Soft coral update and Color Inquiry

[chaserdogg01]

Hi everyone,

Been about 4 weeks since I got my first soft corals so wanted to post some update pics. See attached - 1- pulsing Xenia, 2 lemon Lazer clove polyps, 3- piece of GSP that fell off and I fragged lol, 4- ricordea Florida mushroom, 5- main GSP frag, 6 - green toadstool. (These did not upload in the order I expected but the pics are distinguishable lol)

Here are my parameters, the minimal dosing, salt I use, and the lights I use -

Lighting - WILLS Full Spectrum Aquarium Light, Reef Lights for Coral with Dual Dimmable Channels, 55 Premium SMD Chips, Daisy Chain Design, Hanging Saltwater Fish Tank Light for SPS/LPS Coral Reef (165W/Black)

Salt - instant ocean reef crystals

Nitrates - 10-25
Salinity - 35 ppt
Phosphates (ppb) - 48
Alk - 7.7
Calcium - 440
Magnesium - 1200 (salifert for all tests besides phos, hanna tester for phos)


This may just be a thing of patience, but i can’t help but notice how dull my corals colors are compared to many that I see in person and here on R2R. Is this simply my lighting not being high enough, levels not good enough, not feeding the corals or even placement? Do I just need to wait for the coral to settle in more before they get full color back? The color polyps took the longest to open up so it’s a blessing that they survived at all, but just asking this as a general question for all the coral.

Thank you very much and let me know if more info is needed!

 

[TX_REEF]

the corals you have do not need feeding, or intense/powerful lighting - in fact, these soft corals may respond negatively if you light them too intensely. Most of them want less than 100 PAR. here are my thoughts:

• most of the vibrant coloration seen in photos or other tanks are due to lighting, blue heavy spectrum causes more visual "pop". Some people like this, I like it sometimes and prefer to see real natural colors most of the time.
• Xenia isnt a very colorful coral in general
• I have no idea what a "lemon laser" clove plyp is, but glove polyps should have some pop on the central parts of each polyp, again mostly under blue light
• GSP will generally look fairly subdued without heavy blue light spectrum presence.
• Coloration generally will "improve" as corals become settled and happy growing in their new environment.
  • your tank looks very new - the corals likely just need time to settle in.

 

[chaserdogg01]

the corals you have do not need feeding, or intense/powerful lighting - in fact, these soft corals may respond negatively if you light them too intensely. Most of them want less than 100 PAR. here are my thoughts:

• most of the vibrant coloration seen in photos or other tanks are due to lighting, blue heavy spectrum causes more visual "pop". Some people like this, I like it sometimes and prefer to see real natural colors most of the time.
• Xenia isnt a very colorful coral in general
• I have no idea what a "lemon laser" clove plyp is, but glove polyps should have some pop on the central parts of each polyp, again mostly under blue light
• GSP will generally look fairly subdued without heavy blue light spectrum presence.
• Coloration generally will "improve" as corals become settled and happy growing in their new environment.
  • your tank looks very new - the corals likely just need time to settle in.

Thanks TX, tank is around 8 months old, just doing weekly water changes to try and keep it as clean as possible. Only thing I currently dose is seachem phyto. I did order some reef roids to start using too. Could that hurt anything?

Here are the lemon laser I referred to!

https://drreefsquarantinedfish.com/product/clove-polyp-lemon-laser/

 

[sqm01]

Them not coloring up after 4 weeks might mean there is something with parameters they don't like. The parameters you posted look good aside from pH which you didn't list. Have they been consistent? Are you using RODI or tap water?

Not sure what the size of your tank is, but depending on the height of the tank itself and the distance between the surface and the light I would place most of those corals by the lower rock/ on the sand bed and observe for any changes in color.

 

[sqm01]

Also about the light, what settings are you using and how long is your light cycle? Maybe someone who uses a similar light can provide their input on what settings they use.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I'm thinking its a light issue, those zoa's are stretching up like crazy. I'm also thinking possibly low flow. Those corals are swollen up weirdly, IMO something with lighting or flow or both. The parameters seem fine to me, so that leads back to lighting and flow.

 

[TX_REEF]

Thanks TX, tank is around 8 months old, just doing weekly water changes to try and keep it as clean as possible. Only thing I currently dose is seachem phyto. I did order some reef roids to start using too. Could that hurt anything?

Here are the lemon laser I referred to!

https://drreefsquarantinedfish.com/product/clove-polyp-lemon-laser/

reef roids can cause high phosphates if not used sparingly. be careful.

 

[chaserdogg01]

I'm thinking its a light issue, those zoa's are stretching up like crazy. I'm also thinking possibly low flow. Those corals are swollen up weirdly, IMO something with lighting or flow or both. The parameters seem fine to me, so that leads back to lighting and flow.

Hello, pH is 8.15 as of yesterday when i tested. Yes levels have been consistent and I use RODI water. Tested water Monday when i made new RODI water and was at 2ppm TDS. Tank is a standard 75 gallon aqueon. Lights were at 4/10 blue and 2/10 white. Could not get the cloves to open up so i turned the blue down to 3 and made some flow adjustments and they opened. Lights are on from 8 AM to 4 PM daily. The rest of the coral had no reaction to the lighting change for the most part. The coral started on the sand and were moved up to rocks one week ago. They haven't shown any change since being moved.

Mojo i do not have any zoas. I believe those are the polyps and xenia you are referring to that retract quite a bit when lights are off in morning? I removed a powerhead because flow was killing my xenia and clove polyps, which both seem to be doing better without the extra powerhead.

 

[chaserdogg01]

reef roids can cause high phosphates if not used sparingly. be careful.

Good to know, thank you, TX!

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Hello, pH is 8.15 as of yesterday when i tested. Yes levels have been consistent and I use RODI water. Tested water Monday when i made new RODI water and was at 2ppm TDS. Tank is a standard 75 gallon aqueon. Lights were at 4/10 blue and 2/10 white. Could not get the cloves to open up so i turned the blue down to 3 and made some flow adjustments and they opened. Lights are on from 8 AM to 4 PM daily. The rest of the coral had no reaction to the lighting change for the most part. The coral started on the sand and were moved up to rocks one week ago. They haven't shown any change since being moved.

Mojo i do not have any zoas. I believe those are the polyps and xenia you are referring to that retract quite a bit when lights are off in morning? I removed a powerhead because flow was killing my xenia and clove polyps, which both seem to be doing better without the extra powerhead.

So you have a 165 watt light on a 75 gallon tank, to me this is appropriate, but you have down to 30%-40%? Its too low IMO, you should be up around 70%-80% IMO. I have 150 watt MH on my 40 gallon...

I don't know how many powerheads you have in a 75 gallon, but I have 2 gyres in my 40 gallon, 2 powerheads in my 15... Even your toadstool has every single polyp standing up straight....

I think you might be underestimating the light and flow. There is only light flow and parameters, and again I think the parameters are fine....

Good luck.

 

[sqm01]

Do the corals keep the same color regardless of if the lights are on or not?

Light is probably the culprit. How high up is your light mounted from the tank surface?

Do you have a lid? If you have one of those clear plastic screens they sell in hardware stores, that could be heavily impacting your par levels.

Not sure what the light manufacturer recommends the light be kept above the tank at, but 10''-14ish'' is usually what most keep theirs at. I would try turning up the strength on those lights slowly over the course of a few days and observe any changes there.

 

[chaserdogg01]

So you have a 165 watt light on a 75 gallon tank, to me this is appropriate, but you have down to 30%-40%? Its too low IMO, you should be up around 70%-80% IMO. I have 150 watt MH on my 40 gallon...

I don't know how many powerheads you have in a 75 gallon, but I have 2 gyres in my 40 gallon, 2 powerheads in my 15... Even your toadstool has every single polyp standing up straight....

I think you might be underestimating the light and flow. There is only light flow and parameters, and again I think the parameters are fine....

Good luck.

I have two 165 watt lights, one on each side. I will send a video of tank to show motion of corals - i have two powerheads pretty directly agitating surface for oxygenation, one sicce powerhead, then the return of my canister is quite powerful, and some light flow from surface skimmer and UV filter.

 

[chaserdogg01]

Do the corals keep the same color regardless of if the lights are on or not?

Light is probably the culprit. How high up is your light mounted from the tank surface?

Do you have a lid? If you have one of those clear plastic screens they sell in hardware stores, that could be heavily impacting your par levels.

Not sure what the light manufacturer recommends the light be kept above the tank at, but 10''-14ish'' is usually what most keep theirs at. I would try turning up the strength on those lights slowly over the course of a few days and observe any changes there.

No they certainly brighten up a bit when lights come on, but not by too much. The lights are about 2 inches above water surface on glass tank lids. I clean them weekly with water changes as well to make sure they don't reduce par too much (salt creep and water build up). But that sounds good!

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Check with your LFS if they rent out par meters, that would be the only way to know for sure

 

[chaserdogg01]

Do the corals keep the same color regardless of if the lights are on or not?

Light is probably the culprit. How high up is your light mounted from the tank surface?

Do you have a lid? If you have one of those clear plastic screens they sell in hardware stores, that could be heavily impacting your par levels.

Not sure what the light manufacturer recommends the light be kept above the tank at, but 10''-14ish'' is usually what most keep theirs at. I would try turning up the strength on those lights slowly over the course of a few days and observe any changes there.

No they certainly brighten up a bit when lights come on, but not by too much. The lights are about 2 inches above water surface on glass tank lids. I clean them weekly with water changes as well to make sure they don't reduce par too much (salt creep and water build up). But that sounds good!

View attachment 20251204_105436_CE71D85D-6DC7-4368-B1A6-E15E3BF4C782.mov

 

[chaserdogg01]

Check with your LFS if they rent out par meters, that would be the only way to know for sure

Unfortunately my only LFS has freshwater focus and didn’t have a par meter for rent when I last called :/