Superman Color

[Jake007]

I have read alot of posts and keep finding conflicting info on lighting needs and keeping the blue color.
Mine is very much all tight with orange polyps but the base is not blue. It is more of a white color. It has grown from 1" to over 7" round in a little over a year. My setup is a 120 mixed reef with T5 retrofit 6 bulbs. The superman is mid tank one quarter in from the side. Looks like flow is good on it.

I have been feeding this last week with Brighwell's Coral Amino and it does seem to be getting darker.

Q. Is it getting too much light? Not enough light?
Q. or should I be looking at feeding / nutrients issue?

 

[allsps40]

I keep mine high up under 250w 20k MH. I feed the tank Rods food and Zooplankton. I get a nice blue bas and red polpys.

 

[OrlandoReef407]

Have you tried using potassium.. I keep my superman monti under 2x 250 hqi 14k Phoenix bulbs with 4 ati blue + t-5's my blue shines I keep my superman mid way in the tank

 

[allsps40]

Oh by the way I really dont think you can give a superman too much light. I have seen them grow like weeds with great color roasting under a 400w mh only 3-4 inches from the water's surface. I only dose kalk and 2 drops of vodka a day.

 

[pimp2daizzo]

Oh by the way I really dont think you can give a superman too much light. I have seen them grow like weeds with great color roasting under a 400w mh only 3-4 inches from the water's surface. I only dose kalk and 2 drops of vodka a day.

u started vodka again?

and my superman is at the bott of my tank under 6 54watt t5s and has great color...it fades out when i dont do waterchanges for a few weeks

 

[dubes08]

Potassium worked for me.

 

[Jake007]

OK.... so similar results to what I have been reading. The magazine says lower light but I see many/ most folks have it mid to higher with MH and good results.

One person with 6 t5 similar to mine and good at the bottom..... So likely not the lighting. I was worried cause white to me and I think bleaching but I guess that is not the case here even with mine half way up on T5s.

So waterchange shows better results? Hmmm. maybe my water quality is not as good as I think? I do 10 gal every 2 weeks and keep the glass clean, no filter socks, chaeto refugium, posban with carbon in the reactor tube 24 /7 days. Most folks say my tank is too clean when they see it.

I am getting good growth just not the blue base. Lots of red polyps almost to the point you can't see the base.

I just did a retest: 1.0255, 78.9 deg, 8.31pH (opened the windows today -usually runs closer to 8.0), 9.5 dkh, and 405 CA.

A couple folks mentioned dosing some potassium? I have not ever tested or dosed for potassium? Where do I get it and how much do I need?

 

[Jake007]

Here is a photo... just measured it is 5.5" across. The white balance is slightly off but this is close anyway. The white sting marks on the Orange digi were from a large chalice located below which I moved a few days ago.

Here is a photo of an Orange Cap hosting my clowns on the other side of the same tank. 17" long x 9" high. There is also another 8" long orange cap above the Superman.
These seem to grow real well for me.

 

[tmgrash]

Mine is getting about 350-400 par from leds. Just a camera phone pic

 

[Gyr]

Interesting specimen. I like how it seems to be plating out in that photo. I didn't know the Superman did that. Mine is strictly an encruster, but then again, I have'nt had the growth yet on mine that you have.
Mine is about a third of the way up from the bottom of my tank, right in the center, and has a nice blue base and red polyps. I like it.
Interestingly, I have a Rainbow Monti which has an almost white base, even paler than your Superman. It is growing well, and I suspect it is too high up in the tank (about 4 inches below water surface). If I can ever figure out how to get a piece off the rock it has encrusted on I will try it lower in the tank.

 

[allsps40]

u started vodka again?

Yeah I did start up vodka again. I started about 2 weeks ago, only doing 2 drops a day and I will be getting some MB7 soon to dose with the vodka. This smaller dose seems to be working out much better than the recommended dosage. I am thinking about trying the pellets but all I have been hearing is they cause major cyano outbreaks.

 

[nano51]

I put mine 5 inches directly under MH

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[Alex T.]

From my understanding there are two types of Superman Montipora. The one that is maricultured and from the wild tends to need much more light and frequently loses its' brilliant coloration within a couple of months. The aquacultured ones are much more hardy and able to be placed deeper in the tank. Mine is almost on the bottom of a 27" deep tank off to the side of most lit area under a 400 watt Radium. It has kept its' blue and red with most brilliant blue on the newly encrusting growth edges.

 

[Jake007]

OK... I got mine from a local frag event so I am not sure that counts as Maricultured? I am not sure why it is plating out past the rock instead of down? I will frag it again in a couple months once it gets a good 1 " or more out from the rock it is on. I guess I can try moving the frag to the bottom of the tank to see how it reacts there?

 

[Alex T.]

Maricultured means they were grown in a shallow lagoon in natural seawater. Aquacultured is grown in a frag tank. Sometimes you can tell a maricultured piece from the aragonite concrete rock that it's affixed to, whereas aquacultured pieces generally come on a frag plug.

FWIW, I tend to stay away from maricultured pieces because they inherently have a harder time acclimating and many have pests like flatworms and red bugs to deal with.

 

[allsps40]

I got mine from a LFS. I can trace it back to the original wild caught Superman Monti. It is 1 of 2 that I can trace the coral back it's the source.

 

[rhys123]

1 of the 20 or so frags I have in a sunlight system

 

[Jake007]

Thanks for the info on Maricultured vs Auqacultured.....

 

[buy_baff]

1 of the 20 or so frags I have in a sunlight system

Awesome color for a sunlight system. Here is one ofe about 10 frags I sold a few weeks back.

 

[ritter6788]

Here's mine. 150 watt halides. Top of the tank but to the left of the direct light. Pretty fast grower for me. It was solid orange when I got it and it colored up nicely. The blue turned too dark when my nutrients were high. I started running gfo and did too much to fast and it turned too light. Now that everything has settled it is a nice blue so I think nutrients play a big role in the color of this coral.