My chalice frags turned brown...

[Treg]

And I cant color them back up.

I could use some help. I have moved them all over the tank and I am just not sure what they want. They seem to be growing tho.
Its mainly an SPS tank. Maybe too much flow to keep them happy? I have been keeping them on the bottom mostly but have tried moving them up some, just not all of the way.

When I got them a few months back:

and now: (at night, camera flash only)

 

[nmprisons]

too much light?

 

[Treg]

You know the first two guys I asked said the same thing. Even in a question as you did. :lol:

Could be I guess, this is my first experience with LPS tho. I had been keeping them on the bottom, so I didnt really think so.
I even had one under a cliff for awile So I thought maybe not enough light. I've moved them up recently. Not much change.

24" deep tank.

2x 54w T5 50/50 and 1x Actinc pure on an IC660. 4" above water. 13 hrs
2x 250w Phoenix De/RO3, bluewave ballast. 8" above. 8 hrs.

Could it be low nutrients?
I dont direct feed coral, just fish.


Its a BareBottom tank but last weekend I added a 2" sand bed to the frag section in my sump.

 

[Justin74]

(2)250 DE's and T5 supplement may be just too much for 'em. I have a purplish red with mottled green one that has just now started to color up and get darker now that I have half of it entirely shaded, and this is after having it for a year! Before when I kept it in the light it would get an orangy brick brown color with pink eyes but shaded it's gettin a purplish shade of red and green. While my green one likes lots of light to stay green and not tan. Not an easy coral to figure its placement IMO. Hopefully someone with that morph can chime in on what kinda lights they use and how close it is to them. Good luck, very nice frags.

-Justin

 

[Justin74]

Heres what I was talking about; notice the one up top hanging off the edge..

Now heres the same one after being shaded for about 4 months, much more deeper red with now red eyes, and hint of green near the edge.

Safe to say this one was collected in deeper waters. Some do get lots of light though, just depends on where it was collected.

-Justin

 

[Treg]

Yes. It looked then a lot like my do now.

So move them back down and leave them alone is what your saying??

What is your lighting?

 

[Justin74]

T5, I was running 10k bulbs. Im much happier with the 15k and 22k bulbs they have now. That piece has been since moved into my 30 where it only gets a 175w MH 20k bulb now with no supplementing. So now its getting about 50 less watts of light and about 4 hours less as well as being shaded, so ya, less light . For me and this piece anyway

-Justin

 

[RichConley]

T5s on IC660? That ballast seems awful common in these "T5s are bleaching my corals" threads.

 

[jessp]

i'd say to much light also, hide em under a cave.

 

[Justin74]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8650449#post8650449 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by RichConley
T5s on IC660? That ballast seems awful common in these "T5s are bleaching my corals" threads.

Nope, Workhorse ballasts. I am really sold on the idea that I was just gviving them the wrong spectrum as well as the obvious too much PAR from being too high. Ive gone through no namers, then to the highest PAR bulbs known, to now only (2)15k Geismann Aquablue+'s, the other four are Geismann actininic+, UVL's superblue+, and Geismann true actinic. Results on my sps, and lps are like night and day.

-Justin

 

[duec22]

Under my T5's I only get good color on my chalices when I put them in the shade...

 

[slojmn]

I am upgrading lighting from 2x250MH 14K's only to a 2x250w MH/T5 combo fixture and I already planned for the shade for my chalices.Currently they sit about 26" under the MH bulbs on the bottom of the tank. One on the bottom is still in the shade of a cap for now although I have started to peak him out into the light after acclimating for the last 5-6 weeks in my tank. When I re-scaped my tank with a friend I set up a number of spots in the tank where tabling sps or live rock overhangs are present to bring shade for my chalices and rics., maybe even acans and micros (we'll have to see how they do in more light).

I think some serious shade should help to darken your chalices over the next few months, they looked really nice when you got them. With a super clean system do you feed them at all. I just shot a picture of my Aquascene Golden Eye devouring a whole PE mysis shrimp. One of its mouths was open huge to get that shrimp in. It was quite a sight to see, I'll have to see if the shots came out decent enough to post. Try some food for them as well. Wish I coud get my red and pink watermelons to eat like the golden eye and tubs chalice do . I do hope they color back up for you as they were all really nice.

 

[Treg]

Thanks slojmn.

I could get hooked on chalice if I could figure out how to keep the colors.

I have them in a lot less light right now so We'll see how it goes. I have not been feeding them directly, just the fish. I could try tho.

 

[hollback]

Hey Treg,

You could always frag'm for me and 'll see how they do in my tank!

 

[porky]

Treg, I agree with what others have said, I think the challice are getting too much light
Move to a more shaded locale.

 

[Treg]

You know what hollback, I've actually considered doing something along those lines...
Porky would be a good candidate!


Awile back, the middle one in the bucket had fell behind the rocks.
It took a little beating and receded to about 1/2 its size but now has the best color. So I guess it all makes sense.

A stupid question, How do you feed your LPS mysis shrimp when the mysis floats?
I just tried feeding them with a turkey baster and the mysis just floated up and the fish ate it all.
Or do you feed them at night when the sweepers are out?

Sorry, but I'm generally a fuzzy stick guy and have never really fed my corals.

 

[duec22]

You should feed you're fuzzy sticks too...
As for the mysis floating...I've never really encountered that...might be time to get some fresh stuff. When I feed mysis, I use the PE block form...I just take a knife and shave off the block into a shot glass. Then use tank water to thaw it out. I'll put a couple blasts into the water collumn to get the feeding response going, and after about 10min I'll turn the pumps off and target feed the LPS though an eye dropper..but i don't think the mysis should be floating on you..

 

[porky]

The way I feed my LPS... mmmmm I'm getting hungry just thinking about it
Well at night it's easy... during the middle of the night I like to sneak downstairs with some stinky meaty food and feed them that way. At night most of them open up like flowers and feeding tentacles abound, just turn off the return pumps and I let the soup swirl around for about a half an hour or so and the pumps go back on.
During the day can be a little trickier if you want them to actually consume the food. I will start by trying to initiate a feeding response and get the tentacles out. DT's Phytoplankton works good for this and so does the DT's Oyster Eggs. Once some of the LPS have tentacles out I will turn off the return pumps and repeat the steps above.
I never "spot" feed any corals directly, IME, LPS do better when allowed to hunt food in the water colum as oppposed to being fed!
Good Luck!

 

[Treg]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8658882#post8658882 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by duec22
You should feed you're fuzzy sticks too...

Yeah thats pretty debatable for Sps. Guess I'm on the opposed side, I dont see much point in jeopardizing the water quality to feed Sps...



As far as the LPS, I would rather spot feed honestly. I only have 3 small Chalice and turning off my return pump is somewhat of a PITA.
Its in the basement for one and it also runs some equipment.
I can shut down the skimmer easy enough tho.

I hav'nt used DT's in a couple of years. Maybe I'll give it a go agian or just work on spot feeding at night...


Porky, I might have to come down sometime and watch a pro do it.