purple death color question

[adam82]

i have a colony of purple death palys. when i had them in my 20l the lights where 135w pc the where on the bottom of the tank and very very purple now they are in a 90g on the bottom the lights are 2 150w MH and 2 a30w pc and they are turning a brownish color still kinda purple though.

the question is do they need to be higher to get the purple back or are they getting too much light???

 

[NorthCoralNewB]

Palys go brown when they don't have enough light. The color is produce to reflect the UV being produced by the light.

I would move them higher up that should do the trick but move it in transition.

hth

 

[ms123]

Agree with the need for more light. I also have a 90. I have a bright purple pd colony on the sand but they are under (2)250w hqi with (2) t5s. I would try moving them up a little and see if any color comes back.

 

[NorthCoralNewB]

Also PC lighting doesnot penetrate (14-16") and the actinic supplementation for the most part is the main part that helps your corals to fluoresce. So I would move the pd's to be atleast 15" away from the light and then slowly move them up according to what they are telling you.

 

[jlocascio]

[violation]

 

[SIR PATRICK]

I would think they are getting too much light.....but seems like at the bottom of a 90 with 150w mh, it wouldnt be too much....

I say give them a bit of shade. Purple deaths in particular, can brown out from too much light.

But still.....just doesnt seem like they should be getting too much under those lights at the bottom....interesting.....

Are they nice and purple when looking top down in the tank?

 

[adam82]

yea they were very purple in the 20l. that when they were 10" below the lights(130w pc) now they are brown. with just the pc on they are purple.

 

[buy_baff]

Purple death palys like to be slightly shaded. If they get to much light they brown out.

 

[ReefSafari]

I would think they are getting too much light.....I say give them a bit of shade. Purple deaths in particular, can brown out from too much light.

Purple death palys like to be slightly shaded. If they get to much light they brown out.

This has been my experience as well, I have have several different colonies and have noticed they seem to be smaller and less colorful under intense lighting, but under less intense lighting they tend to get more colorful and larger.

I would try and place them in a shaded area and see if that helps, it might take some time but they will eventually adjust to the more intense lighting. I have mine under 250w metal halides, and I am finally getting the color back, but it did take some time.

 

[Borchers]

I also lost the color in mine. Thought they needed more lighting for the.deep purple colors. Looks like I'm moving them down.

 

[RR37]

I keep them as low as I can and have never had them go brown for more than a few months. I have never really hand any luck keeping them on rocks always a sand polyp IMO.

 

[aquaph8]

This has been my experience as well, I have have several different colonies and have noticed they seem to be smaller and less colorful under intense lighting, but under less intense lighting they tend to get more colorful and larger.

I would try and place them in a shaded area and see if that helps, it might take some time but they will eventually adjust to the more intense lighting. I have mine under 250w metal halides, and I am finally getting the color back, but it did take some time.

I agree. Be real patient cause it takes some time.