Light pink caps?
- Thread starter flyin2jz
- Start date
nwrogers
Got gorgs?
From my experience a pink cap is just an orange cap under intense lighting or kept in a very low nutrient environment. One pink cap I saw was peach under 10k lights then it was put under less intense lighting and it turned orange. Then the same cap was then put under 14k and turned the coolest pink and now it is orange again under the same 14k lights after they have burned in. Be careful buying corals for their colors only. Many corals will change color from tank to tank and even change colors in the same tank over time as things in the tank change. There are exceptions to this but the orange/pink/peach cap is a good example of a coral that changes colors easily IME and IMO
REEF-DADDY
New member
I have a pink cap and its really pink. I would not say light pink, but its true pink and its not stressed. Rare who knows, if you like it go for it!
nwrogers
Got gorgs?
An orange cap will stay pink under intense 20k lights according to the guy I bought mine from. When I bought mine from him it turned orange on me because I only had 175w halides at the time. If I kept it really high it did turn pink around the rim but until I bought 400w Radiums it didn’t turn totally pink again. I could be wrong here but I am just sharing my experience with pink caps. There may be such a thing as a true pink cap. I am definitely interested in hearing other people’s experiences with pink caps.
flyin2jz
New member
the pieces he is getting are aquacultured pieces. I have purchased about 5 pieces from him in the last 2 weeks and they have all held their color great. I couldnt believe it. And most have colored up even more. I have a pink milli that is wicked, i mean it looks like it glows in the dark. Very reddish looking with long polyps. I will try to post some pics of these pieces. thanx for the info. I think im gonna pick one up. I just havent seen the light pink ones. I have orange and green ones but this might be the one i need. Kevin
rleechb
New member
Yeah, I agree. I think pink caps are just orange caps that have been put under intense lighting/low nutrients. I have one that was a dark orange when I first received it, close to red. Put it in my tank, and the thing is pink now. I wouldn't say it's stressed though; the thing is growing very rapidly.
nwrogers
Got gorgs?
Well I guess I should explain what I mean by stressed out…
It is believed by some including myself that many of the intense colors we see in our tanks are a result of keeping corals in what is essentially a bleached state. Many of the colors we strive to achieve in our SPS corals are usually only seen in the wild during bleaching episodes. Intense lighting and low nutrients are two ways that we can achieve this suspended state in our aquariums. Other ways to achieve this desired effect are being used by some of our most idolized tanks, for example Iwan’s tank. According to what Ron Hessing said at NERAC II, Iwan claims that he is able to selectively poison zooxanthellae without killing the coral. By poisoning the zooxanthellae in his corals he is able to obtain very intense colors. No details were given on how he does this other than he came up with some proprietary method/chemical. I suspect it is a combination of being able to keep his nitrates at zero using a deep sand bed, using intense T5 lighting, and the addition of many chemicals. So what I mean by stressed out is that if your orange cap is pink it may be that you are keeping it in a suspended bleached state.
Disclaimer:
I am sure that there may be some people that disagree with the above and that is ok. I am not trying to present any facts here only that this could be one possibility to why an orange cap turns pink. As always I am interested to hear what others think about this subject
flyin2jz:
I would consider the price tag on this piece before buying it. IMO if you do not have a similar system to the one you are buying it from you should expect it to change colors on you. This is true for many corals not just the pink cap. Sometimes corals change for the better sometimes for the worse (aka your pink cap turns orange).
It is believed by some including myself that many of the intense colors we see in our tanks are a result of keeping corals in what is essentially a bleached state. Many of the colors we strive to achieve in our SPS corals are usually only seen in the wild during bleaching episodes. Intense lighting and low nutrients are two ways that we can achieve this suspended state in our aquariums. Other ways to achieve this desired effect are being used by some of our most idolized tanks, for example Iwan’s tank. According to what Ron Hessing said at NERAC II, Iwan claims that he is able to selectively poison zooxanthellae without killing the coral. By poisoning the zooxanthellae in his corals he is able to obtain very intense colors. No details were given on how he does this other than he came up with some proprietary method/chemical. I suspect it is a combination of being able to keep his nitrates at zero using a deep sand bed, using intense T5 lighting, and the addition of many chemicals. So what I mean by stressed out is that if your orange cap is pink it may be that you are keeping it in a suspended bleached state.
Disclaimer:
I am sure that there may be some people that disagree with the above and that is ok. I am not trying to present any facts here only that this could be one possibility to why an orange cap turns pink. As always I am interested to hear what others think about this subject
flyin2jz:
I would consider the price tag on this piece before buying it. IMO if you do not have a similar system to the one you are buying it from you should expect it to change colors on you. This is true for many corals not just the pink cap. Sometimes corals change for the better sometimes for the worse (aka your pink cap turns orange).
onehundred20
In Memoriam
agree with slightly bleached orange cap,mine did that for a period.
