Fireworks psammacora bleaching or coloring up?

[AFHokie]

I got this fireworks psammacora 6 months ago and have always wondered about the PAR it’s getting and whether it was appropriate. I got it from @Tidal Gardens and their site says they love light. I recently rented a PAR meter and it’s getting right around 100 PAR.

My lights have been ramping over the past several weeks, less than 1% a day. Recently, I’ve noticed a shift in color in some areas on it but I’m not sure whether it’s getting more pale or brightening up. It’s always had a seemingly transparent look to it and except under very blue light hasn’t been deep purple but more of a brownish with a tinge of very light purple. Mouths have always remained brightly fluorescent.

You can see in the pics how much it has grown. I trimmed the plug so it’s grown over the plug edge as well as what you see on the rock surface.

I tried both orange and yellow filters (both included) but it was very hard to capture the true color gradients. You can see in the pic how there are patches of different hues.

Should I leave it be and let it continue to get more PAR or move it to the shade? The TG pics look much deeper purple but that could be lighting.

1.026
9.6dKH
NO3: ~8
PO4: 0.06

 

[Timfish]

I'd try moving it to some place where it's getting about 50% more light. Shifting to less color but more brown often (not always) is indicatve of not having enough light to need the flourescing pigments to deal with the excess light.

 

[AFHokie]

Thank you. I thought it was getting more light but the PAR meter showed some unexpected areas of lower PAR. I only assume it’s because of the angle of light and/or surface currents.

 

[Tidal Gardens Verified Sponsor]

We keep that coral under roughly 100-150 PAR with lower flow. If it is looking "brown" then I would say it would need a bit more light. It should be a deep purple/blue color.

 

[AFHokie]

We keep that coral under roughly 100-150 PAR with lower flow. If it is looking "brown" then I would say it would need a bit more light. It should be a deep purple/blue color.

Thank you. My lights have been ramping and just now that spot is a tad over 100 which means it’s been living at less than that. At the max I plan on it should be around 130