Could use the opinion of advanced keepers of acropora

scoobysnack77 · Jun 18, 2015

Hello reef fam, i have a quick question. Right now my SPS dominant reef is thriving at the moment but i have a few corals that turned a fluorescent green color as soon as i switched to metal halide 14k phoenix bulbs. Its not ugly or anything and the corals themselves are showing polyps and are growing but i wanted to see if anyone knows what the heck causes it. It glows under actinic lighting. I took a pic of an australian purple acro that i got awhile ago and it was a deep gorgeous purple color for months but one i put the halides up its turned fluorescent green. Let me know what you all think. ALL my parameters are in line and perfect.Picture is attached

Oscaror · Jun 18, 2015

Some acros can change colour dramatically. The acro in the picture actually looks to have a hint of green. Is it like, green slimer green now?

scoobysnack77 · Jun 18, 2015

Oscaror said:
Some acros can change colour dramatically. The acro in the picture actually looks to have a hint of green. Is it like, green slimer green now?

Yes , it was deep purple with no green at all before the halides. like i said , it does look pretty but i just want to check with you all to see if its ok and not a bad sign.

Tahoe61 · Jun 18, 2015

You could try some zeovit products, test your Potassium and Iron levels. It's been my experience that Acropora tend to shift to green coloration with elevated Iron levels. Green has always been the easiest color to achieve and maintain, next being red, with blues and yellows the hardest to maintain.

http://reefbuilders.com/2008/09/03/guide-of-sps-coral-coloration-make-them-more-vivid-bright/

You're going to see a color shift with any lighting change. Personally I really like the look of the Phoenix bulb, but you could always try Radium.

Oscaror · Jun 18, 2015

No matter what the colour is as long as it's bright and not brown/white it's happy

scoobysnack77 · Jun 18, 2015

Tahoe61 said:
You could try some zeovit products, test your Potassium and Iron levels. It's been my experience that Acropora tend to shift to green coloration with elevated Iron levels. Green has always been the easiest color to achieve and maintain, next being red, with blues and yellows the hardest to maintain.

http://reefbuilders.com/2008/09/03/guide-of-sps-coral-coloration-make-them-more-vivid-bright/

You're going to see a color shift with any lighting change. Personally I really like the look of the Phoenix bulb, but you could always try Radium.

You could be on to something because i know my potassium is a bit high and i haven't tested my iron ever. i do dose red seas coral colors with my 2part and i know it has iron in it so i gotta buy a test kit for it or stop dosing the corals colors bottle that has the iron. so far greens are really green and my blues and purples are gorgeous and deep. Reds and pinks are coming along but could be a bit better. I really love the phoenix bulb myself. i actually like it more than the radium bulb which i ran years ago. i get the blue and the fast grow rate with the phoenix and my acros showed better colors under the phoenix bulb as well. i know people swear by radium and i did too until i tried the phoenix. its a dang shame they discontinued it

i bought up all i could find online. as for zeovit products or any others, i found success finally after years of failure with acroporas but just keeping it simple. i got rid of carbon, gfo, zeovit additives, reef booster ect ect ect. now i just dose my 2part,micro nutrients and amino acids and i feed phyto, zooplankton and rotifers a few times a week and my corals have never looked better. ill post a pic of a few of my corals but my camera SUCKS ,lol.

scoobysnack77 · Jun 18, 2015

Oscaror said:
No matter what the colour is as long as it's bright and not brown/white it's happy

True, but i miss its deep purple color that it had

but your right, the coral is happy and growing so i can't complain. I'm just trying to get some tips on bringing it back to its natural purple glory which ill post below. the purple acro I'm speaking of is on the right in the photo. i just received it then so it wasn't as purple as a year later.

Oscaror · Jun 18, 2015

Can you get a picture of it now?

Tahoe61 · Jun 18, 2015

I like to keep it simple as well, but when the sps bug is at it's worse, we tweak. We manipulate nitrates and phosphates, the big 3 Ca/alk/mag and then we move on to K+......

It's hard to resist reactors and all that goes along with that.

You corals are beautiful and healthy.

scoobysnack77 · Jun 20, 2015

Oscaror said:
Can you get a picture of it now?

were you able to see the pic of it now attached to the original post?

scoobysnack77 · Jun 20, 2015

Tahoe61 said:
I like to keep it simple as well, but when the sps bug is at it's worse, we tweak. We manipulate nitrates and phosphates, the big 3 Ca/alk/mag and then we move on to K+......

It's hard to resist reactors and all that goes along with that.

You corals are beautiful and healthy.

Yes i totally agree. Once i get the big 3 balanced i start playing around with micro nutrients and trace elements. My tank hasn't had any fish in it for over two months now no my nitrates and phosphates are both zero. I think ill get a couple fish but i think my corals look better without em so I'm gonna keep it to a minimum. And thank you for the compliment on my corals

I'm soooo happy i finally understand acroporas and their needs (took 3 years). And boy do they reward you with their beauty when their happy