Freaked Out!!

[seandanekind]

My monster green cap with dark purple polyps has changed to a monster TAN cap!!!

A few weeks ago I had a ballast acting funny, so I switched from 400W Radiums to 250W Reeflux 12K. They actually look similar (as far as color) and have a somewhat comparable PAR rating.

A few weeks go by and everything is doing well.

Then last week, I leave Sunday night for Columbus and everything's good - the monster cap is green,

Wednesday afternoon I get back home and the entire cap had turned TAN with a hint of purple and some of the polyps went from Dark Purple to Light Purple Some parts near the growth ring still have some green - it actually looks REALLY cool...

I've been watching it for a week now, and it's healthy. At first I was afraid that the flesh was flaking off or rotting, but that's not the case - and all the other caps are still doing great.

Other people have gotten frags of this cap from me and had it turn tan on them, but to have the whole thing turn in 3 days... it's 24" x 18" - that's 3 square feet!

I assume it was the lights causing a bloom in the symbiotic algae, but I didn't think it would come on so suddenly after a few weeks...

[cl2ysta1]

ive heard of sps changing color under different lights.


but


this thread is worthless without a picture ;)!!!!

[TacoKing]

I'm surprised it browned out.. If anything I would have thought it might bleach.

[JPA]

The piece I got from you turned Tan with light green polyps under my 250 reeflux 10K. It had a very faint purple growth rim (probably actually white). I moved it to the frag tank with 10K and actinic T5s and it turned bright bright green, green body, polyps and growth ring. Maybe it's the reflux lamps?

[seandanekind]

I should note that the "comparable PAR ratings" were between a 250W Reeflux 12K on a 250W HQI ballast, and a 400W radium on a 250W HQI ballast.

I checked Sanjay's spectral data, and the Reeflux has peaks at the same wavelengths as the Radium, but the output is lower overall (especially compared to the 400W ballast).

I'm guessing my corals adapted to the lower light levels (thus no bleaching), but when you compare the spectral charts, the % of red relative to blue is higher on the Reeflux (even though the overall PAR numbers are lower in either color compared to the Radium).

It could be something else out of whack in my tank, but I'd think more corals would be affected... I did recently bump up the salinity a little bit as I noticed with Cward's monster GEO NW skimmer that my salinity slowly drops over time. ...but again, that was like 3 weeks ago.

It could be a combination of factors.

It may still be just the Reeflux lamps since Joe is having a similar experience. I know under Radiums, this coral can turn day-glo-neon green. Under Phoenix it's dark green. Under Ushio and AB 10K's it was a medium green. Under Iwasaki it's dark brown.

I dunno... I'm just happy it's alive and appears to be still be doing well...

[seandanekind]

BEFORE
http://www.twobeersandapretzel.com/photos/albums/userpics/normal_normal_clean_glass.jpg
This pic is about a year old, but you can clearly see the big green cap.

AFTER:
http://www.reefjunk.com/photos/albums/userpics/normal_green_cap.jpg
I took this picture this morning with a flash. It looks brownish orange in the pic because of the flash - it's lighter tan in real life, but you get the idea.

For size ref, the center brace is 12" wide.

[Kreeger1]

That stinks, good luck with it hopefully it goes back to looking nice for you again

[seandanekind]

Actually, I think it's pretty cool - as long as it's simply photoadaptation...

That really shows how amazing these animals really are.

[seandanekind]

Well, today I noticed that the green is making a comeback... Again, the coral seems healthy, so that's all I'm worried about.

[Kreeger1]

Actually, I think it's pretty cool - as long as it's simply photoadaptation...

I don't know, when my corals brown out I don't really enjoy that at all.

But you've got good signs of it returning to the nice color again
Erik