What does faded purples indicate?

[LoJack]

Hey guys, like the title states, what does faded purples indicate in your tank

Everything is doing great, but my purples have faded recently for some reason

Purple Bonsai, and Tri color valida, as well as purple cap "¦ each is faded as of late. Still growing, decent PE "¦ yet the purple isn't nearly as deep as it was

Cal 420
Alk 8.5
Mag 1450
Phos .01
N03 <1ppm (ELOS test, not enough to change the color to the first graph, so low)

I've added a few new frags since, and they are coloring up and super healthy "¦ a forest fire that is taking on all kind of new color. All other SPS and LPS look very happy and healthy

Just can't figure out why the purples have faded

 

[LoJack]

Here's some examples

Fresh cut frag, nice and deep purple:



Here it is growing great, awesome PE, yet the purple is fading out

 

[LoJack]

And another

Bonsai when added to tank:



Bonsai a few months later:



And bonsai now which you can see in this pic with my Forest Fire frag "¦ which was bleached and near dead a month ago when I acquired it from a fellow reefer. So obviously the water is healthy enough to revive these corals "¦ everything is growing "¦ yet purples are fading

 

[jda]

Low nutrients, pests or different light from the tank in which they were cut. With your levels at .01 and about 1 (or so), then I would lean towards pests or lights.

 

[LoJack]

Forest Fire two weeks ago, bleached and faded:



So obviously the water is good enough to heal a struggling coral "¦ yet I can't maintain my purples.

Please share your thoughts!

 

[LoJack]

Low nutrients, pests or different light from the tank in which they were cut. With your levels at .01 and about 1 (or so), then I would lean towards pests or lights.

Are there pests that prefer just purple? And it is Acros and Monti's "¦ so unlikely Monti eating nudibranches, or AEFW "¦ I would think if it was pests other corals would be affected as well.

 

[jda]

I was posting before I saw the rest of your posts. Red Bugs would jack with your bonsai and valida, but they probably would not be growing either.

What lights were used by the person that you got the coral from? What do you use?

 

[LoJack]

Sorry those photo's look confusing because they are out of chronological order. The faded pic of the Forest Fire is from 2 weeks ago … the picture with all the color is the most recent one from yesterday …

No issues with any other corals. Just the purples. And they are growing and healthy … just not deep deep purple like they once were.

 

[Andyf30]

I would point to light issues, or nutrient issues. Subtle differences between tanks can create different color situations entirely in the exact same piece. Seen it happen in my system many times.