Corals Darkening.. Why??

DuesXX · Jan 1, 2017

Ok, so long story short, I went out for vacation over the holidays in a mad rush and forgot to turn my koralia's back on. When I returned, I noticed that a few, not all, but a few of my SPS had gotten way dark. The best example is my red planet frag. Before I departed, it looked like this:

And when I got home, it looks like this:

Here are my parameters
SG: 1.025 Milwaulkee
po4: .03 Hanna
dKH: 8.6 Hanna
CA: 450 Hanna
Mag: 1550 Salfiert (I know this is a little high. Still trying to focus my automated dosing)
pH: 8.2 API
Temp: 80

Lighting is 2x 175MH and 4x 39w ATI Blue Plus - Now, these are approaching the end of their life, and I have new ones on the way. Don't know if that could contribute or not..
Is this all a result of my leaving the flow other than the return pump off for 5 days? I'm kind of confused. The frag has good PE on one side, basically none on the other.

Vincent100 · Jan 1, 2017

BUMP :)

Frop · Jan 1, 2017

When I got my lights I heard that people have their UV setting lower or else it could "tan" the corals. Maybe this is what's happening? No idea just thinking out loud. :)

Yojoe10 · Jan 1, 2017

I hate to say but that's EXACTLY what my meteor shower frag looked like before it's slow demise. Never knew what went wrong. Tried moving it to lower light areas, higher light, more flow, less flow but couldn't make it happy. It turned dark like that and died a week or two later. Hopefully not the case of yours. How stable is your alkalinity. That was something I was suspecting as a possible problem with my frag. Swings in alk seem to be really hard on some corals. Just my two cents...

BigJim · Jan 1, 2017

It might just need time to acclimate. It looks like that is a fairly new frag and it also appears to have been moved from a frag rack to the rock. New corals frequent brown out when adjusting to a new tank. Were all the browned out corals fairly recent additions?

DuesXX · Jan 1, 2017

Yojoe10 said:
I hate to say but that's EXACTLY what my meteor shower frag looked like before it's slow demise. Never knew what went wrong. Tried moving it to lower light areas, higher light, more flow, less flow but couldn't make it happy. It turned dark like that and died a week or two later. Hopefully not the case of yours. How stable is your alkalinity. That was something I was suspecting as a possible problem with my frag. Swings in alk seem to be really hard on some corals. Just my two cents...

It's 8.6 @ 2am and 8.4 at 4pm.. So not really swinging I don't believe.

BigJim said:
It might just need time to acclimate. It looks like that is a fairly new frag and it also appears to have been moved from a frag rack to the rock. New corals frequent brown out when adjusting to a new tank. Were all the browned out corals fairly recent additions?

Well, it darkened before I took it off the rack. I placed it lower in the tank on the rock work. After i posted this question, I started reading around.. I came across a few people who said their red planet in bright light turned a deep dark red, almost black. So maybe that's all it is, I had it in too much light for the color I want it to be. We'll see if the lower move will help it balance back out. Before I left on vacation, I shifted the rack up, so maybe it was too much, and then with the circulation pumps not running, it didn't diffuse enough of the direct light and it cooked. That's all I can come up with at this point. I've had the frag just over a month.

Graffiti Spot · Jan 2, 2017

Something happened that stressed it out it seems. One month is about the time it takes for any color shifts to happen with new corals. If it gets worse let us know.
I would also say that 175w metal halides don't put out that much light for sps. There is a huge difference in one and a 250w. It may need more light. But it also looks stressed and not just needing more light. Before it looked good, I would keep it at the top of the tank and see what it does. How is your other sps doing? Anything else change color? If not just move it up and see if it helps.
Post a fts and anything you have changed recently and it may help us determine what happened.

Reeferdood · Jan 2, 2017

I will add to this..
I switched my VHO actinic bulbs for the 454's and mine did exactly what yours did.. I went back to actinic and it is very slowly making a comeback.. I think that particular coral likes a much more purple hue vs the blue...
Also, what are your nitrates?
My .02

Graffiti Spot · Jan 2, 2017

Wait a minute. I missed the first sentence, you say you forgot to turn your powerheads back on before you left for vacation? If you had no flow in the tank this would be why it looks so stressed out and discolored.
I would be surprised if the coral looks this way because it likes a different spectrum of light. Red planet in general will do well in any spectrum really, I like it best under 10k personally.

Piranhapat · Jan 2, 2017

What is your nitrates? To high of nitrates will cause browning.

Reeferdood · Jan 2, 2017

Pedoconfuego said:
Wait a minute. I missed the first sentence, you say you forgot to turn your powerheads back on before you left for vacation? If you had no flow in the tank this would be why it looks so stressed out and discolored.
I would be surprised if the coral looks this way because it likes a different spectrum of light. Red planet in general will do well in any spectrum really, I like it best under 10k personally.

Actually almost all corals will change their colors when subjected to different lighting.
But, I do agree that the lack of flow could also be an issue.. Acros need flow in order do get rid of waste and to feed....

Graffiti Spot · Jan 2, 2017

Yes colors shift under different light spectrums and intensitys. That's why I said I like the red planet under 10k bulbs the best :)

DuesXX · Jan 2, 2017

Pedoconfuego said:
Something happened that stressed it out it seems. One month is about the time it takes for any color shifts to happen with new corals. If it gets worse let us know.
I would also say that 175w metal halides don't put out that much light for sps. There is a huge difference in one and a 250w. It may need more light. But it also looks stressed and not just needing more light. Before it looked good, I would keep it at the top of the tank and see what it does. How is your other sps doing? Anything else change color? If not just move it up and see if it helps.
Post a fts and anything you have changed recently and it may help us determine what happened.

Pedoconfuego said:
Wait a minute. I missed the first sentence, you say you forgot to turn your powerheads back on before you left for vacation? If you had no flow in the tank this would be why it looks so stressed out and discolored.
I would be surprised if the coral looks this way because it likes a different spectrum of light. Red planet in general will do well in any spectrum really, I like it best under 10k personally.

As far as my bulbs go, yes, I agree the 2 175's are not that great. It was a used MH fixture and those were the highest watt bulbs they had. Plus its already a HUGE upgrade over the horrible LEDs I tried. But as I said, Ive got a pair of 250 on the way. For the way the coral is looking, yes, I think that stress is what hit it from the pumps being left off. None of the others really look that bad. I have a bright blue table that darkened on the back end, but other than that, everyone else seems ok. I fixed the pump situation and I guess now Im in the stretch of slow recovery. Hopefully. Waiting on a coral to rebound is like getting a refund from Amazon.. They take your money on the spot, and a coral seems to fall apart in a flash, but it takes forever to get it back!

Reeferdood said:
I will add to this..
I switched my VHO actinic bulbs for the 454's and mine did exactly what yours did.. I went back to actinic and it is very slowly making a comeback.. I think that particular coral likes a much more purple hue vs the blue...
Also, what are your nitrates?
My .02

Nitrates are undetectable.. I use a API kit for that. I have trouble keeping nutrients in my system it seems in general. I guess I just don't feed enough and I have a pretty low bioload.

Graffiti Spot · Jan 2, 2017

I would guess the corals will recover OK from the no flow period. If there was anything wrong the corals would probably have already started having flesh peal off by now. Or you would see spots of slow tissue necrossis. It may take a month for them to perk up but who knows. I hope they bounce back quickly for you :)

Reeferdood · Jan 2, 2017

DuesXX said:
As far as my bulbs go, yes, I agree the 2 175's are not that great. It was a used MH fixture and those were the highest watt bulbs they had. Plus its already a HUGE upgrade over the horrible LEDs I tried. But as I said, Ive got a pair of 250 on the way. For the way the coral is looking, yes, I think that stress is what hit it from the pumps being left off. None of the others really look that bad. I have a bright blue table that darkened on the back end, but other than that, everyone else seems ok. I fixed the pump situation and I guess now Im in the stretch of slow recovery. Hopefully. Waiting on a coral to rebound is like getting a refund from Amazon.. They take your money on the spot, and a coral seems to fall apart in a flash, but it takes forever to get it back!
Nitrates are undetectable.. I use a API kit for that. I have trouble keeping nutrients in my system it seems in general. I guess I just don't feed enough and I have a pretty low bioload.

Well,
I would bring your traits up to begin with. ULNS will be much more difficult to keep corals.. The times of pristine polished water are in the rear view mirror for most SPS keepers any longer..

DuesXX · Jan 2, 2017

Pedoconfuego said:
I would guess the corals will recover OK from the no flow period. If there was anything wrong the corals would probably have already started having flesh peal off by now. Or you would see spots of slow tissue necrossis. It may take a month for them to perk up but who knows. I hope they bounce back quickly for you :)

I hope so. It was a pretty little thing before I left. Thanks for you opinion!

DuesXX · Jan 2, 2017

Reeferdood said:
Well,
I would bring your traits up to begin with. ULNS will be much more difficult to keep corals.. The times of pristine polished water are in the rear view mirror for most SPS keepers any longer..

I know it.. all I know to do is try and feed more and skim less. You have any other suggestions?

Reeferdood · Jan 2, 2017

Yep... NeoNitro from Brightwell... And no I am not a spokesperson!:D
Keep skimming aggressively, that removes phosphates more so than nitrates...

bump3rb33tl3 · Jan 2, 2017

Have you considered doing a triton test to see what your untested levels are?

DuesXX · Jan 2, 2017

Reeferdood said:
Yep... NeoNitro from Brightwell... And no I am not a spokesperson!:D
Keep skimming aggressively, that removes phosphates more so than nitrates...

Works huh? I'll have to look into it.