Help please !!! Coral color turn brown !!

[xcuongx]

My coral color starts to turn brownish. They arent vivid and colorful as they are supposed to be anymore. :(

[Zero Cool]

What kind of lighting are you using and how old are the bulbs?

[bertoni]

I agree that lighting is a common issue. Water quality can affect coloration, too. We'd need more details to help much.

[xcuongx]

I have a 65 gallons tank, and im using 6x T5 bulbs. I bought it used from someone, thus i cant confirm how old the light bulbs are :( HOwever, they seem to be bright to me though. This color happened just about two weeks ago.

[bertoni]

Does the lighting fixture have a separate reflector for each bulb? What brand is it?

I'd likely get some replacement bulbs. You'll need them eventually, and you can do a side-by-side more easily with the new bulbs. I don't know what the state of the art is in T5 bulbs, but I thought something like 9 months to a year was the limit before they started getting dim. Your eyes won't work as a good light meter for this purpose, since they adapt to such a wide range of light levels.

[Alunai]

That's a very good point.

[James404]

If your corals are browning out its either they are not getting sufficient lighting like Jonathan said, or you have excess nutrients in the tank such as phosphates. What kind of corals are these that you are referring to?

[xcuongx]

Thanks guys,

My torch coral, and my acans just turned pink from red. I think the main problem is i have excess phosphate, because i can algae all over my glass everyday. Correct me if iam wrong?

[James404]

Thanks guys,

My torch coral, and my acans just turned pink from red. I think the main problem is i have excess phosphate, because i can algae all over my glass everyday. Correct me if iam wrong?

Yes you are probably correct, I would start running GFO, prefferably in a reactor.

[bertoni]

I agree, the algae likely indicates a fairly high nutrient content to the water. I'd work on that, too. Less feeding might be the best approach, but a better skimmer or a GFO reactor can do a lot, too.