Pics of SPS coral progress over 3 month period.......

[SCIronMike]

suggestions on how color them up is greatly appreciated.

Before -

After -

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After-

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Before-

After-

 

[Len]

Mike,

That's terrific growth for 3 months (especially when the first month or so is generally acclimation period). As for colors, that's really tough to answer. What I've noticed is that dripping kalkwasser really livens up my SPS corals, even with the constant use of a CaCO3/CO2 reactor. I'm not sure what it is about kalkwasser, but my corals look more colorful when I use it. Other then that, maybe a change in lighting? Can't really think of much else.

BTW, the coral frags all look bleached when you first put them in 3 months ago, so it's not really a bad thing they darkened. I know they aren't as bright now, but they're definitely healthier, as demonstrated by their growth.

 

[SCIronMike]

Mike,

That's terrific growth for 3 months (especially when the first month or so is generally acclimation period). As for colors, that's really tough to answer. What I've noticed is that dripping kalkwasser really livens up my SPS corals, even with the constant use of a CaCO3/CO2 reactor. I'm not sure what it is about kalkwasser, but my corals look more colorful when I use it. Other then that, maybe a change in lighting? Can't really think of much else.

BTW, the coral frags all look bleached when you first put them in 3 months ago, so it's not really a bad thing they darkened. I know they aren't as bright now, but they're definitely healthier, as demonstrated by their growth.

Thanks Len. Yeah, things are definitely growing, but my tank looks a bit boring for my tastes because everything is just a different hue of brown. I drip about 1.25 liters of kalk per night into my 29 gallon tank, and have 65 watts of 50/50 PC running from 2 to 12. 150 watts of 20k MH running from 3 to 11. A lot of light, a lot of kalk. Not a lot of color.

 

[Len]

Hmmmm. Next time you change lights, you might want to try a German 10KK and a true actinic PC. I'm not sure if it'll work, but that's the combo I use to get the best coloration. I noticed with Radiums, I could only keep a limited range of colors, mostly green.

 

[Anonymous]

SCIron,

what is your alkalinity running at?

and for what it is worth i think at least one of your SPS looks healthier in the 'after' shot.
i battle brown color too. i think it is in part due to such small water volume (i got a 46g).
i have noticed keeping the alk at an elevation of no less than 3.2 will color up (other than brown) your corals after a month or so. it seems if it dips down below 3.2 for even a brief time the corals will turn brown.

 

[SCIronMike]

SCIron,

what is your alkalinity running at?

and for what it is worth i think at least one of your SPS looks healthier in the 'after' shot.
i battle brown color too. i think it is in part due to such small water volume (i got a 46g).
i have noticed keeping the alk at an elevation of no less than 3.2 will color up (other than brown) your corals after a month or so. it seems if it dips down below 3.2 for even a brief time the corals will turn brown.

Hmmmm...... not sure. My Red Sea alk test only reads low, medium, and high. I use a teaspoon of superbuffer dkh weekly. My alk test always reads high and my calcium is always 450 or so.

 

[Modo]

In my opinion, those colors on the after are awesome! Especially from just seeing it through photos.

The first one to me looks like a nice deep purple, the second I've never seen before looks like a deep aqua with deep purple polyps and the last has some really bright green polyps.

If your looking for brighter colors then you may just need to go with some Monitpora in Green, orange, pink or purple. These corals are always solid and bright.

But, from what I see here your colors look good and your growth rates are awesome.

Do you have a photo of your whole tank?

 

[klingsa]

I agree that the after pictures look a lot better. You'd always rather have brown than white, meaning they're not bleached. I would suggest you take a close look at the place you got those frags from! They definitely look bleached to me, and it's a sign of a very healthy tank that they survived and are growing!
I would also try some actinic light. I don't know if you have any or not. I just added some to my tank, and I'm seeing colors that I never saw before.

Good luck!

Sara

 

[SCIronMike]

I agree that the after pictures look a lot better. You'd always rather have brown than white, meaning they're not bleached. I would suggest you take a close look at the place you got those frags from! They definitely look bleached to me, and it's a sign of a very healthy tank that they survived and are growing!
I would also try some actinic light. I don't know if you have any or not. I just added some to my tank, and I'm seeing colors that I never saw before.

Good luck!

Sara

Thanks All my SPS grags were from Dr. Mac and Sons....... my understanding was that they are a pretty good retailer. I have a 65 watt 50/50 with actinics..... it really does add a cool look to the tank, but I'm not sure how much it effects the coloring of the corals.

 

[klingsa]

Thanks All my SPS grags were from Dr. Mac and Sons....... my understanding was that they are a pretty good retailer. I have a 65 watt 50/50 with actinics..... it really does add a cool look to the tank, but I'm not sure how much it effects the coloring of the corals.

I have a plate coral that I thought was just pink and brown, and since adding the actinic (not a 50/50, but a 40 watt 100% actinic, don't know if that matters) I notice a beautiful blue/green color to the tissue covering the skeleton. Same with my staghorn, which looks brown when the tentacles are out. I can see the skeleton has bright green tissue covering it. It also brought out a LOT of color in my mushrooms. I have green/brown Ricordeas and some green/blue/brown unknown species that I got from someone else's tank. They actually glow under the actinics. 8O

I wish I had taken pics of my corals when I first got them, because I'm finding it hard to tell how much they've grown in the past year. My plate coral has doubled, I can see that. My staghorn is harder to tell.
Anyway, good luck!

Sara

 

[esmithiii]

I agree that adding true actinics will help the coral to color up, as well as using 10K bulbs instead of 20Ks. I had pretty good coloration using 3x400W iwasakis + 4x96W true actinics (PCs)

Ernie