My Pale Red Dragon...Why?

[usfpaul82]

Here is my red dragon frag. when i got it about 1 month ago it was fresh cut and a litte deeper red. Here it is today. It is growing, rather quickly actually. As you can see it has also started encrusting and it has great PE at night. This all tells me it is very healthy, i just don't know why it is so light in color. It is about 1/3 of the way up my 24" deep 90 gallon. I have 2 x 250 w radiums on M80 ballasts and it is pretty much right under one, but as i said it is 2/3's deep. I would say it is getting medium flow from my vortechs since it is so low.

My parameters are all spot on and my other SPS colors are good.

Ca = 430
ALK = 8.5
MG = 1350

PO4 = 0 - .02 on hanna checker
Nitrate = 0 on Lamotte

Any suggestions? Should I try going even lower, or maybe higher?

 

[oneradtek202]

give it some time to settle in and it might change, all the pieces ive ever seen have been paler. i personally dont think this coral is everything its cracked up to be

 

[basser1]

I have my red dragon in lower light and it is darker in color.

I think I read where placing it in high light will make it lighter.

And I disagree, I think it is what it's cracked up to be. It is by far one of the most delicate looking acros I've seen and I like the growth pattern with ice blue tips and white polyps.

 

[usfpaul82]

i thought i was giving it low light putting it only 1/3 up my tank....

 

[oneradtek202]

again. the ones i have seen in person. urs sounds nice, post a pic.

do agree with lower light since its a deep water acro, and lower flow possibly

 

[29reef]

Leave it alone. It will darken as it grows; if it doesn't then look into adding aminos or more fish to your tank. I think it will gain color with time.

Brandon- The term "deep water" acro has nothing to do with where the coral was collected, and everything to do with how it looks. The RD LE has been in captivity long enough that it should have no issues with different lighting levels and water chemistry. The fresh imports are just that. GL

 

[basser1]

again. the ones i have seen in person. urs sounds nice, post a pic.

do agree with lower light since its a deep water acro, and lower flow possibly

I got my frag from copps, I believe his was from CITR? I also agree with low flow and light as well. It is a fairly fast grower for me.

Here's a pic of it when I got it a few months ago:

And a pic from a couple of days ago:

 

[oneradtek202]

just in my experience that the deep water acros do better in lower lit portions of my tank.

basser, beautiful red dragon, best one ive seen. copps' stuff is definitely top notch, bought a huge order from him last year.

ill keep my experiences out of this forum from now on , sorry guys and gals

 

[basser1]

just in my experience that the deep water acros do better in lower lit portions of my tank.

basser, beautiful red dragon, best one ive seen. copps' stuff is definitely top notch, bought a huge order from him last year.

ill keep my experiences out of this forum from now on , sorry guys and gals

No doubt about it.... copps does have some nice corals!

Everyone's personal tastes are different, what I like.... you may not. But that's O.K. I think some folks may be disappointed because they expect the red dragon to be more red rather than pink or fuschia. But I like it.

 

[dvanacker]

Mine is pale too. Still looks nice but definitely not deep red. I've seen it in other peoples system and its normal to see it lighter to darker.....not sure what brings on the darker colouration but they all seem healthy.

 

[RebelReef]

I have my red dragon in lower light and it is darker in color.

I think I read where placing it in high light will make it lighter.

And I disagree, I think it is what it's cracked up to be. It is by far one of the most delicate looking acros I've seen and I like the growth pattern with ice blue tips and white polyps.

basser1, that is some incredible growth in a short amount of time. What kind of lights are you using and how much PAR would you say you're giving it? Thanks.

 

[dvanacker]

Unless a couple months equals 6 or more I would say its unbelievable.

 

[arthur08]

Amino acids would help out

 

[franklypre]

From everything I've read bottom 1/3 for it, I got mine from Copps as well and it has settled in nicely about 18" under a 250w DE Phoenix. I've moved most of my deepwater acros lower in the tank over the last few months and noticed much better color and growth.

 

[djkms]

My red dragon was pale like yours, 2/3's of the way up. Now its about 1/3 of the way up in the tank and is darker in color.

basser1's photos are almost a year apart. Photo one was taken on 2011:07:06 and photo 2 was taken on 2012:06:03 according to their EXIF data

 

[sahin]

Unless a couple months equals 6 or more I would say its unbelievable.

The EXIF data says the first photo was taken in 7/11 and the next photo on 6/12, so about 11 months.

Darryl, you have the SPS knowhow. :spin3:

Anyway, I have seen a couple of these at my LFS recently, but I didnt really think they were anything special. No way in the league of the IceFire Echinata, SSC, Pink Lemonade etc. But thats just me.

 

[sahin]

Haha, I should have read DJKMS's post...I'm surely late with that info.

 

[CUNAReefer]

I posted this on another forum, but I'll post here as well. Hopefully it helps some folks.

The color changed was initiated by increasing my K+, several large water changes, and increased feeding. I feed CV, AAHC, Reef Nutrition Oyster and Roti Feast. This tank uses the full ZEO methodology.

Just a note on the photos... I am a complete novice and am learning how to use my Canon Rebel T2i. I didn't know how to adjust the white balance until I received a tip from a fellow reefer. The bluish pics are taken with full auto mode.

The coral is kept under a PAR level of 420. Lit by an ATI SP 8*80. PAR Measurement was taken with an Apogee Quantum Meter.

Now for the pics:

4-30-12 Zero Feeding, 0 nitrates, 0 phosphates

5-11-12 Started feeding Oyster Feast and Roti Feas with CV. Increased Potassium. A series of large water changes was also performed.

5-18-12 Added in the AAHC

5-24-12

6-8-12

6-22-12 Cut back on the feeding a bit.

And another 6-22-12 after I adjusted the white balance on my Canon Rebel T2i

Hope you find my post useful.

Warmest Regards,
James