Your lights sound really great for SPS/clams, but other corals may need careful acclimation.

Anyway though, try shading it for now recovery will take about 6-8 weeks. You can also give it something reefplus and try feeding it to aid recovery.

 

[homebrewdude]

It was white when I bought it...
I am the one who made it turned brown.
I currently have a stuck under an overhang, in the shade.

I have no plans on adding SPS to my tank.
I do have some monti cap frags, but I don't know if this is an SPS or not.

I was thinking of getting XM 14k bulbs
I have mostly mushrooms and zoa...
Anenome and 1 clam

 

[DesertBandits]

So, are they supposed to be brown with green centers? Im a little confused. I was thinking green trumpet corals for some reason. I don't think I know of any photosynthetic coral that is supposed to be true white. White is usualy the color of something bleached, lost its pigment.

By the way if you have XM10k; you are running the absolute most powerful 250w MH bulb there is in existence. Check in the lighting/equipment forum, there is a sticky that can send you to a website that has all par levels (intensity) of light of all the bulb/ballast combinations of 250w MH. I'm sure your clam anemone and monti cap (yes it is SPS) love it. If your coral is indeed turning from white to brown, then it is a good thing.

 

[DesertBandits]

heres the link: http://www.reeflightinginfo.arvixe.com

 

[homebrewdude]

I am not sure.
When I received the coral in the mail it was white with green centers.
Now it is turning brown.
I do not know if white or brown is good or bad.

I am running coralvue 10k bulbs, I want to go 14k XM bulbs for better color.
I can keep my monti caps and clam higher in the tank if I need to.

 

[DesertBandits]

Ok, now I think I get it. There are no white photosynthetic corals. White corals is always a bad thing. From the title of your post I thought your all green trumpets were turning brown. It seems now (also from your picture) that you have a bleached coral that is growing back its zooxanthilae and pigment. Brown trumpets with green centers are very common, which is what it looks like you have. Your tank is healing them, so don't worry about changing your setup unless you want the color to appear different, or you are unhappy for some other reason.

 

[homebrewdude]

It seems to be growing now.
I am not sure what I bought.
The heads are brownish color
The insides white/green.

Looks like 2 of the heads are white/dead.

Here are some new pics.
It seems to be eating silversides now.

 

[dendro982]

It seems to me, that your coral will be like the top one on this picture:

The lower coral at the purchase looked bleached and of totally different shape:

I didn't know then, that the trumpets/candycanes can be of different colors, expected it to become green, like this:

Another LPS coral, was bleached at the purchase, then recovered (took months):

and another one, same procedure:

White capnella become brown, and so on...

 

[homebrewdude]

Updated photo
looks good and growing.

 

[musty baby]

Sounds like you bought them in pretty bad shape. Looking good now, though, just like they should be.

 

[homebrewdude]

Or they were not under high lighting.
I put them direct under 250watt MH.

After they were moved down and under a rock, they started to look better.

They are now low in the tank under the lighting.

I think 2 of the heads are starting to split.

 

[homebrewdude]

Messing with white balance still...

These are a red/brown with sea green center..