SPS loosing color ???

[Corn]

my sps is loosing color and i can not think of why ? all level are good e.g. 400-430 CA dKH 9 PH 8.1 dose seachem Reef Plus every other week and same with Super Strontium & Molybdenum also Tech-I water changes every other week 45g for a 260 total system using Tropic Marin salt and R/O water i have a MRC CA reactor and a Euro reef skimmer 180g. my lights are 2X250 HQI 14 K bulbs Hamilton and 54W T5W Actinic and Lunar Aqualight - 6 ft Double (ESU) with 2 96W 10K and 2 96W Actinic. all of the bulbs are less then 6 month old. so can anyone tell me why this is happening?
Matt

 

[Julio]

You got to be kidding,
this is not an english class so if you dont' have anything relating to the topic don't post anything period.

What is yoru water temp? nitrate levels? ammonia? Phosphate? all these can play a factor into the coloration of your corals.

 

[tony13]

Water temp is something to look at. Double check whatever your using, I had a bad probe once that was 8 degrees off.

 

[cwegescheide]

Don't be a JERK ebb...

A lot of people that have a low bio-load in their reefs notice their colors improve by adding more fish. Evidently corals love fish poo?

I have a 90 with 3 small fish and I think my corals could have more vivid coloration. So this weekend I'm going fish shopping. What the heck its worth a shot..

Chris

 

[Wiskey]

How old are those Hamilton's? From what I understand they need to be replaced regularly. Is there anyway you can measure the light getting to your corals (like a club that has a LUX or PAR meater)?

HTH,
Whiskey

 

[Cody Ray]

A lot of people that have a low bio-load in their reefs notice their colors improve by adding more fish. Evidently corals love fish poo?

That's an interesting way to put it

Corals get energy from their symbiotic relationship with algae and by consuming different kinds of plankton from the water. The energy the coral recieves from the algae isn't enough to keep the coral thriving. Think of it as a person, if you did nothing but eat sugar all day you would grow, however you would look like crap. If you supplement your diet with good foods than you will grow and be healthy. Corals need food too. After adding sugar to my system my monti cap started to regain its colors. I believe this came from the increase of available bacteria produced by the sugar. The added benefit is that the bacteria reproduce faster so they consume more nitrate. Most people seem to use vodka though, I don't have access to any

 

[Amphiprion]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7250174#post7250174 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ebb
I don't know about the color, but since your occupation is student I will say that you mean losing not loosing. I Think many people type loose when they mean lose, now you don't have to do that anymore.

I wouldn't say too much if I were you. You shouldn't correct someone with an improperly sentence. No need to worry about silly things like that...I am sure you knew what was meant.

 

[Amphiprion]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7262561#post7262561 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ebb
what is an improperly sentence, Amphiprion?

Well, it was supposed to be "improperly punctuated". Oh well, I suppose I am not any better. Not trying to be mean or picky, just trying to lighten things up by showing that you had a punctuation error.

 

[Nyyanks154]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7250174#post7250174 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ebb
I Think many people type loose when they mean lose, now you don't have to do that anymore.

Hey Ebb,
You also need a coordinate conjunction for your run-on sentence.

 

[brad]

In my experience, improving my grammar has not helped my corals at all. I don't think they understand a word I say.

2 different color changes happen with SPS:
A) Darker vs. Lighter - Zoozanthelle make corals look brown. This is why thinning and bleaching can make coral look better to some people. Lowering nutrients can "help" make coral lighter.

B) Color and amount of pigment - For example, when a purple acro turns greenish blue, or a deep blue coral turns light brown. No one is really sure why this happens, but generally brighter lights and better growth give better colors. Pay attention to the growth rate. If an acro has bright blue tips and is otherwise brown, and it stops growing, it will turn browner until the tips start to grow again.

 

[Amphiprionocellaris]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7273256#post7273256 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by brad

B) Color and amount of pigment - For example, when a purple acro turns greenish blue, or a deep blue coral turns light brown. No one is really sure why this happens, but generally brighter lights and better growth give better colors. Pay attention to the growth rate. If an acro has bright blue tips and is otherwise brown, and it stops growing, it will turn browner until the tips start to grow again.

Actually, we have a pretty good idea of what's going on; this is all related to the UV protection pigments and light regulation (note that I'm not talking about the browning form part A). These are, of course, situations in which the coral has excess light (browning occurs when the coral wants more light). Pigments such as purple and pink are a massive energy investment on the parts of corals, because they absorb a good portion of the light, leaving less for the zooxanthellae. This is typical of corals from very high-light environments: it doesn't matter that they lose photosynthetic efficiency, because they have more than enough light. When that excess light is removed, the corals can get rid of the purple and pink (with the excpetion of Pocillopora, which has a different pigmentation scheme). In lighting schemes with higher proportions of UV (usually schemes with lots of blue light), corals tend to turn green, because the pigment that absorbs predominantly UV light is green.
However, accurately predicting what color change, if any, will occur is nearly impossible, because there are so many variables (where it came from, the ambient light field, nutrient levels, etc.).
Increasing nutrient levels sometimes helps color, as has been mentioned. One of the many reasons that some corals lose pigments is that they are trying to make up for an energy deficit by increasing photosynthesis. If you increase nutrient levels, the corals "realize" they are getting enough energy and can color up.

 

[Amphiprionocellaris]

That's an interesting question, and I want to start by saying I do not at all consider myself an expert in that area. However, that doesn't mean I can't have educated opinions.
To me, it's all a matter of type and frequency, though other things like water movement come into play as well (more on that later). Since we're in the SPS forum, I'll restrict my answer to those (no offense to LPS people; I love them just as much as SPS, but I want to keep the answer short).
As I stated in my earlier post, most corals will lighten their pigmentation when they are not getting enough energy. This might also be accompanied by a browning, but not always: the zooxanthellae need "fertilizer" as well, so they might not be able to increase in population. When food is provided to the corals, this cycle tends to reverse (but not always). Of course, feeding SPS can be very difficult, and I actually think target feeding might be ineffective unless you can very effectively keep plankton in the area (note that many acroporids produce mucus nets to increaese their capture of plankton: this is an energy investment, and is a good sign). I think a more effective alternative is to increase the fish load (and/or their feedings) within reason. SPS are very effective feeders on dissolved organics, and the increase in both dissolved food and fish waste can really help the corals. This is one area water motion can come into play: good water motion is needed to break the water layer that forms next to the colony; this allows for better transfer of waste and food.
Now, having said all that, it is still important to keep nutrient levels low to (preferably) undedectable with hobbyist kits. When there is a great excess of nutrients, the zooxanthellae will grow in abundance, leading to browning and (in very extreme cases) bleaching (a case in which the coral basically "hits the reset button" on the algae-coral relationship. However, it is still important, IMO, to have a good dynamic nutrient exchange (that is, lots of nutrients being added/produced, and just as many being used).
In conclusion, I don't think target feeding corals is very effective unless you have ways of confining the food to the coral's surroundings. However, feeding fish, or increasing nutrients in other ways (adding a liquid plankton substitute is like adding fertilizer) can help restore lightened colors. It's not a given, but it might help.

 

[smiller]

I removed all of the mess from this thread. Please keep English 101 and general dentistry out of the discussion.

Ebb....do not post to this thread again, nor to any other in the manner that you did. While I'm sure he appreciates your concern, it has nothing to do with the subject.