SPS - Red Cap fading color now. Help!

[Sullivmw]

Bill,

It could just be the lighting, or how the camera angle is, but I circled a couple SPS's that might have recession on their base. Again, it could just be the angle, and not accurate. But if is, you might want to check you params, including stability once more.

Sorry about the pic, I should have zoomed in.

 

[acropora213]

this could also fall into the issue of fluctuations in the alk and calcium levels.

as in that post from last week about bleaching out sps colors

 

[J4Life]

Sullivmw, its the lighting. The second one isn't an SPS its a softie. The lighting is way to strong for it so I moved it down to the bottom on a more shaded part of the tank.

Calcium pretty much stays in check. Alk however at times hits the low reading on my Red Sea test kit. I need to get a Salifert alk test kit. Put once I start adding lime water to my top off I think calcium and alk will stay constant.

I would normally not say this but I am wondering if I drop the tank temp down between 78-80 if that might help? I noticed yesterday that it was up to 82.6 which is the highest it has been since I added my MH's. The tank resides in my basement and we have had nothing but upper 90's in Winston-Salem all this week. The heat index has made it feel like we are in the low 100's. Then again like DaddyJax suggested it may just color back up on its own. It still seems to be growing from what I can tell and I just did about 30% water change this past weekend.

Last thing I want to do is start making tons of changes to fix a problem with one coral. Everything else is doing fine from what I can tell.

 

[Sullivmw]

Sorry, I just could not tell from the picture, and wanted to make sure.

XM 10K 250 lights are very high on the par tests. I also use them and have found many SPS's have to be moved to the bottom when first put in the tank if you want to keep the darker colors.

By the way your lights could be brighter than some 400w 20k bulbs. You might want to check on Sanjay's website.

 

[J4Life]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7878809#post7878809 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Sullivmw
Sorry, I just could not tell from the picture, and wanted to make sure.

XM 10K 250 lights are very high on the par tests. I also use them and have found many SPS's have to be moved to the bottom when first put in the tank if you want to keep the darker colors.

By the way your lights could be brighter than some 400w 20k bulbs. You might want to check on Sanjay's website.

Yeah I was sort of wondering that myself with the addition of the T5's from UVL. I really like the look of them with the 10K, XM's. Interestingly I was actually thinking of raising my lights up even higher and see how things do. I have an open canopy that hangs over the tank. I am just using chaing for the connection to some hooks. I might take them up another 4 inches and see if that makes a difference. It would be the easiest and least drastic thing I can think of to do in this instance.

What do you think?

Thanks,
Bill

 

[twon8]

if you aren't supplementing alk/ca everyday via top off, then your parameter swings will make sps lose color.

 

[J4Life]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7879180#post7879180 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by twon8
if you aren't supplementing alk/ca everyday via top off, then your parameter swings will make sps lose color.

I have to disagree. I don't add anything in my RO topoff and I check CA and ALK weekly and they don't swing that much. I am certain that it is probably due to the fact that I do not have a large amount of evaporation.

I would agree though that if you had a large amount of evaporation you might experience larger drops in calcium and alk and so then yes it could cause loss of color if you were not adding then to your top off water, but from personal experience I have let my tank go with no water changes and nothing added at all except for fresh RO water and never lost color in any coral.

My issue could be that I have made some significant changes over the course of 3 months from the time I got the cap and just before adding it to my tank.

Here is a list of changes:

1.) Switched from VHO to MH 2x250, 10K XM's using 2, UVL Super Actinic R's for sup.
2.) Added new SPS frags - red cap, blue tort, pink birdsnest, valida
3.) Had mandarin die and added 6 line, fancy tail blenny
4.) Incorporated CPR bak-pak skimmer last month for some skimming.
5.) Switched our VHO's for 2 UVL T5 Super Actinic R's for sup.
6.) Several water 30% water changes over the last 3 months
7.) Added even more SPS corals - about 6 and some small frags of various zoas, lps, & softies.

Personally the more I think about it the more I think it maybe just my lights. Most of the SPS I have received have been kept under 400 watt 20k bulbs. All of the SPS that I have owned prior to switching out my lights are doing fine. The Pink mille that I got a little over a month ago from the LFS was completely bleached just about. Now it is becoming one of my favorite corals. It has deep pink hues and aquablue polyps on it. Very pretty coral in person.

Maybe I am just be paranoid for nothing. Then again I really want a red cap not a hot pink cap...:lol: I ain't no fairy!

 

[gemxsps]

I have same monti cap that you have. Now I have two tanks. One is 400W 20k and the other is 250W 14K. The red cap become pink if I move from 20K to 14K. So if you wanna solid red, you have to change your MH bulb.

 

[J4Life]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7880639#post7880639 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by gemxsps
I have same monti cap that you have. Now I have two tanks. One is 400W 20k and the other is 250W 14K. The red cap become pink if I move from 20K to 14K. So if you wanna solid red, you have to change your MH bulb.

Well mine is more than pink. It is white in the center now and only pink on the outer edges.

Would fragging a small piece and moving it lower in the tank be wise to try and save any of it?

Thanks,
Bill

 

[aurora]

I've kept the same cap for years and grow it under different lighting conditions and bulb. The fading to pink is NOT from too much lighting but more likely lack of it or from lower Kelvin Bulb. The same frag will turn dark orange/red under 20K. I've seen it deepest red under radium and pink under 10K. Very nice orange under Iwasaki. If the frag is growing and has a nice white grow rim around it, it's probably fine. You can try and move it up higher in the tank for a deeper color.

BTW, this thing grows like weed in my tank and I regularly supply the LFS with fist size/swirling colonies for credits.

 

[J4Life]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7883797#post7883797 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by aurora
I've kept the same cap for years and grow it under different lighting conditions and bulb. The fading to pink is NOT from too much lighting but more likely lack of it or from lower Kelvin Bulb. The same frag will turn dark orange/red under 20K. I've seen it deepest red under radium and pink under 10K. Very nice orange under Iwasaki. If the frag is growing and has a nice white grow rim around it, it's probably fine. You can try and move it up higher in the tank for a deeper color.

BTW, this thing grows like weed in my tank and I regularly supply the LFS with fist size/swirling colonies for credits.

Sorry but I have to disagree with your statements. Kelvin is not an indicator of more light intensity. 10K bulbs put far more PAR out then most 20k bulbs even if they're 400 watts. So I am confident that my bleaching is not due to a lack of light. After reading Eric Borneman's book Aquarium Corals again it is very hard to figure out what triggers a bleaching event, but some of the things I listed above regarding the changes I have made could have brought it on. I am going to continue to watch this coral and see how it does. So far today the colors seem brighter. Interestingly enough though I did feed golden pearls last night. I am going to feed some again tonight and maybe the next couple of nights to see if the coral colors up more.

Thanks,
Bill

 

[aurora]

I don't think I've said anything about Kelvin being an indicator of light intensity. All I'm trying to tell you is that....in my experience, I've seen similar color change in low light intensity OR low Kelvin conditions. What ever you do with it, any improvements will likely take weeks to see. Good luck with your frag.

 

[J4Life]

The fading to pink is NOT from too much lighting but more likely lack of it or from lower Kelvin Bulb.

Well it sounded like that to me in your very first post. See above. I do appreciate your help so please don't take things the wrong way. I just want to make sure that if someone new is reading this post they're getting accurate information. The issue I have with higher Kelvin bulbs particularly the 20K bulbs is that they do not mirror the natural environment of the ocean that most corals in our reef tanks are found in. While the importance of blue light is a must to keep acropora, I feel that providing corals with mostly all blue light deprives them of their natural conditions. 10K bulbs mimic their natural environment far better in my opinion and with a little supplementation you can have incredible results in coloration, growth, and appearance.

Thanks,
Bill

 

[KH971]

Bill, mine did the same thing, but mine wasdue to low alk., I had a hard time keeping my Korallin 1502 running. I was tryingto use just useit by siphon. Always pressurize a reactor! Since I changed reactors and got all my parameters right it has started growing and getting it's color back.

 

[J4Life]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7889347#post7889347 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by KH971
Bill, mine did the same thing, but mine wasdue to low alk., I had a hard time keeping my Korallin 1502 running. I was tryingto use just useit by siphon. Always pressurize a reactor! Since I changed reactors and got all my parameters right it has started growing and getting it's color back.

Yeah I am starting suspect my alkalinity as well. I am going to start dosing limewater this week and see if that makes a difference. My calcium stays pretty constant but my alk has slipped from time to time between normal and low on my red sea test kit.

Will let everyone know what happens. I do appreciate everyone's input so far in this.

 

[KH971]

Limewater or kalkwasser will raise cal. and alk. at the same rate. if your cal. is at 400 , you need to just dose alk., an SPS tank will consume Alk twice the rate as calcium.

 

[J4Life]

Thanks I am aware of that. Last night I got home and noticed that my blue tort and my pink mille seem to be lightening up now. I am really confused as to what could be causing this. I can say that I have moved both the blue tort and mille into different locations. I wonder if moving them has caused them to lighten up. I am starting to suspect that the T5's in conjunction with my MH's may just be too much light and I might need to shrink my window from 10 hours on the T5's to 8 hours along with my MH's however I will lose my dusk dawn phase.

I am just praying the bleaching stops. God is pretty good at listening and answering with astounding results.

Thanks again,
Bill