Brown means too much nutrient. What does tan color mean?

[ahchung]

I have some frags which were blue and green in colors. They turned brown after I introduced them in the tank. Now they are less brown in color now, but color remains tan in color. For the green frag, the tips show a little bit of green and polyps show fluroescent green under actinic light. For the blue frag, it shows very minor blue color and the basic color is still tan. What does it mean?

I am running 6x39W T5HO (Blue+, AB+, Blue+, Actinic03, AB+ Blue+). PO4 is undetectable, NO3 is 15ppm due to a recent manipulation of sandbed (no significant change on frag color though). Tank dimension is 36"x18"x18".

[clkwrk]

pics?

[ahchung]

For the blue one, before image:

http://usera.imagecave.com/ahchung/marine/P1160528ss.JPG

current image:

http://usera.imagecave.com/ahchung/marine/blue-tan.JPG

I cannot re-get the original transparent, intense blue color. Please comment.

[ahchung]

One more piece of information. The frag is from a tank with 400W XM 20K + 2x VHO Super Actinic bulbs.

[secrest]

That looks dead to me. Do you still have pe on it?

[ahchung]

Of course it is not dead. It has great PE extension.

I tried to give it more light previously, it turned from brown to tan (just like it was going to bleach).

I just don't know how to color it up.

[ahchung]

One more picture, this is the original color of my green flag:

http://usera.imagecave.com/ahchung/marine/green.JPG

It seems to me that this green is very bright. Is it a normal green color we should get?

[Serioussnaps]

check this thread out--------

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=852587

[ahchung]

I read that thread. That might not apply to me directly:
- I don't think my T5HO (234W = 6x39W) would deliver too much light compared to more than 600W of MH (400W XM20K) and VHO (~=200W Super Actinic).
- My NO3 are not absolutely zero. Currently my NO3 is 15ppm. If poor nutrient was the cause, I should see some nice color up now.

I suspect those colors of the original frags are the result of Zeovit. Those frags are just like colored transparent glass.

Any comments would be appreciated.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7786339#post7786339 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Serioussnaps
check this thread out--------

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=852587

[RichConley]

Nitrate does not equal coral food. They look like they need more food to me. Try oyster eggs, or adding more fish.

[Rav-65]

The frag came from a very low nutrient environment as you mentioned that the previous owner used Zeovit?? Plus the super strong lights hence the ability to hold the colour on that frag.

You may have to reduce the nutrient levels in your tank significantly and also intensify your lighting to have any chance of bringing back its former glory, but there are some SPS which are real stubborn and may take alot of time or may never regain its colours again.

[twon8]

15 ppm nitrate is a bit high imo

[clkwrk]

Yes but I wouldn't say thats the cause.

Here is a shot from my tank which has 15-20ppm

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/o2manytnks/180/180-june30th-f.jpg

[PUGroyale]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7787125#post7787125 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by clkwrk
Yes but I wouldn't say thats the cause.

Here is a shot from my tank which has 15-20ppm


clearly that explains why everything looks like crap :lol2:

I'd bet you it was an alk related issue... what's yours at and what was the tank they came from?

[REEF-DADDY]

More food, but you'll need more export too.......

[clkwrk]

I think it has something to do with alk or too little food fed to the fish.

[DaddyJax]

I agree with the alk. I am having similar issues with my tank and I discovered that the alk was at 6.7!!

[ahchung]

NO3 probably was not the cause. My NO3 was 0ppm for more than a year. Just because I added sand into my tank in the last few weeks, my NO3 is now up to 15ppm.

My KH is somewhere between 10 and 13 dKH at the moment.

[sreefs]

I want to point out if the frags came from a zeovit tank they usually run alk at 7 dkh and not higher than 8 dkh.
HTH.
Pat

[sreefs]

I forgot to mention if you run seachem reef salt the zeo guys have found they need to run there Alk at 9. Something to do with the higher borate in the salt, it gives them a false alk reading.
Pat