purple cap

[tropills]

Ok here's the question, my purple cap is not purple any more !! It seems to be more brown then purple. Growth is incredible and it looks fine but its just not purple ... any ideas. ??

 

[Eastamherstbias]

Where is it in location to the light?
What kind of light do you use?
What are you dosing?

 

[tropills]

Mid tank, moderate flow, 16 inches below t5's, dose nothing but kalk for ph stabilization and use a calcium reactor for Cal and alk ... they were frags from Gary back in February about 2x2 now they are 6x6 at least..

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

usually but not always

usually but not always

browning of that particular coral indicates low alkalinity or elevated PO4 (or both).

When environmental conditions are optimal the coral will appear purple with blue polyps and have a white growth perimeter.

 

[tropills]

Things were looking good and still are really... alk is 12 dkh, po4 , .02, calc. 485.... has a nice white growth rim and blue polyps but it is brown in color..

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

IME this coral tends to brown out when shaded in my aquarium.

A big water change always perks up coloration.

 

[tropills]

So maybe move it higher up. ? Its wide open now and definitely not shaded... I'll try moveing them up. Going to be tricky with the rocks they are attached to but I'll give it a go.. thanks Gary

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

:thumbsup:
let us know what works for you

 

[magdelan]

Things were looking good and still are really... alk is 12 dkh, po4 , .02, calc. 485.... has a nice white growth rim and blue polyps but it is brown in color..

It almost seems that the alk is high in comparison to Ca. Should this make any difference?

 

[tropills]

That's due to my effluent rate out of my reactor, I have it running rather slow.. I may try increasing the Discharge rate to increase calcium level a Tad more..

 

[Willistein]

I got the same monti from Gary back in Feb. It has slowly turned more purple as it adjusts. It is under 150watt Radium 20Ks on HQI ballasts; about 28" below the bulbs toward the bottom of the tank. The bulbs are pretty intense so I know it's getting enough light. It looks pretty much how it looked in Gary's tank -> blueish polyps, white rim, purple/brownish/bluish. It's probably grown two inches since I got it. I'll get a pic tonight for reference.

 

[museumguy]

From my experience purple cap doesn't color up as well under T5s.

I picked up a fresh cut frag of some neon crazy purple cap from a small shop out by Buffalo a few years ago... most purple coral I've ever seen. It had been right under the surface of water and was blasted by a metal halide bulb placed a few inches away. We placed it into our 120g reef pretty high up and it lost some of its vibrant purple color but stayed purple under our less intense halide lighting setup. It still grew fast and seemed to be a pretty hearty coral. When we changed lighting to just T5s it continued to grow but turned a rusty brown color.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

... alk is 12 dkh, calc. 485....

these numbers are high. No reason to mess with the calcium reactor (which adds calcium and alkalinity evenly anyways).

It almost seems that the alk is high in comparison to Ca. Should this make any difference?

it should make no difference but I agree alk is high. I don't like to go above 10-11 dKH.

8-9dKH is my target.

 

[diverdick]

To add support to the lighting affect on these corals. I have a system that shares a single sump and is distributed to 5 tanks. The purple cap under SE XM 20K halides with direct high light grows a hot purple/violet color...very nice. The very same coral, with the very same water conditions under DE XM 20K halides is far from exciting. The color at the edges (i.e. new growth) is bright purple yet, the vast majority of the piece is brownish, less colorful to be sure. There is absolutely, IMHO a lighting component to this (and most) coral. That is not to say, the only factor in coloration by any measure (IMHO)

Regards,
--Rich

 

[tropills]

Moved higher in tank several days ago, also tweaked reactor for more discharge, alk now at 10 dkh, Cal. At 460... nothing different to report. Looks the same no color change and still looks happy but not purple happy... could be the lights. ? But maybe a bulb change will fix that .. I really don't want to go back to halides if I don't have too....

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

a change in color will take several months time.........