No one has posted pics of what they mean by pastel colors, although I am sure everyone has a good idea of what the discussion is about. Here is an example......this is an ORA Nathan's Green Millepora(a prime example in my tank of pastelish colors).....got it brown and dark green(it was brown due to LFS) and after 4 months in my tank here it is>>>>>>>
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Its a bad picture, but you get the idea. Instead of a deep dark green that I see many people who have it get...mine is a LIME Green...picture makes it look yellowish but in person it is unmistakable as lime green.
Now, with that said and using this particular coral that is widely owned in captivity maybe we could do some color comparisons and compare all aspects of our reef-keeping philosophies, husbandry, equipment, and water chemistries.
I believe that I get pastel colors on alot of my corals because I run a BB, skimmed pretty good particularly for a small 55g grow-out tank, and also I use T5's as my lighting(very heavy on the blue plus) I feed my corals more than most people just because I can. IMO feeding and adding nutrients hasn't changed MY colors, but only my growth.
Despite the feding anomaly, I tend to agree with the general formula: low nutrients plus high light equals more pastel coloring in acroporids, however, there are many exceptions to this all over RC that one can find.
If i had to bet on it, the two main culprits for pastel like colors in my tank are the T5's and the BB methodology.
Nitrates are 0 0n salifert, phosphate is 0 on saliftert(of course) but i run a GFO in a phosban reactor 24/7 and change the media monthly...also i use 3 times the recommended dosage of Phosban partly because if i dont i get some algae growth and i HATE fricking algae.id rather have pastelish colors than a tank full of nuisance algae
Now, lets see some other examples of pastel colored corals, with pics!!!! Maybe those of you that have a Nathans Green Millie from ORA, post a pic and we can compare for the sake of having a concrete example.
Cheers and Happy February