Purple death zoa - coloration issues

[beckerjm]

So I bought a frag of Purple death zoa at a swap last fall. Coloring has never been good on it in my tank. Its definitely not purple, more like a dull maroon color. I've tried it in various parts of my tank - from the bottom to mid-way up. Any input on what causes color variations (other than the obvious - lighting).

Tank is a 75 gallon tank with a Current USA Nova Extreme Pro light fixture (6 T5's - bulbs are the recommendation from the Grim Reefer - 4 ATI AquaBlue +, 1 UV Actinic White, and 1 GE 6500).

Thanks!

 

[ghostman]

You asked for an answer other than lighting, but my answer is....lighting. My PD colony looked dull for the awhile until it got shaded by a large SPS. Now it is a very nice purple. Put it in the most shaded area you have for a while and see how it does. Also mine is a great eater of cyclopeeze and Rods food. That may make it happy too. HTH

 

[beckerjm]

Thanks - I'll move it to a more shady area and give it a try. How long did it take for yours to get back a purple color?? Location advice is ok - I mainly didn't want a response of 'change all your bulbs' - cause that won't happen for one zoa.

 

[strout]

I have a frag of these also, about 50 polyps, seems these are one of the few zoas that I can't kill lol. When the T5 lights are on they are a kinda sort of dull maroon color, MH lights on about the same color, with the blue lights on, they are in their full glory pruple color. I have them on a rock on the bottom of the tank.

 

[Scott-CapeCoral]

There are many zoanthids and paly's that will dull, or blend their colors in high light. Many that will do the opposite. When I had my hornets in high light, the yellow ring wasn't a crisp yellow ring anymore, it shaded itself into the blue. After I put them in a lower light, the ring slowly came back to a nice yellow crisp circle again. the blue got brighter, etc. The opposite happens with my candy apple reds. In lower light my C.a.r.'s blend their colors together and dull, but right in the 250w radium they brighten greatly, and each color ring is nice and distinct. You need to just find the right placement for each variety. Don't worry, you won't need to wait months to see the difference. I see changes in mine during experimentation in less than 2 weeks. It helps greatly if you take a picture prior to moving them. That way you'll know for sure that the change is happening. Scott

 

[Scopus Tang]

Some have also said that they have had experiences with Purple Death palys going through season cycles on colors - i.e. dull maroon during certain times of the year and then coloring back up to the purple during other times. I noticed mine were the maroon here about a month ago, but when I was working on the tank this last weekend, they were colored back up to their normal vibrant purple color. I haven't personally noticed a seasonal cycle on mine, but I have see a couple others mention it when they've answered other's questions on color.

 

[Mr. Microscope]

+1 on a slightly shaded area. It took a lot of fidgeting to find the right place, but I eventually found a spot that was half shaded by a branch rock and they went from ugly brown to awesome purple. Took a while though.

 

[GotSopranos?]

I think this particular Paly is very picky I have a big colony of them in my display that is very purple but I also have different frags in places and other tanks and none look the same. I think they like high light and flow thats where they are in my display and thrive

 

[the808state]

are they purple if you look at them "top down" ? Through the water surface rather than the glass?

 

[beckerjm]

Yeah - they still look maroon when viewed from the top down.

So, I'm going to leave them a bit shaded for 1-2 weeks and see what happens.

GotSopranos - you said yours are in higher light & flow. What kind of lights? How much flow? How high up? Do you use any supplements? - or just Calcium, alkalinity, and mag?

 

[jefathome]

Mine were similar... Looked brown under high light, better when shaded... BUT I also found that under VERY VERY high light (1in below the surface under a 250w 15k bulb) they turned an insane purple again.

 

[beckerjm]

Well they've been in the shade for a couple of days. I see what looks like two 'baby' polyps that are looking more purple. Do you think the other 'mature' polyps will change or just the new polyps will have the more true purple color?

 

[ghostman]

Glad to hear the babies look more purple. The mature polyps should change with time. I found 2 PD polyps that were hidden behind a rock, they must have fallen off the main colony. They were almost completely shaded. They were really bright purple!!!

 

[Scott-CapeCoral]

Mine were similar... Looked brown under high light, better when shaded... BUT I also found that under VERY VERY high light (1in below the surface under a 250w 15k bulb) they turned an insane purple again.

Maybe the light wasn't your problem. I don't see why Purple Deaths would color up under your low light, brown up under high light, then color up in your highest light. You must have done something to change their environment in this time.