Bleached Bird of Paradise Recovery

[israel.kendall]

I was recently given a bleached BOP that has now colored up quite a bit. The base of it turned a peach kind of color and now it's starting to turn more yellow.

I'm wondering if this is the normal way for it to color up, as in should the base have just turned green, or is it normal to go peach to yellow, then green maybe?

Also, what is the best level of lighting for this coral to get the nice green base from it?

Here are a couple of pics (everyone loves pics, right?)

January 24:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_uPWhhZolhSI/TVrFkuFYeMI/AAAAAAAAAfE/wijJuAJdUAs/s800/_MG_7417.jpg

February 14:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_uPWhhZolhSI/TVrFkpzTZ_I/AAAAAAAAAfI/tF28ZnMxi84/s800/_MG_7595.jpg

[SPSEMPIRE]

Give it some time and you will start to see white bumps from the new growth. The BOP will grow up more before it will really encrust onto the rock work. I can tell that it is encrusting on the plug, so that is a plus.

[chuckreef]

These like low light. MY colony is on the sand bed and looks great. Under high light they get less green in the coenosarcal tissue and have more of a pale purple cast to them.

[ChicagoReefOne]

Not trying to contradict but I have mine right below my 150W MH and they love it--consider your light source first.

Watch your NO3 with this one.

[israel.kendall]

Thanks for the replies, so would you guys say that the yellow base color is telling me that it's getting too much light? It's approximately 8" away from 4x54w T5.

[chuckreef]

For reference, I run a 10 bulb powermodule on the tank with this coral.

[ChicagoReefOne]

I would say it's looking pretty darn good from the 2nd photo... If it were me I'd just let it be, you're getting growth and color. The subtle color variations (and yeah I can kinda see some parts are more yellowish than green, but some greens look really good) may be a result of your specific tank chemistry, again I wouldn't worry about it too much. One thing I've learned about SPS is the more you move and tweak position the longer it takes.

[tmgrash]

I thought BOP was yellow with purple polyps? Mine is anyways, its beautiful.

[Acrotrdco]

I thought BOP was yellow with purple polyps? Mine is anyways, its beautiful.

It is yellow with purple polyps, but sometimes under certain lighting condition the base may look greenish.

Here's my frag:

30.9.2010
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_NY50WtBKN8U/TTM9q99Bp7I/AAAAAAAAB4Y/kws5nroCPlI/s720/DSC_0860.JPG

21.10.2010
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_NY50WtBKN8U/TTM9rBb19xI/AAAAAAAAB4c/-2vrUE-rgXU/s720/DSC_0939.JPG

17.1.2011
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_NY50WtBKN8U/TTM9s3tpAfI/AAAAAAAAB40/qtxU3UKbX2k/s720/DSC_3062.JPG

30.1.2011
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_NY50WtBKN8U/TURvF5QVEEI/AAAAAAAAB-I/7t6-pcBLvbM/s720/DSC_3441.JPG

[Gyr]

I got a tiny nub of a bleached white frag of BOP several months ago. I have it in the lower third of my tank, off to one side of the tank (a relatively low-light level in my system). It took quite a while to color up, but now the polyp extension is so dramatic that it looks solid purple except for the pale yellow growth tips. It seems that once it fully encrusted the plug its growth and coloration really improved.

[SPSEMPIRE]

if you are talking about the ORA birds of paradise acropora, the original picture in the first post is a 100% accurate.

Acrotrdco, your birdsnest is very likely an ORA but isn't the BOP, looks like there purple polyp pink birdsnest.

[israel.kendall]

I would say it's looking pretty darn good from the 2nd photo... If it were me I'd just let it be, you're getting growth and color. The subtle color variations (and yeah I can kinda see some parts are more yellowish than green, but some greens look really good) may be a result of your specific tank chemistry, again I wouldn't worry about it too much. One thing I've learned about SPS is the more you move and tweak position the longer it takes.

I think you're probably right on moving SPS making things take longer. I will keep it where it is now for another month or so to see what happens. Then if I still don't get the green perhaps I'll try moving it down.

[israel.kendall]

I thought BOP was yellow with purple polyps? Mine is anyways, its beautiful.

I think a lot of them are yellow, but IMHO what they are known for, and originally sold for is the green base with purple polyps. This is the reason I wanted one anyways and my goal is to bring out the green base.

Here's a good link on the BOP:
http://www.oracorals.com/ora-bird-of-paradise/

[israel.kendall]

It is yellow with purple polyps, but sometimes under certain lighting condition the base may look greenish.

Here's my frag:



Looks like it's growing nicely!

[israel.kendall]

I got a tiny nub of a bleached white frag of BOP several months ago. I have it in the lower third of my tank, off to one side of the tank (a relatively low-light level in my system). It took quite a while to color up, but now the polyp extension is so dramatic that it looks solid purple except for the pale yellow growth tips. It seems that once it fully encrusted the plug its growth and coloration really improved.

I read that some people put their BOP in higher flow in order to reduce polyp extension so they can see the color of the base. From what I have read this did not seem to impede growth, just changes the growth pattern a bit.

[israel.kendall]

if you are talking about the ORA birds of paradise acropora, the original picture in the first post is a 100% accurate.

Acrotrdco, your birdsnest is very likely an ORA but isn't the BOP, looks like there purple polyp pink birdsnest.

I think you made a typo, the ORA Bird of Paradise is a seriatopora, not an Acro.

[fishieness]

Acrotrdco, your birdsnest is very likely an ORA but isn't the BOP, looks like there purple polyp pink birdsnest.

And that is absolutely a Bird of Paradise. The green is faded but shows up more later on.

[SPSEMPIRE]

I think you made a typo, the ORA Bird of Paradise is a seriatopora, not an Acro.
Correct, my mistake.

[SPSEMPIRE]

And that is absolutely a Bird of Paradise. The green is faded but shows up more later on.

Okay great. I can see more green in the last picture but the ora bop has always grown thicker for me. Could easily just be different growth patterns from being in different systems.

[israel.kendall]

Okay great. I can see more green in the last picture but the ora bop has always grown thicker for me. Could easily just be different growth patterns from being in different systems.

I tend to agree, in my non-expert opinion. It looks a bit thin and pointy to be a BOP. In the first two pictures he posted, the coral on the left side of the frame looks more like the thickness and bluntness of a BOP.

[fishieness]

It is often thicker, though I've seen numerous grown out colonies, including my own, that have the thinner, more spindly branching. As with many birdsnests, it has to do with lighting, growth rate, flow, etc. I've also seen a lot without the huge bushy polyps that they seem to always have when they first come from ORA, which is where I think some of the "thickness" comes from.
That's not to say it is absolutely a BOP and not the same coral from a different source, just saying it easily could be.

[Gyr]

I read that some people put their BOP in higher flow in order to reduce polyp extension so they can see the color of the base. From what I have read this did not seem to impede growth, just changes the growth pattern a bit.

Hey, that's cool. Right now I really like the way the tips glow in contrast to the dark purple branches. When it gets bigger I'll move a frag of it into high flow area. That's one of the things I like to do, put frags of the same coral in different location in my tank and see how they differ based on their own little micro-environment.

[glennr1978]

And that is absolutely a Bird of Paradise. The green is faded but shows up more later on.

I'm gonna have to disagree... I've NEVER seen a BOP with sharp growth tips like that. IMO, the frag in the pic is most likely a TUbbs BN. However, the BN that is not the main focal point in the pics actually does look like it could be a BOP.

[israel.kendall]

So I took some good advice and just left the BOP where it was. It's getting some really nice green to the base. Here's an updated pic, taken in different lighting too I think.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_uPWhhZolhSI/TWqYUueUNPI/AAAAAAAAAiE/3CaenNHcEL0/s800/_MG_7890.jpg

[israel.kendall]

I'm bored and need something to do with my pics, so here are a couple of recent shots of this BOP. Some of the base is a yellow color and some is green, might try to move it down a bit to see if I get more green. I turned it around because I like this viewing angle better. Pics taken under a Blue + and an actinic bulb.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_uPWhhZolhSI/TZO1ZRcJmhI/AAAAAAAAAoE/qyOaKdQj7dM/s800/_MG_8702.jpg

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_uPWhhZolhSI/TZO1ZKUx8oI/AAAAAAAAAoA/otoBFiF63Zc/s800/_MG_8710_800.jpg

[cthedaytrader]

looks great

[barjam]

Is flow the only way to reduce polyp extension on these? I have 70x flow with one of the ph pointed directly at it and it has massive polyp extension that hides the base. Another Ora seratopia next to it is doing the same thing.

[israel.kendall]

looks great

Thanks!

[preef]

Is flow the only way to reduce polyp extension on these? I have 70x flow with one of the ph pointed directly at it and it has massive polyp extension that hides the base. Another Ora seratopia next to it is doing the same thing.

I have mine in high random flow and it still has massive PE. I can only see the green base when the random flow briefly pushes the polyps to the side.

[israel.kendall]

Is flow the only way to reduce polyp extension on these? I have 70x flow with one of the ph pointed directly at it and it has massive polyp extension that hides the base. Another Ora seratopia next to it is doing the same thing.

I'm not sure, maybe someone else who reads this can chime in. From everything I read I wouldn't expect you to have that sort of extension with flow like that. How much light is it getting?

I can tell you mine is kept in pretty low flow by SPS standards though, and I get the polyp extension shown in the pictures. If I feed the tank, or blow off my rocks, then I get that massive fuzzy base-hiding extension for about 20-30 minutes.

[barjam]

I have 2x250 mh and it is midway down the tank. It I'd kinda shaded a little bit from a coral above though. Perhaps it is lighting.

[allsps40]

Looking very good. I agree I have my different birds nests in very high flow and light. They always get great PE. Very fast growers. My Neon Green BN is the most fragged sps in my tank.

[israel.kendall]

I have 2x250 mh and it is midway down the tank. It I'd kinda shaded a little bit from a coral above though. Perhaps it is lighting.

Hey, if it turns out it's the lighting let us know, it might help someone else out too.

[israel.kendall]

Looking very good. I agree I have my different birds nests in very high flow and light. They always get great PE. Very fast growers. My Neon Green BN is the most fragged sps in my tank.

Thanks! I think the great PE is was barjam does not want lol, I don't blame him either, can't stand the big fuzzy purple look.

[israel.kendall]

Taking pictures of my corals and nothing to do with them, so I'll put another one up here. This one taken under 2 Blue +, and one actinic. The base is getting a lot greener and I moved a Botryocladia sp macro up behind it if anyone is wondering what that is.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_uPWhhZolhSI/TZtwOgDTVGI/AAAAAAAAApc/deK4z8hbkXk/s800/_MG_8850.jpg

[Gyr]

Very nice. Good job.

[israel.kendall]

Very nice. Good job.

Thanks!

[israel.kendall]

This porcelain crab hitched in on some live rock when I first set up my tank. It used to hide all the time but it's made itself at home in my BOP over this past week. Wish I had a macro lens......

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_uPWhhZolhSI/TaURJ2pHZxI/AAAAAAAAAqk/fUwnMJln1lA/s800/_MG_9007.jpg

[M88A2]

thats awsome, do you feed anything specific to that crab or spot feed?

[israel.kendall]

thats awsome, do you feed anything specific to that crab or spot feed?

I don't feed anything to the crab specifically, it just filters the water and gets what it needs that way. I recently increased flow overall in my tank and now the crab likes the way the water moves up around the BOP I guess.

I try to spot feed my corals once or twice a week, but sometimes I'm just too busy and don't get to it.

[israel.kendall]

Figured I would snap a quick shot tonight and update this thread. This BOP has grown a LOT! Here's the pic:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-aaCALYfgYUY/TmA-Fny144I/AAAAAAAABCs/NvfZNeEr6lo/s800/bop.jpg

[gig]

Wow, beautiful coral! I just got a frag of Ora BOP last week, it had the yellow-ish tint with more purple polyps, it's faded a bit, can't wait for it to color up.

[israel.kendall]

Wow, beautiful coral! I just got a frag of Ora BOP last week, it had the yellow-ish tint with more purple polyps, it's faded a bit, can't wait for it to color up.

Mine gets yellowish parts, orangeish looking parts, and greens that range from drab to florescent. It seems to vary it's color quite a bit, even throughout the day. I'm not sure if anyone elses does this, but mine sure does.

[basser1]

Congrats and a beautiful colony you have.

My BOP is one of my favorites and grows like a weed! Plus I really like the colors of this piece.

Gotta love those ORA corals! :thumbsup:

[israel.kendall]

Congrats and a beautiful colony you have.

My BOP is one of my favorites and grows like a weed! Plus I really like the colors of this piece.

Gotta love those ORA corals! :thumbsup:

Thanks! They really do grow like weeds, at this rate I'll be fragging off mini colonies to give away by this time next year.

[ReefinReefer420]

Acrotrdco the pictures of the frag you are displaying are acropora ponapea, often confused and sold as bop.

[allsps40]

Doing very well.