pastel colors on corals, why?

[plancton]

Some of my corals are becoming pale pastel in coloration, This is happening to only some of them. For example my yongei, blue stag, monti palewensis, rainbow monti danae have good colors while my monti caps, and other SPS are becoming pastel in coloration. What is the cause of this?.

Its a 175 gal with T5s with individual parabolic reflectors and ICECAP ballasts.

Is it because of the T5s?, why are some SPS keeping their colors?, I´ve seen award winning tanks using T5 lighting only and no pastelation.

Could it be algae?, I have a major hair algae problem for a while now, perhaps a year, and corals have been losing their colors since then, could algae affect corals coloration?

Water quality is fine, nitrates 0 and phosphates 0, although there is so much algae that it is probably consuming those to fast to appear on the test, I´m taking care of the whole algae problem but it will take some 3 months to get rid of it.

So which causes coral pastelation?

[Lynx113]

Personally I have seen a lot of t5 tanks with pastel coral coloration. I have t5's and I wouldn't say mine are pastel while my friend has the exact same tank and lighting and his are so, if you figure it out let me know.

[Lordhelmet]

great water quality, great lighting and great husbandry. be happy, your doing everything right.

[Aqua Keepers]

You gotta have phosphates if you have a major hair algae problem, but I don't think that's what's causing pastel coral coloration. There's a lot of discussion going on about people with T5's having the same problem. Tell us more about your lighting. How many/what kind of bulbs? Lighting schedule? How high off the water are they?

[xtopher_vw]

Why is this a problem?

[plancton]

80 watt bulbs, individual parabolic reflectors, 3x15000k 1x11000k 2x atinics, brand is JBL, powered by icecap with icecap endcaps. Bulbs are 1 year old.

Corals are about 9" under the bulb.

atinics 12 hour a day
whites 8 hour a day

[Aqua Keepers]

You're gonna want to replace those bulbs bro.

[Aqua Keepers]

Originally posted by xtopher_vw
Why is this a problem?

It depends on why the corals are faded.

[redfishsc]

Originally posted by pito
You gotta have phosphates if you have a major hair algae problem,

Not necessarily a "detectable" level unless you are using a Hanna or something that can detect a needle in a haystack.

Hair algae (and chaeto and others) can actually suck the phosphate from feedings out of the water quick enough for the test kit to not detect it, and the hair algae will still grow.




Now as far as the pastel colors in the coral, I'm with all the above. Stick to what you're doing if they are growing well. You might try to replace one of your lower kelving rated lamps with a 6500K, which would give you great PAR for growth and a good deal of red/green highlights in the tank. It may seem yellowish to you at first, but so long as you balance it out with some good blues or actinics, it should look fine.

[Albanets202]

I think that 1 year old bulbs are the main source of this problem. They have faded and give only a fraction of light they are supposed to give. If you think you have 480W, while it is true for NEW bulbs, 1 year old ones may deliver 200W or even less.
Upon replacing bulbs make sure you let corals to adjust to new light slowly, say by putting several mesh screens in between and removing one every day.

[Aqua Keepers]

Originally posted by Albanets202
I think that 1 year old bulbs are the main source of this problem. They have faded and give only a fraction of light they are supposed to give. If you think you have 480W, while it is true for NEW bulbs, 1 year old ones may deliver 200W or even less.
Upon replacing bulbs make sure you let corals to adjust to new light slowly, say by putting several mesh screens in between and removing one every day.

I'm no lighting pro, but I don't think that you lose light as in watts. I can tell you you you get spectrum shift in the lamps as they age so the the color will shift.

[Aqua Keepers]

Ohh and JBL bulbs suck skimmate. Look into getting some ATI or Guissman.

[hahnmeister]

It can be from a few areas, not always due to T5's. I have seen a good share of halide only lit tanks where the SPS are 'pastel' as well, or 'chalky' (usually from overly monochromatic blue lighting like pheonix 14,000Ks).

The possible problems could be:
1. not enough food
2. not enough flow
3. not wide enough spectrum
4. not enough light
5. water chemistry
6. water temp (usually bleaching from it being too high).

I think the perception that T5's cause pastel colors is in itself a myth, but there is a related factor or two, and another thing or two to consider.

T5's, unlike halides, can be very narrow in their output. A combo of aquablue and blue+ style bulbs is very narrow... like a pheonix 14,000K halide. The Aquablue is very much like the blue+, just a wider range in the greens, but both lack actinic, and almost anything warmer than green. Adding in an actinic03 can be enough for many corals, but adding a 6500K or 3000K to your mix might be more the idea. So with T5's, bulb 'husbandry' is more an issue.

Something else I see is 'light field abuse' with T5's...lol. T5's have about the same output per watt (depends on spectrum, but overall, very similar) as halides. When you replace 1000 watts of halides with 600 watts of T5's... well... sure, the corals might fade if they arent getting as much light. OR, they might get too much. T5's penetrate deeper, and their spread casts less shadows, so some lower light/LPS have problems... so they can get too much light... not so much an intensity thing as the spread... many lower light corals and LPS types can adapt to higher light conditions, but cant adapt as well to light coming in from as many angles.

Many tanks that we see running T5's are also running some sort of 'low nutrient' system as well... prodobio, zeo, ultralith... carbon dosing... etc. This means less nutrients in the water which helps coral coloration usually, but often also means the corals aren't getting as much food... so they starve a bit. This, combined with a less intense T5 light source, can pastel anything, or kill it. At the start of carbon dosing or 'low nutrient' methods, the water clarity can have a rapid cange in clarity as well... also causing bleaching and exposure issues from the sudden increase in light. But I think when people look at T5's and say it causes this 'pastel' effect, they need to weigh in on what else the system is running. Many of these T5 tanks from overseas are also running some other methods that can lead to pastel colors.

Or, even under halides, getting too much light, or having heat problems can cause lasting effects on the coral's ability to pigment in well.

When using T5's, I keep the wattage the same as if I were using halides usually... and I have never needed anything other than aquablues, blue+, and actinic 03 bulbs to generate some intense colors, even in the reds-pinks-yellows... maybe the true actinic03's have something to do with that though.

[Aqua Keepers]

Great post Hahn. Mind if i save that to quote you in other threads?

[plancton]

question: is it enough to stop using carbon to leave some nutrients for the corals or some supplement must be added, take in consideration that these are sps which supplement would you add and what method to do so?

Are JBL bad?, I heard they were really good, they are german bulbs.

[Aqua Keepers]

In my opinion, It's very much possible that stopping the use of carbon is all you need to do.

[plancton]

yes but I haven´t use carbon in 7 months

[Aqua Keepers]

So, why are you asking about it 2-3 posts up? I'm confused.

[plancton]

well now you see im not using and the corals are becoming pastel, so should I use a supplement and how to dose it?

[Aqua Keepers]

Plancton, You need to start by replacing your bulbs. Not because of the type of bulbs you have, but because they are 1 year old. As I stated above you get a spectrum shift in the lamps as they age so the the color will shift. It has been said that you start seeing the shift at about the 9 month mark. If this does not fix the issue, then we'll look further.

[thecoralreefer]

Agreed w pito. Spectrum is a big part of it and food is another
The Zooxanthellae need foods too Zooplankton and phytoplankton are the 2 main ones.
True most bulbs give a different color and drop as time goes by.
The adding sheets to the top is a good idea too for shock from new better light is always a problem too But I just change the time cycle for that. I firmly believe that live phyto really enhances color But I say change your bulbs too. ! yr is to long. And lumens drop as the bulbs age too.

[noboddi]

You might want to look into ATI bulbs too. The ATI Blue Plus has more PAR than any daylight bulb out there. Check out the T5 Q&A thread. The Grim Reefer is the expert on bulb setup.

Bulbs can make a big difference. When I put in a KZ Fiji Purple into my bulb mix, my yellow spaghetti coral turned neon green, and my green finger turned blue. This was immediate - they did not actually change color, but the new bulb brought out colors that were there.

[hahnmeister]

Originally posted by pito
Great post Hahn. Mind if i save that to quote you in other threads?

Got for it, but change #4 to say 'too much or too little' light intensity. You can see pigment fading from either extreme.

Good points on the age of the bulbs. Its something I usually dont consider... using good name bulbs and ballasts/fixtures, I have gone 2 years on one set of T5's and no problems... even grew a crocea clam under them. The colors were always awesome.

[Aqua Keepers]

What brand bulbs and ballasts/fixtures?

[Panduriniii]

T-5's are much stronger than we realize. read this thread it touches on the pastel colors.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showt...hreadid=1332562