sps fading during times of rapid growth

[goda]

i knoticed my acropora was loosing color ( going from bright green to pale brown a week ago ( it was ugly brown when i got it but it colored up nicly in my tank) anyways.. i didnt look a tmy tnak for several days and today i knotice several new 1- 5 mm branches




do sps fade durring times of rapid growth?

and btw 1-5 mm in a week may i say holy crap

 

[Serioussnaps]

yeah...i have a millie that i bought about 5 weeks ago..the tips look very faded and kind of bleached but it is growing like weeds and the bleachy part isnt going down into the rest of the coral but going outward as it grows...

it is growing a couple MM a week..very fast..this is intresting..hopefully some people will chime in

 

[McCrary]

What lighting are you using and how high up in the tank is it?

 

[goda]

btw the whole coral is faded a bit.not just the growing tips

this coral was brown when i got it. then it turned green once in my tank for 2 weeks. and now is dull and faded

the coral is 16 inches under water with 770 watts of vho ( altho they are dimmed so it is only at 770 watts for a few hours)

the tank is a 140 gallon


iv also knoticed my hydnophora dosnt have as good of polyp exension as it used to. but it to has grown 1 mm this week ( usualy it does 1 mill a month) but its polyps havent been fully extended for some time now

i did a compleat water test to day

phosphate < .01 ( bellow the lowest color on the hagen test kit
CA 560 ppm
alk is 20 drops.. ( twice as high as it should be)
iron is 0
ammonia no2 and no3 are all 0
ph is 8.1 -8.4
temp is aapx 78
SG is 1.026

 

[jay24k]

If you are seeing any phosphate, then you probably have more as your tank will consume it to fuel algae and browning out of your corals.

Corals do not brown out at all during growth. You must have some type of nutrient issue imo. The tips of my corals will be lighter during quick growth and that is normal. Some of my fast growing caps will actually have a white edge during rapid bursts.

 

[goda]

its not really brown its fadded. almost.. hard to explain or get a good pic

( and yes i had some phosphates due to a old ro unit .. but that was taken care of witha new spectrapure unit and phosphates are slowly going down. i have a fuge to aid in phosphate uptake)



proper color would probobly be.. say.. faded color on anything blue but on my green acro ( one with great growth) it is the color of the R in the reef central logo. but with a tint of green

but it isnt just the growing edge that is like that ( altho it may be possiable there is a new branch forming all over the coral.. i have several 2 mm nubs that formed this week as well)