What causes SPS to brown

[ColaAddict]

I'm getting more and more into SPS keeping and collecting frags. In the past I've gotten frags that are browned out or some have browned out in my system. Some people say too strong a lighting causes them to brown, some say too much nutrients in the water causes them to brown. Can someone talk about this and what can help to get them to color up again.

 

[lunacris]

i recieved sps frags colonys from a fellow reefer getting out of the reef part moving on to breeding and all the corals were browned out and bleaching he was running them with regular 65 k bulbs and power compacts actually got good growth just no color put them in my tank and color are coming back what lights do u use i have three 400 watt 14k metal halides with sps on top shelf

 

[ColaAddict]

I use MH 250, with SPS on upper half of tank
Ammonia/Nitrites/Nitrates = 0
Phos = 0.25 workin on that with chaeto.
Cal = 500
Alk = 10
Mag 1400
pH 8.3
Temp = 78

Not all my SPS are browing, but some are, also have collected some browned out ones from other reefers that I would like to get their colors back.

 

[lunacris]

flow is good i assume id say give it time are polyps out

 

[poidog]

it can take several months for browned out corals to come back. Fragging, moving, change of light/flow, shipping are all factors to cause them to brown. They will stay brown if unhappy in their current placement. I would say if you don't see color improvement in 2 months with nothing changing (ie placement, fragging, etc) you may want to evaluate moving it to higher light. Too strong of light usually causes bleaching not browning.

 

[ColaAddict]

Chris, I'm pretty sureI have good flow as I can see my tank waving around.
thanks for the advice guys, will wait. alot of the SPS are doing fine, it's just a few of the ones that I got from other reefers were either already brown when I got them or have actually browned in my tank.

 

[Lil BamBam]

I use MH 250, with SPS on upper half of tank
Ammonia/Nitrites/Nitrates = 0
Phos = 0.25 workin on that with chaeto.
Cal = 500
Alk = 10
Mag 1400
pH 8.3
Temp = 78

Not all my SPS are browing, but some are, also have collected some browned out ones from other reefers that I would like to get their colors back.

How old on the bulbs?

 

[ColaAddict]

my bulbs are only 4months old. I thought thout that light doesn't cause SPS to brown.

 

[poidog]

my bulbs are only 4months old. I thought thout that light doesn't cause SPS to brown.

old bulbs can. as the bulbs age their spectrum shifts. 4 months old is fine tho. I replace mine every 10-12 months.

 

[Lil BamBam]

old bulbs can. as the bulbs age their spectrum shifts. 4 months old is fine tho. I replace mine every 10-12 months.

+1

What brand did you buy? I was having the same issue before a good friend told me to switch the bulbs. Upgraded to 14k (DE-250w) PHX and my SPS look happy.

 

[BlueToothTusk]

The scientific reasoning behind your question:

Lighting which is too strong will cause the coral to bleach and lighting which is too weak will cause corals to brown. Corals brown because there is an over-abundance of zooxanthella (brown) algae in the tissue because they need to take up more energy from the weaker light. Conversely lights which are too bright will cause corals to bleach (burn) because the coral expels the zoxanthella that it does not need. For best color you must find a happy medium between the two so your coral has enough zooxanthella to thrive, but not too much/too little.

 

[jcarlilesiu]

The scientific reasoning behind your question:

Lighting which is too strong will cause the coral to bleach and lighting which is too weak will cause corals to brown. Corals brown because there is an over-abundance of zooxanthella (brown) algae in the tissue because they need to take up more energy from the weaker light. Conversely lights which are too bright will cause corals to bleach (burn) because the coral expels the zoxanthella that it does not need. For best color you must find a happy medium between the two so your coral has enough zooxanthella to thrive, but not too much/too little.

Great explanation.

Welcome to the forum!

 

[pacmann117]

To add to what BlueToothTusk said: Lighting is probably the most important factor in color, but other variables can rapidly brown corals if not properly managed. Water quality is another very important factor, keeping the nitrates and phosphates undetectable is paramount to good color. Water quality in terms of clarity is important as well, using carbon/uv/ozone etc will remove discolorants and allow light to penetrate better... this effect can be quite noticable. Another factor which can be the difference between a coral being impressive and just nice is growth rate. Many SPS corals display different pigments at the axial (growing) tip vs old growth. So corals that grow rapidly tend to display a wider variety of colors, and brighter tips. Good growth is maintained through proper calcium/alkalinity levels and low phosphate levels. My two cents.

 

[ColaAddict]

Cool, thanks for all the advice.