screaming green losing color

[psyrob]

I bought a screaming green bird's nest frag from Vivid about 7 weeks ago and now the color is fading, more so the amber than the green of the polyps....I light acclimated it starting at the bottom of the tank and moved it up in stages every two weeks until it is now on a frag rack 2 inches below the top of the water, highest point in the tank...I have 4X54 T5s for lighting and they are pretty low over the top of the tank..

Is my lighting not intense enough for this coral to keep its deep amber color? or do I have it too high? I was going to keep it on the frag rack until it had completely encrusted the frag plug before gluing it onto its final position on the live rock...
Thanks for any input...

 

[dzhuo]

It might or might not have to do with lighting. Do you know alk, cal, mag, N & P? How old is your tank? When you say it loose the green coloration, does the coral become more brown or more white? Does the polyp still come out? Have the coral grow?

 

[psyrob]

calcium 425, alk 8.0, don't have magnisum count, N=0, PO, don't have the test, but I run GFO in phosban reactor 24/7, only tiny bits of algae on the frag rack...tank is 8 years old, not bare bottom. The green is only a little faded, becoming less green, it is the amber "trunk" that is whitening, or really becoming a pale yello...polyps have been out 24/7 since I got it. The frag is about an inch and a half and it doesn't look like it has grown much in the seven weeks I have had it....

 

[dzhuo]

I suspect it's your light. Do you know what lighting this coral has been growing under? Are your other SPS growing and showing good coloration?

 

[reefnrod]

I agree with dzhuo. what size tank do you have?

 

[psyrob]

60 gallon tank, 10 gallon tank plumbed to the same sump...

I dont remember what it was growing under at the store, but it was probably MH and t5 combo and the lights were a good two feet above the display tank all their corals were under....

I don't keep heavy SPSs, only Porites digita (yellow, fantastic growth) a red Monit Digita, which is keeping its color, another birdsnest, which came from the store a sort of brownish yellow and it hasnt' changed color, and a blue digi, which is keeping its blue on the polyps as well...otherwise, just candy canes, some mushrooms, a brain and platygrus, star polys, and a paly colony. the green birdsnest is away from the softies, it is right next to the red monti and a scroll coral frag...

I'm thinking its the lights, maybe I need 6X54s to keep this ones color...

 

[Fish4Me2]

I'm certainly no expert, but the feedback I've gotten in the past is that corals that turn white are often a sign of too much light. On the other hand, my corals' colors improved dramatically when I changed from t5 to radium, even with only a small change in par.

 

[psyrob]

Thanks all...Fish4Me2, that makes some sense, maybe it is too much light...I think I will move it down a little for a couple of weeks and see what happens...there is a nearby rock that is about two or three inches lower, maybe that will do the trick...

 

[dzhuo]

that makes some sense, maybe it is too much light...I think I will move it down a little for a couple of weeks and see what happens

Yes I agree. I think the coral is probably in light shock. Move it and keep a close eye on it for a couple of weeks.

What's a screaming green anyway? Do you have a picture of it?

 

[psyrob]

Here's a link to the place I got it
http://www.vividaquariums.com/10Exp...oral And Invertebrates:SPS Coral&SortBy=Price

It's the "trunk" that has faded from that amber color to a whitish...
Thanks for the feedback, I'll post results

 

[droth335]

I have a 10"x10" colony of that coral - it seems to be a pretty easy keeper. Have sold/gave away a lot of frags from it. I've never had a problem with it fading. It is about 6" from the top under 250W 10K MH and 3x80W T5 actinic. Good luck with it!

 

[scionreefing]

I would mos def lower that frag to another rock they are very picky at times about how much light they receive also I don't think they encrusted all that much.

Raffle grabber

 

[psyrob]

Thanks guys...I have moved it lower, about mid-way in the tank and will keep an eye on it...I will keep a close eye on it...