Teach me about green birdsnest color and how to bring out its best colors

[dmack]

The most beautiful green birdsnest corals I see have a very dark (skin) with flourescent green polyps. I am confused about how to bring out these colors in my green birdsnest. About 4 Years ago a fellow reefer gave me a tiny frag (about 1"). Today, I have one colony the size of a softball, and another the size of an orange, both grew from the original frag. Now, the smaller of the 2 is nearly white with only a hint of green in the polyp. The other is a little darker with more green in the polyps. However, neither piece is nearly as beautiful as some green birdsnests that I see. Both colonies grow very fast, which tells me that they must be healthy. So, why is the color off? How can I create the right conditions to develop that flourescent green polyp?
Similarly, I have green montipora that grow like weeds, but the color is a very dull green. When I got the frag from a fellow reefer, the frag was a vibrant beautiful green.
I can't figure out what conditions to change in my tank. I always think I have lots of light, good stable chemistry, and I feed the tank regularly. What conditions should I change to improve the colors of these corals?

I have 6 T5's retrofitted with icecap reflectors. 4 blue plus, 1 aqua blue special and one fiji purple bulb.

 

[dmack]

Here are 2 crappy iphone pics to give you an idea of what the colors look like. Its lit by 2 blue plus bulbs when the shot was taken.

 

[plyle02]

They look pretty healthy and good to me, maybe if they were just a bit lower in the tank, you could get the tissue to darken a bit more. Any other corals light in color? Could be either too much light or too low of nutrients. Do you supplement any coral foods of any type? Also, how are your parameters?
GL

 

[ReefBum]

I couldn';t get this coral to color up for the longest time. I put it at the bottom of the tank with less light and bingo!

 

[x2uranium]

yah, bottom for sure. it loves low low light.

 

[sfexplicit]

My green birdsnest doesn't like alot of light either.

 

[Surf&turf]

Here's mine under PC lights

 

[dmack]

Thanks so much guys!! ReefBum - Thats exactly what I am looking for! Nice pic. Ill move the coral to the bottom.

 

[cody6766]

Thanks from me too. My green birds nest has been more like brown birdsnest with metallic tips. I'll move it down and see what happens! Mine has been growing like crazy too, just poor coloration.

 

[klepto]

Reefbum- which one is that?

I have ORA's S. guttatus and I can't get anywhere close to that intense green. :thumbdown
Would you agree that some individuals simply won't acquire that hue of green?

 

[alten78]

I had similar problems with my green birdsnest, couldn't color up for anything. Put it lower in the tank, added more fish and fed heavier.

I don't have a pic of what it was but heres a crappy one with my phone that I had, naturally it looks alot better in person

 

[jbird69]

Another thing Ive noticed is they like lower flow than most sps. They will get much shaggier polyps in lower flow, they will hide the skeleton and look much greener.

 

[Rodrigo_BG]

Would you agree that some individuals simply won't acquire that hue of green?

This is true, some corals will always be more genetically colorful than others in a same group. You can check that diving in a coral reef.