Why does every blue tort I buy turn purple?

[johnnstacy]

I've bought a blue tort three times now. One of them a Bennet Tort. They always turn mostly purple with blue tips. Am I doing something wrong or are the pictures of these torts not really that blue? I have placed them as high in my tank as possible; about 15" from my 250W DE HQI's. Good flow.
Am I doing something else wrong? (Besides spending a lot of money on frags! :eek1: )

 

[johnnstacy]

10K Reeflux bulbs btw

 

[exoticaquatix]

i have a similar problem. my blue/purple torts all get green on the inside. the tips stay blue but the inner branches and polyps turn green. its cool but i feel ya on the buying one thing ending up with another thing. i have tried 2 pieces of the same colony so its not a fluke. i have a 400 watt 20k xm on a 65. plenty of light right? (not trying to hijack by the way)
-nick

 

[clkwrk]

Move it down ........High light IME turns them purple lower light keeps them nice and blue . I have lots of torts and 3 from the same coral . High one is purple while lower ones are blue.

 

[johnnstacy]

No doubt I will move it down and then it will turn brown....:hmm4:

 

[clkwrk]

If it turn brown its nutrients not light .

Tort are very hardy IME and if you lower it it should go blue

 

[clkwrk]

BTW I haven't seen a brown blue tort unless it was a fresh import .

 

[Frankysreef]

depends on the coral... my oregon tort is blue with purple tips and the cali tort is light blue, but then I have another white tort that has purple coralites and rose colored tips... My fav

 

[drtango]

Interesting-my Tort behaves exactly opposite of clwrk!! Baby blue at the top of the tank (branches breaking the surface) under 400w XM 10k (lots of PAR and flow), mid-tank frag is more purple with green highlights.

Guess it again proves that with SPS, the answer is often "who the heck knows!!!!"

John

 

[Horace]

My tort is purple with green and bright blue tips...its right on top of the reef about 9" under the bulbs. I have another acro frag that was dark blue/green when I bought it...its now sky blue... its only few inches above the sandbed....

I think the reason for the differences among peoples experience is nutrient levels. If your nutrients are on the higher side for SPS your tissues will lean towards dark (probably the reason for blues going to purple).

 

[NuclearReefs]

First tort I had I kept under a 6500K Iwasaki and it went REALLY blue.. when I switched to a XM10 K it turned more purple.... maybe kelvin altering what im seeing..... Melev turned the Same tort purple with Green on the sides in his tank with 250 watt 10k's on the end and the 400watt 20k center.... My present tort is about 10 inches from water surface and is Purple still... Nice color as well,, great polyp extention ...

 

[jackson6745]

FWIW IME the green tint is a sign of phosphate (not necessarily too high) I used to use a 12"+ tort colony as a phosphate guage. If I began to lose the solid blue color to a green tint, I knew my Po4 was on the rise. The testkit confirmed my observation.

 

[NuclearReefs]

here is a before and after.. I think,,,LOL

Before under 6500K

Under XM10K

Oh,, Its grown a little bit ...

 

[getwood65]

i'm with Richard on the elevating po4 causing a green tint-also improper flow- in my old tank the corals out grew my flow and all the undersides and shaded areas started turning green.

 

[clkwrk]

How does that explain my tort that is up top is purple while the lower ones are blue ? All from the same mother .

po4 .01 colorimeter

 

[SERVO]

Look what you started Nathan,

I actually got this from Keith!

10K new Reeflux bulbs.

6.5 K Iwasaki's 2 months prior. Boy the thing really took off and grew. It wasn't very pretty, but it grew like a weed.

 

[trueblackpercula]

Look what you started Nathan,

I find that hard to believe that a coral can reach that color blue. What other lighting is on the tank? (actinincs)
Michael

 

[Eric Boerner]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7988262#post7988262 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by trueblackpercula
I find that hard to believe that a coral can reach that color blue. What other lighting is on the tank? (actinincs)
Michael

You should see them in the wild. Massive fields of Navy blue jutting up through the reef.

 

[johnnstacy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7988262#post7988262 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by trueblackpercula
I find that hard to believe that a coral can reach that color blue. What other lighting is on the tank? (actinincs)
Michael

I agree. I use reeflux 10K's and I have nowhere near that color.

Servo,
Can you give me some specifics on that coral? For example, placement in tank, flow conditions, photoperiod, supplemental lighting, feeding?

There must be something I am missing.

 

[LBCBJ]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7988627#post7988627 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by johnnstacy
I agree. I use reeflux 10K's and I have nowhere near that color.

Servo,
Can you give me some specifics on that coral? For example, placement in tank, flow conditions, photoperiod, supplemental lighting, feeding?

There must be something I am missing.

I've never even seen color like that under a 20k. I think a better question would be "what camera/photoshop settings did you use?"

It would be impossible to get that extent of flourescence with a 10k without some type of actinic supplementation or photo-alteration