Do Rainbow Chalice frags need all colors to grow all colors?

[BigJohnny]

I've heard this from some people. I believe the color is determined by the DNA of the chalice, however I could see how the initial flesh that grows would be the color of the flesh it's stemming from. So it may be influenced by this. The reason I ask is that I just bought a SC dynamite frag that is blue with green/yellow rim and green eye, with only a tiiiny streak of red. I'm wondering how much red I'll get.

Crappy pic but you can see the little flashes of yellow in the rim and the tiny streak of red down the bottom left of the rim as well. I got a sick deal so even if it stays mostly blue green/yellow I'll be happy.



Thanks!

[alf03]

It'll get more red in it eventually but it takes a really long time. But once it grows out it'll mostly be blue than red.

[BigJohnny]

Originally Posted by alf03

It'll get more red in it eventually but it takes a really long time. But once it grows out it'll mostly be blue than red.

Cool, I prefer the blue anyway. What is that assumption based on? Are you referring to my piece specifically or any that doesn't have much red. What if there is no red in the frag?

[alf03]

Originally Posted by BigJohnny

Cool, I prefer the blue anyway. What is that assumption based on? Are you referring to my piece specifically or any that doesn't have much red. What if there is no red in the frag?

Yea based on your piece. If it hasn't red I think it will eventually get it to come in if it had it in its mother colony. But from my frags before I always usually bought frags with all the colors in it because I'm very impatient. Haha

[BigJohnny]

Originally Posted by alf03

Yea based on your piece. If it hasn't red I think it will eventually get it to come in if it had it in its mother colony. But from my frags before I always usually bought frags with all the colors in it because I'm very impatient. Haha

Cool, yea that's what I think too. Regardless it will come in, but if the frag has it then it will come in faster. I'm glad I have 4 colors in my frag! Hopefully will speed it up a little bit. Going to be a doooope chalice regardless.

How many rainbows do you have and which ones? Got any pics?

[BigJohnny]

Well this chalice turned half red and yellow a week after I got it so the answer is no, it doesn't matter haha.

[BigJohnny]

And here's what it looks like now, can barely even tell it's the same frag! Already has a 2nd eye

[purplereef]

So your frag went from all blue and green and just a hint of red to all red and yellow and green in a week?

[BigJohnny]

Yea haha, it keeps evolving. So sick. The guy i bought it from says it will continue to change and its really obvious when its a colony and its shifting all over the place.

Mine went from all blue with green eye and green rim + one red hairline streak, to 75% red with small blue spots and orange rim, with a yellow eye and 25% blue with green rim. There's also a new green streak through the red/orange rim and a new yellow eye. It's the most epic chalice/coral coloration I've ever seen. The piece just glows and there are slight changes daily. Sexy Coral Dynamite Chalice is a perfect name. Sexy corals sells frags for $1500......now I know why.

[purplereef]

Do you have it high light currently? Also are you lighting your tank with LED's?

[Isaacs55]

Wow that's awesome that it's doing that! It's cool to see it change colors over its growth periods. Keep taking pictures to see the color growth pattern.

You may have to drag a piece off for me when it gets a little bigger haha

[BigJohnny]

Originally Posted by purplereef

Do you have it high light currently? Also are you lighting your tank with LED's?

Well that depends what you consider high light. I have it about an inch off of my sandbed so not high light in my tank, however that's still about 180 PAR. I have an ATI Sunpower with 4 Blue+, 1 Coral +, 1 Purple +. I feed it Mysis once a week. Alk 8.5, Calcium 420, Mag 1450, Nitrate 0-4 ppm, Phosphate .02-.04 ppm. I've only had it for a month.

[BigJohnny]

Originally Posted by Isaacs55

Wow that's awesome that it's doing that! It's cool to see it change colors over its growth periods. Keep taking pictures to see the color growth pattern.

You may have to drag a piece off for me when it gets a little bigger haha

Yea its dooooope. I agree, I will definitely continue to log pics. I'm also picking up a 3 eye frag of Sexy Corals Atom Bomb which is another epic rainbow chalice. I look forwarded to seeing that grow out as well.

As far as the frag, I gotchu bud. It has already grown a 2nd eye in one month so at that rate I'll have a colony in no time. I plan on splitting it at some point and using one half to grow out a display colony on the rocks, and the other half for growing out and selling frags.

[BigJohnny]

Here is the 3 eye atom bomb frag in the sellers tank, well see what it looks like after a week in my tank :


You can see again it's primarily green and blue, with some hints of red and yellow this time. Something about the make-up of his water and lighting may steer chalice towards green and blue, while mine asks them to taste the rainbow Only time will tell!

[purplereef]

Great job Johnny. I wish I could get my WWC Jellybean colony to color up like that. I have a 8 bulb ATI Powermodule. I will try moving my chalice closer to the center of my tank to see if I can get the red color to show up. I am giving it a lot less then 180 par. Thank you very much for your tank parameters and posting your info on your sweet chalice. Dan

[jbm421]

Do these guys do better in lower par for the most part?

[BigJohnny]

Originally Posted by purplereef

Great job Johnny. I wish I could get my WWC Jellybean colony to color up like that. I have a 8 bulb ATI Powermodule. I will try moving my chalice closer to the center of my tank to see if I can get the red color to show up. I am giving it a lot less then 180 par. Thank you very much for your tank parameters and posting your info on your sweet chalice. Dan

Thanks boss. I'll be interested to hear how that works out for you. I personally would do that very slowly because I've been told some rainbow chalice are very sensitive. Also they have varying light and flow preferences. Who knows, maybe the SC Dynamite is unique in the way it evolves, changing colors etc. The WWC Jellybean is sick regardless.

I'll ask my guy about the WWC Jellybean and whether it changes as much or if what you see is what you get for the most part, he'll know for sure. No joke, he has over $100,000 in rainbow chalices in his frag tank alone. Every single one you can imagine, he's got it. I call him "The Candy Man" haha.

[BigJohnny]

Originally Posted by jbm421

Do these guys do better in lower par for the most part?

I would say most require low to medium par, which the definition of can vary greatly from person to person. It also depends on which chalice your referring to. While some are similar, others have different requirements. I was told my SC Dynamite liked medium light and medium flow. I'd say my 180 PAR is on the high side of that recommendation. Some would consider that high par.

If there is one you are referring to specifically, I can ask the candy man for ya.

[Isaacs55]

Originally Posted by BigJohnny

Yea its dooooope. I agree, I will definitely continue to log pics. I'm also picking up a 3 eye frag of Sexy Corals Atom Bomb which is another epic rainbow chalice. I look forwarded to seeing that grow out as well.

As far as the frag, I gotchu bud. It has already grown a 2nd eye in one month so at that rate I'll have a colony in no time. I plan on splitting it at some point and using one half to grow out a display colony on the rocks, and the other half for growing out and selling frags.

Sweet! Well as soon as that happens let me know and I'll buy a few frags from you!

[BigJohnny]

Wow, it already has 3 eyes! This chalice is nuts!

[broke1]

I would assume it has all the pigments in it, but it will be predisposed to display those colors in a preset way. Beautiful piece by the way.

[BigJohnny]

Originally Posted by broke1

I would assume it has all the pigments in it, but it will be predisposed to display those colors in a preset way. Beautiful piece by the way.

Thanks, yes but light/flow/water quality have a huge impact clearly. I also believe what and how often you feed it matters. I feed mine small Mysis 1x a week.

Here's an updated shot, 3 eyes and some more growth! I can't believe it added 2 eyes in 1 month, I hope that growth rate continues!

[BigJohnny]

Updated SC Dynamite:


And a similar transformation is happening with my SC Atom Bomb frag! Turning from mostly all blue and green to having some splashes of red and yellow! Hopefully it continues to evolve

Last week:

Today:

[BigJohnny]

SC Atom Bomb today, the coloring up continues! Usually see growth/coloration change the morning after feeding:

[burton14e7]

It looks fantastic!