how to tell when a coral is getting lighter or turning white?

[nemo g]

my bud gave me his frag of a green monti digi. mine, taken from the same colony has apparently gotten "lighter or brighter" in two weeks than the new piece.

how can i tell if this lightening is a good or bad thing.

polyp extension is very good. unless having the polyps sticking out too much is a bad thing. my gallery has some pics of the tata in question.

forget lighting info for now, as i dont want a simple dismissal.

im waiting on a few books to be delivered, so for now, im looking for some quality experience.

thanks

btw ill go snap a quick pic to give an idea of the two differing colors.

 

[kirstenk]

Getting lighter is not a problem unless it goes too far. I saw no pic comparisomes in your gallery so its hard to say. Bleaching usually happens from the tips down and little to no polyp extension so I am thinking you are prolly OK. HTH

 

[nemo g]

i did take some pics, but didnt post because the difference isnt noticeable in the images.

the polyps are extended, sometimes i fear too extended. they even bend into the current. is that normal/ok?

heres a pic with the extension sans the bending (i turned off the pump for pic taking)

<img src="http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/116775rc_t_ii.jpg"/>

 

[kirstenk]

Coral and polyps look great. No worries. Nice Pic.

 

[nemo g]

now for the light info:

that particular frag came out of a 75 with a 6 bulb tek, and into my 10g with a 65w pc.

isnt it suppose to be the reverse for the frag to have lighten up?

things that make you go hmm....

 

[kirstenk]

Not always. Things that play a role.

Placement
Water Quality
Flow

It has been my experience that the exact same coral is always going to look a little different in another tank.

 

[nemo g]

so the lightening is a good response to my flow, light, and water quality?

meaning the lightening is a "good health" response, or just a random fluctuation in color due to the variations you mentioned having no indication of a "better" environment?

 

[twon8]

i would say a random probably non-replicable fluctuation; it might be healthier, might not.

 

[kirstenk]

I should have added stress to that list but I do not think that is a factor in your case and it is a random fluctuation.

Many will argue but IMO color is not the best indicator when it comes to coral health.

See ya!

 

[carpus]

this is what I got from another fellow hobbyist. He says that if you take the frag out of the water and smell it, you can tell. If it smell rotten then its RTN/ bleaching

and sometimes frags dont get full color until they mature into a colony or grow a base.

 

[gnrlee]

You would definitly be able to tell if it is RTNing. It would be obvious to see the tissues sloughing off. On the whole fluctuating conditions changing looks of coral is true. For example, I got an acro frag from a fellow hobbbist. It is now the same size as the original colony.... My colony is a different color and looks nothing like the original colony.(branch structure) Me and my buddy have different lighting, flow and slightly different "testable" water parameters. All of these are factor in the growth.

 

[nemo g]

how long do "negative" changes take to occur?

for example, from the first sign of bleaching or rtn, before it is clearly damaged?

ive had the frag for a about two weeks now. the only difference, other than the polyps getting a lighter green, is the coralite tip that used to be jagged has smoothed out and the coenosarc, which is green, has started to spread on to it.