My Fire & Ice polyps lost the Ice

[cloak]

What started out as two polyps has become 18+, but they've lost the whitish grey color in between the center of the polyp and the skirt. They looked great at the LFS, but they were under a couple Kessil 350's. In my tank they were palced about 1/3 of the way up under a 175 watt 20K bulb along with two T5 actinics. The tank has been set up for about 7 years and everything else seems to be doing fine. (mixed reef) Is there any rhyme or reason why this happened, or is it just one of those things? Thanks.

 

[Ocean envy]

Sounds like they might be getting bleached, as you have a shallow tank with mh lights. You could try moving them down and away from the mh lighting.

 

[cloak]

The Fire is still burning bright and growth has been good though.

I will try moving them for awhile and see if that helps though. Thanks.

 

[jayball]

Most Zoa's will morph color based on nutrient and light levels. As an example I have the "green lantern" morph that has started to spread into a cave mouth, the ones that are shaded have a deep purple ring and green skirts while the direct light ones have a dull purple ring and yellow-green skirts.

Do you have a before and after pic?

 

[braaap]

Light and nutrients will change a zoa. What is incredibly bright in one tank will be totally different in another.

 

[cloak]

Most Zoa's will morph color based on nutrient and light levels. As an example I have the "green lantern" morph that has started to spread into a cave mouth, the ones that are shaded have a deep purple ring and green skirts while the direct light ones have a dull purple ring and yellow-green skirts.

Do you have a before and after pic?

Unfortunately no, but I got bored with them and sold them yesterday in a frag pack for $10. Fifteen plus Fire & Ice polyps, 3 Mohaks, a small Candy Cane coral (two heads) and a small Montipora Setosa frag. My LFS has these polyps all the time though, so adding more wouldn't be a problem. Thanks everybody.

Not the best picture, but you get the idea.