Brown Frag Question

waterfaller1 · #1 07/20/2007, 08:45 AM

I finally found a really nice frag {austera?} of a coral I have been looking for. It came in from shipment brown. I see a green hue under the actinics. I placed it at the bottom of my 90. Lighting is 250 10 K MH's & 440 wts of actinic VHO's, flow there is good. Any tips you can give as to how to get the color back?

Mikigo · #2 07/20/2007, 12:56 PM

Slowly bring the frag up to mid/hi level. Give it some time.

grallster · #3 07/20/2007, 01:13 PM

agreed.

waterfaller1 · #4 07/20/2007, 01:34 PM

What am I watching for, color improvement~then next level? Same there, then to the top? It is supposed to be a whitish coral w/ purple polyps and yellow tips..like 250G's post in this thread.

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...a&pagenumber=4

grallster · #5 07/20/2007, 01:55 PM

Personally, I find it easier to place the frag where I want it (most likely up top) and use multiple pieces of screen to aclimate it to the lighting--where possible. This way there is much less handling stress on the coral. I usually use a piece of acrylic which I clamp to the center brace. Then I use pieces of screen that only shade that particular frag. I usually start with 3 or 4 and just play it by ear removing them--I remove them as it starts to color up.

grallster · #6 07/20/2007, 02:00 PM

If it's that whitish one with the yellow tips--put me in line for a frag!

Nuuze · #7 07/20/2007, 04:27 PM

Here are mine I had for about a year now. I had them on the sandbed, middle and top. It's pretty happy in all three places. It's a VERY slow grower but very nice deep colors when it colors up. I would just start low and move it up to where you want it.

Nuuze · #8 07/20/2007, 04:29 PM

Yes grallster,

Just noticed the tips in the center are yellow.

waterfaller1 · #9 07/21/2007, 06:57 PM

Well this is'nt going to take long..already lightening and over 1/2 of the polyps are purple.

Thanks for your replies.