Strawberry Shortcake Colony

[dpeoples]

Got a large colony of this today. I have a mostly like 95 percent dominated SPS tank. I am running AI SOL BLUES on it and it is standard 125 gallon dimensions. I have had great growth with all my corals so far so I want some help with this beautiful piece. Seems to be a lot of mixed views on placement and light. So I am looking for help from my fellow reefers out there. I have seen everything from high placement high light to low placement low light. Any help would be greatly appreciated since I do not want to harm such a pretty and expensive coral.

 

[Daimyo68]

This is going to be different in every tank/setup.

I bought a huge colony about 2 months ago. The color was there but not brilliant (stressed from shipping etc). I started it out low and then moved it into a 250 par range, polyp extension was good... It browned out from too much light in 2 weeks.

I moved my fixture up higher and the SSC is now showing signs of it's green base color again. The par range it is in now is 200.

So it seems that just a little bit can make all the difference with this coral.

I would start it out low and move it up slowly over the next couple of weeks, all the while watching the color and polyp extension.

 

[jmaiello04]

My tank is dominated by SPS, and is lit by T5s. I started my SS about half way down from the light, and it still browned out initially. It took about 2 months until it regained it's coloration. Now I have it in near the top and it is growing nicely.

 

[rogerwilco357]

any pics?

 

[sponger0]

I agree that every tank is different, and just like any other SPS its best to place on the bottom, let it acclimate to the light and then move up til you can find the sweet spot. And there is always the potential to brown out. Its no different than any other SPS.

 

[dpeoples]

Ill try and get a pic up today. I can not ever get a good pic of anything in my tank even though it all looks great. Lights are 12 inch above the water and I have it on the bottom right now. It had a lot more green tint to it when I got it so i guess I stressed it a little when I dipped it. The colony is huge. Let me see what I can do.

 

[dpeoples]

Here is a top down picture of it. Its over 6 inches long. I only have a 720p underwater camera so not sure if the picture does it justice or not. Let me know

 

[dpeoples]

Shortcake Pic Included

Shortcake Pic Included

One more try at this. The picture is not altered nor ae the blue lights turned up. This is exactly as it looks right now. So what does everyone think?

 

[Piper27]

I hope you can get it acclimated so we can see what it looks like colored up!

 

[dpeoples]

Yea I hope so too. It has a lot of pink to it as you can see. The mint is still very faint. I got it right now down at the bottom almost on the sand will see how it does this week before I move it up

 

[jmaiello04]

Don't rush the light acclimation, it is going to be an amazing colony!

 

[marke]

Here is mine it love strong lighting and flow
<a href="http://s946.photobucket.com/albums/ad309/benihannah/?action=view&current=DSC_0033.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i946.photobucket.com/albums/ad309/benihannah/DSC_0033.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket Pictures, Images and Photos" /></a>

 

[dvanacker]

It will love strong light and flow but first you have to keep it low to bring back the zoo-x....it may even brown out down there but thats ok......slowly get it used to stronger lighting and than it will colour up.

Having seen more than a couple SSCs that are bleached out eventually RTN I think it may be a crap shoot for you but I wish you best of luck. With proper care it can/may bounce back.

 

[dpeoples]

Beautiful colony Marke. I hope it comes back and does not RTN. Cost my wife a good chunk of chnage it was a birthday gift. Thanks for the advice on not rushing it light wise. So you think a few weeks near the bottom will benefit it before moving upwards?