bleaching to changing color due to lighting?

HWDylan · 06/23/2013, 11:02 PM

Hey so I got this small frag of pink bird's nest coral back in April and it has shown moderate growth and polyp extension since but it has lost a lot of its original color.

I am just wondering if this is due to it being under different lighting than at the store or if the coral is bleaching out due to stress.

My other SPS are doing fine and my water params are good. I am thinking maybe it is getting too much light to soon?

If it is bleaching, will it recover its original color eventually?

Tank info:
75gal
DIY LED Lights
1.026 salinity
440 Cal
9.1 Alk
1500 Mg
0 Nitrates
0.01 PO4 (Hannah Checker)

Alk and Cal are maintained by dosers.

bnumair · 06/24/2013, 12:32 AM

honestly i dont see any bleaching seems like its got polyp extension and color looks a bit faded than earlier pic.
that could be light issue? what lights did they had it under?
i see ur running LEDs. they are a different breed sometimes it take a while for some corals to get used to led's.
did u do light acclimation?
its best on leds to start corals at 25-30% and increase 1-3% weekly till u reach the max % u want them at.

HWDylan · 06/24/2013, 12:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bnumair

honestly i dont see any bleaching seems like its got polyp extension and color looks a bit faded than earlier pic.
that could be light issue? what lights did they had it under?
i see ur running LEDs. they are a different breed sometimes it take a while for some corals to get used to led's.
did u do light acclimation?
its best on leds to start corals at 25-30% and increase 1-3% weekly till u reach the max % u want them at.

The LFS that I buy from has everything under LEDs so I have never light acclimated stuff.

How does running the lights at ~25% and ramping up slowly affect existing corals in the tank?

Ron Reefman · 06/24/2013, 06:16 AM

I wouldn't be changing my light settings. Rather, start your corals near the bottom of the tank and work them up into the final place you want to keep them.

This is supposed to be a PINK birdsnest. Well it sure looks like it's growing a lot better now than it was at the LFS. It had blunt rounded tips (not good) and now they are pointy (good) and the color was darker (almost red) and now it is pink. I think it's much healthier now than it was before!

06/23/2013, 11:02 PM	#1
HWDylan Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: St. Louis Posts: 64	bleaching to changing color due to lighting? Hey so I got this small frag of pink bird's nest coral back in April and it has shown moderate growth and polyp extension since but it has lost a lot of its original color. I am just wondering if this is due to it being under different lighting than at the store or if the coral is bleaching out due to stress. My other SPS are doing fine and my water params are good. I am thinking maybe it is getting too much light to soon? If it is bleaching, will it recover its original color eventually? Tank info: 75gal DIY LED Lights 1.026 salinity 440 Cal 9.1 Alk 1500 Mg 0 Nitrates 0.01 PO4 (Hannah Checker) Alk and Cal are maintained by dosers.

06/24/2013, 12:32 AM	#2
bnumair Dr. Reef at ur service Join Date: May 2009 Location: Tulsa, Ok, USA Posts: 7,751 Blog Entries: 15	honestly i dont see any bleaching seems like its got polyp extension and color looks a bit faded than earlier pic. that could be light issue? what lights did they had it under? i see ur running LEDs. they are a different breed sometimes it take a while for some corals to get used to led's. did u do light acclimation? its best on leds to start corals at 25-30% and increase 1-3% weekly till u reach the max % u want them at. __________________ Water Quality: NO3 0,Phos 0,Cal 440,Alk 7.5,Mag 1300 "Reef Fast, You Crash, Reef Slow, You Pass" Mike's Reef 3:16 Current Tank Info: 350g DT,95g sump, 50g Frag tank, 4800gph return 4x Sea swirls. 6x AI Vega Color. 200# Pukani rock, dual recirculating skimmer, Biopellet, GFO Carbon rx's, Cal rx. Closed loop. 1.5hp chiller, genesis renew. Apex & RKE

06/24/2013, 06:16 AM	#4
Ron Reefman Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Cape Coral, FL Posts: 10,431	I wouldn't be changing my light settings. Rather, start your corals near the bottom of the tank and work them up into the final place you want to keep them. This is supposed to be a PINK birdsnest. Well it sure looks like it's growing a lot better now than it was at the LFS. It had blunt rounded tips (not good) and now they are pointy (good) and the color was darker (almost red) and now it is pink. I think it's much healthier now than it was before! __________________ The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it. (Neil deGrasse Tyson) Visit my build thread http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2593017