color loss

[zanymaster]

I had some temp issues with my tank running mh without a chiller but finally got one but Had One death and anohter one had bleached but it's still hanging in there,Don't feel like fragging though.It's messy.Anyway.It was blue when I bought it but turned brown after it had bleached partially.I have 300w 14k mh lighting with no actinics.No room for them.What should I do?

[Markus]

How deep is your tank? Can you move the lights higher above the water level?

[BGJ223]

Originally Posted by zanymaster

I had some temp issues with my tank running mh without a chiller but finally got one but Had One death and anohter one had bleached but it's still hanging in there,Don't feel like fragging though.It's messy.Anyway.It was blue when I bought it but turned brown after it had bleached partially.I have 300w 14k mh lighting with no actinics.No room for them.What should I do?

how high up the tank do you have the coral? That can make a difference, it might have too much or too little light where it is. Also, are you sure that you have 300w MH lights? I do not mean to question you, it just seems like an off size for an MH light.

[deathmatch782]

He probably has two 150W lamps

[skeety]

Did it turn brown after the temp changes? or just in general?

if it's from the temp changes, don't do nothing! just keep your parms stable, and it will recover.

If it's just turned brown since you added it to your tank...well..there's a million reasons for this. But know it's pretty normal until you get really good at keeping these guys.

First off...is it a stoney coral? (SPS? Sticks?)

If so...this is a very common problem to people learning how to take care of SPS's.

Note..the color alone does NOT determine the corals health. If you're still seeing growth, and it's not bleaching, it may be perfectly healthy.

Now...as for the question of how to keep SPS's colors bright and vivid...I recommend you check out this thread:

(disclaimer: This thread is not exactly light reading...but still quite interesting. Unfortunately, this topic is pretty complicated)

http://thereeftank.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57723

[JennM]

I've got blue tipped acro in my sell system, under 4 x 400 W MH (that's the total light on the 7 1/2' tank... two light fixtures with 2 x 400 each.

I have a piece of the same acro in an Aquapod under 2 x 32" lamps. It's brown all over. Not nearly as much light - however the coral is healthy, polyps up and it's growing and encrusting onto the rock it is on.

More light brings out the colour. If the coral you're talking about is an SPS (and I'd bet that it is), and it was kept under more intense lighting before you got it (or if it was in the wild under the sun), chances are it is just losing its colour because of less light.

FWIW, Zooxanthellae are brown... that's a natural colour. Often times the more unusual colours are "forced" by intense light.

HTH

Jenn

[zanymaster]

I have a 46 bow with the 2 150w 14k hamiltons.I can't get it any higer for that size tank.They are acros and one monti.Like I said,I had temp issues.Just moved them down to see what happens.

[wharyat]

Look very closely at the corals; If you see any little "bugs" crawling on them, that's the problem.

Known as LRB/little red bugs/acro mites. I'm currently dealing with these.