Acan color

[Pete polyp]

I have several rainbow acan, but they lose the rainbow. I'm having trouble with them keeping green, blue and purple colors. It kind of seems like too much light, but I'm not sure. They will lose the green, blue and purple and be replaced with orange and red. Could I try some different bulb combinations that may solve this? Currently I have 3 ati blue +, 1 ati coral +, 1 actinic 03, and 1 12000k. Let's say I change the combination to 3 blue+, 1 coral +, and 2 actinic 03 would it help those colors return?

These pictures were about 1 monthapart. It has since turned more red and orange

 

[All Delight]

I think that would definitely help. That 12k bulb is messing it up. Is that the aquablue special? I tried that bulb and it was horrible. I didn't even run it a full day.

Also, how high up in the tank do you have them? How many watts are each bulb?

And sometimes there's nothing you can do, they will just morph.

Who know's if they'll turn back to what they were. Quite honestly I never had much luck for the same colors returning. The only time they came back is when they were bleached.

 

[zoechance]

wanna follow this thread as I have the same issue and I use LED's. My acans are growing and making little babies but they have turned orange and lost the blue stripes…. they are still nice but were MUCH nicer when i bought 'em….

 

[Pete polyp]

No the 12k is not the aquablue, its one of the stock bulbs that came with the fixture. They are 24w each bulb. the reason I'm using the 12k is because I swapped it for a coral+ and I saw an explosion of growth in my acroporas.

 

[Pete polyp]

So, I just swapped out the 12k for another actinic 03. We will see what this does and I will keep updated. I did see a little difference in a couple instantly, but they're still not where I would like them to be

 

[Viperdoug]

From my experience you need to keep them in lower and bluer light. too much light will definitely mess up the colors. I learned this the hard way. it is weird because even though they lost the color, they kept growing. I was confused as they looked aweful (color wise) but we're producing new heads. After talking with Todd at Cherry Corals, he explained to me that they need low, blue light. I run T5 myself and have a six bulb (39w) fixture and run 5 blue plus and 1 actinic the colors look better than ever. I would take one of yours and move it to lower light for a few days to a week and see if it starts improving compared to the other ones. If so you have your answer.

 

[Pete polyp]

They're at least 12" from the top of the tank. I did have one acan that was orange. When it grew new polyps the centers were this insane rainbow color. once they grew out to where the light hit them they turned orange

 

[LPSGUY]

Under my LED's, have a couple different kinds my acans turn orange.

Under T5, have a couple different kinds and bulb combo but very blue, my acans turn red.

Almost every acan I have ever received morphed, even the rainbows, but the rainbows morphed into a different rainbow color.

 

[NRG1337]

hey pete,

did you find the solution? Got the same problems right now! Losing Rainbow and especially bright greens and get orange/brown ...

 

[jmreef]

Keeping this alive. Trying to find the best lighting for my acans. I’m having the same concerns as NRG1337. Greens are fading and turning orange.

 

[dodgerblew]

I've had the acan issues when I switched to a Radion LED. However, it was a gen 1. I ran them at a lower percentage and all my Acans morphed to red or orange. I took the Radion off after 3 weeks and went back to t5, b+ p+ and c+. The colors only shifted slightly back but the end result was I morphed them and was unable to morph them back. The par from the LED I believe was to high. I keep Acans low, about 2-3" off bottom of a 24" deep and my lights are about 10" above tank. My mixed Reef does ok with this.

 

[Saltyanimals]

Following!

I’ve been struggling with scan color for awhile too. Running radion gen 3 on mix but sps heavily so I need the par. Added 3 hours of all blues in the morning as I’ve read similar comments with the blues. My colors looked better but only the centers of each head never recovered color. I personally think it’s a nutrient issue as I only tank feed and they don’t get enough. Also trying to spot feed but that’s maybe once every 10 days or so.