Acro browning - too much vs. too little light

[chipchipmofo]

Hey guys

My acros are somewhat turning brown/greyish and lost color.
So Ive read that this in most cases is due to too little light. Well, after checking the internet I also saw that acros can turn brown from too high light.

So the question is: How do you see the difference? I mean when do you know if the browning is due to little or too high light?

Im pretty confused now.

 

[Troylee]

Hey guys

My acros are somewhat turning brown/greyish and lost color.
So Ive read that this in most cases is due to too little light. Well, after checking the internet I also saw that acros can turn brown from too high light.

So the question is: How do you see the difference? I mean when do you know if the browning is due to little or too high light?

Im pretty confused now.

It’s normally from a lack of light or high nutrients… I have heard too much light can cause it but never witnessed it myself.. with that being said my asd rainbow just went from green and orange “normal colors” to a drab of red and brown ugh… my nutrients are low and I’m running halides over it now vs just a radion.. my par has tripled over that particular piece so I guess it’s a defense mechanism in the coral and could be too much light…. All my other sticks are happy so I’m gonna leave it and see what happens… I learned one thing many years ago you can’t keep everyone happy and if you try and chase that one coral you’ll tick off the rest of them and have collateral damage.. it’s actually growing like crazy after being stalled for a few months but the color is gone…

 

[chipchipmofo]

It’s normally from a lack of light or high nutrients… I have heard too much light can cause it but never witnessed it myself.. with that being said my asd rainbow just went from green and orange “normal colors” to a drab of red and brown ugh… my nutrients are low and I’m running halides over it now vs just a radion.. my par has tripled over that particular piece so I guess it’s a defense mechanism in the coral and could be too much light…. All my other sticks are happy so I’m gonna leave it and see what happens… I learned one thing many years ago you can’t keep everyone happy and if you try and chase that one coral you’ll tick off the rest of them and have collateral damage.. it’s actually growing like crazy after being stalled for a few months but the color is gone…

Well... what is high nutrients?
My no3 is 10-15 and my po4 is 0.06-0.1 so I think thats not high (at least for my understanding)

So would you rather tryand even crank the xr30 to 100% over the next 30days to see if theres an improvement?

 

[Troylee]

Well... what is high nutrients?
My no3 is 10-15 and my po4 is 0.06-0.1 so I think thats not high (at least for my understanding)

So would you rather tryand even crank the xr30 to 100% over the next 30days to see if theres an improvement?

Your nutrients are fine…. Are all your acros browning out? What size tank is it? A Fts might help. A xr30 packs a punch! Idk that I would go to 100% unless it’s a deep tank and your corals are mid to bottom.. what are you currently running the light at? And what schedule on the light..

 

[chipchipmofo]

Your nutrients are fine…. Are all your acros browning out? What size tank is it? A Fts might help. A xr30 packs a punch! Idk that I would go to 100% unless it’s a deep tank and your corals are mid to bottom.. what are you currently running the light at? And what schedule on the light..

Well, most of them are brown or just colorless.
My tank is a 24" cube and the corals are in the lower half of the tank mostly. My rockwork isnt very high.

I can sho some topdowns under full spectrum and no filter.

Schedule: 30 min ramp -> 85% Point Intensty -> 100% (Blue/Royal Blue/UV/Violet) / 25% (Green/Red/Cyano) / 60% (White
this runs for 5hrs
then 85% Point Intensity -> 100% (Blue/Royal Blue/UV/Violet) all others 0%

This is similar to the POTO SPS Preset.

Light is mounted 8" above the surface with the original RMS Mount Kit

pic1:

Pic2: The light green frag is new so only 3 days in the tank and thats why color is so nice. Upper greened coral is a Pink Cadillac…On the bottom is a Strawberry Shortcake brown. Middle a wonderland brown. Left side a pink Spathulata brown

 

[therman]

Your spectrum looks pretty heavy on white in the photos and honestly I don't see a huge issue with your coloration given the photos are taken in that spectrum. Your levels of nutrients will certainly result in darker Acropora. What are the nutrients in the system that your source frags are coming from?

 

[therman]

Also, SSC has a mysterious ability to brown out completely, independent of what normal parameters are in a system. I have discussed this with several other hobbyists who have had similar experiences. I suspect it is due to some trace element issue, but I cannot explain it fully. One person felt it was linked to zinc levels.

 

[chipchipmofo]

Your spectrum looks pretty heavy on white in the photos and honestly I don't see a huge issue with your coloration given the photos are taken in that spectrum. Your levels of nutrients will certainly result in darker Acropora. What are the nutrients in the system that your source frags are coming from?

Well, its not too white to be honest..
Its still the G5 Blue and white are only 60%. Usually AB+ uses even 100% white.

The frags are from Eurocorals and they also use g5 or now g6 blues at around 250-350 PAR

Parameters as follows:

Cal: 420-440 ppm
Mg: 1380-1400
KH: 7.2-8.5 dKH
No3: 10-20 ppm
PO4: 0.02-0.06 ppm
PAR: 250-350

 

[Troylee]

How long have you had these frags? It takes awhile for them to adjust from tank to tank and starts over when you change your lighting etc.. green is normal and a response to high lighting as it acclimated… I would say on that cube DO NOT. Run that xr30 at 100% you’ll fry everything lol… just give it time and they will come around.

 

[Troylee]

Also, SSC has a mysterious ability to brown out completely, independent of what normal parameters are in a system. I have discussed this with several other hobbyists who have had similar experiences. I suspect it is due to some trace element issue, but I cannot explain it fully. One person felt it was linked to zinc levels.

Yep! My buddy has a huge colony that’s brown while everything else is colorful! I got a frag from him and it’s the same story! I’m starting to see some pink just barely but no greens..

 

[chipchipmofo]

How long have you had these frags? It takes awhile for them to adjust from tank to tank and starts over when you change your lighting etc.. green is normal and a response to high lighting as it acclimated… I would say on that cube DO NOT. Run that xr30 at 100% you’ll fry everything lol… just give it time and they will come around.

the frags are in this tank since January 12

So thats why I am wondering if its maybe too intense lighting?

the SSC is in this tank since November 22 or so...

thats how the spath and cadillac looked when I inteoduced them:

 

[AKL1950]

So the question is: How do you see the difference? I mean when do you know if the browning is due to little or too high light?

The answer can be both.

Too little light will cause the coral to take on more Zooxanthellae to be able to absorb more light. Zooxanthellae are mostly brown. With less light, the coral doesn’t need as much pigment to counter radiation, so it doesn’t make it to conserve energy. Result is less color which allows the brown Zooxanthellae to appear more prominately.

Too much light and the coral is absorbing more energy than it can handle. It will expel Zooxanthellae to slow down the energy absorption. If it happens too fast, it will not have the energy needed to quickly build pigment. Worst case, it will expel all Zooxanthellae and not have pigment protection and will turn white and die.

See if you can find, borrow or rent a light meter to check your levels. May be very helpful.

I have had some Acro that didn’t like particular areas of my tank. When I moved them to a lower, or higher light area, they started thriving.

 

[chipchipmofo]

So basically in my position...
What would you do? try to crank up the lights with acclimation move for maybe 30 days and see it something changes?

Or would you first decrease lights to 65% and see from there if something changes?

 

[Troylee]

So basically in my position...
What would you do? try to crank up the lights with acclimation move for maybe 30 days and see it something changes?

Or would you first decrease lights to 65% and see from there if something changes?

You got plenty of light going now! I wouldn’t raise the intensity.. my tank last month a 60gal cube had a single XR 15 running at 75% and my colors were amazing on my sticks.. I had high nutrients also.. every tank is different… I’d find a visual look you like with your lighting and leave it alone and the corals will adjust to it..

 

[chipchipmofo]

You got plenty of light going now! I wouldn’t raise the intensity.. my tank last month a 60gal cube had a single XR 15 running at 75% and my colors were amazing on my sticks.. I had high nutrients also.. every tank is different… I’d find a visual look you like with your lighting and leave it alone and the corals will adjust to it..

Did you use full AB+ with all channels 100%?

 

[Auto-pilot]

I agree with troylee. Honestly I think you are doing a good job and they will eventually acclimate. One other thing is alk, I can't keep acropora in a small tank because it's hard to keep everything stable. I'm not sure how stable your alk is but I had a 20 g tank and I browned them by swinging my alk too fast. Some acro's are more sensitive, just an idea

 

[Lavey29]

Well... what is high nutrients?
My no3 is 10-15 and my po4 is 0.06-0.1 so I think thats not high (at least for my understanding)

So would you rather tryand even crank the xr30 to 100% over the next 30days to see if theres an improvement?

It can also brown from excess amino dosing if you already have sufficient nutrients levels as you indicated.

 

[Troylee]

Did you use full AB+ with all channels 100%?

I do! I have g5 and g6 blues

 

[AKL1950]

So basically in my position...
What would you do? try to crank up the lights with acclimation move for maybe 30 days and see it something changes?

Or would you first decrease lights to 65% and see from there if something changes?

Agree with above comments. If you have other corals that are doing fine, you don’t want to go tinkering for this one coral. You may just want to wait it out and see if it adjusts. Acro’s can be quite finicky about things going on in the tank and do unexpected things. Once they adjust to conditions, they will start growing again. Use a black light to look at it at night with all your lights off. If it shows fluorescence, it’s still alive and adjusting.

Here is an example from my tank. The coral is a Palette Blue Acro from WWC. First picture was last September when I bought it. Very small, but good color

This picture was in December. It turned pale, and then almost white. I kept watching it at night with a black light and knew it was still alive. I moved it to an area that had lower light hoping it would have less stress.

This is it today. It’s color is coming back (more green vice blue because of lower light area) and it’s growing quite fast now. It’s encrusted and growing vertical spikes. All I did was give it a different area of the tank with less light.

 

[therman]

Well, its not too white to be honest..
Its still the G5 Blue and white are only 60%. Usually AB+ uses even 100% white.

The frags are from Eurocorals and they also use g5 or now g6 blues at around 250-350 PAR

Parameters as follows:

Cal: 420-440 ppm
Mg: 1380-1400
KH: 7.2-8.5 dKH
No3: 10-20 ppm
PO4: 0.02-0.06 ppm
PAR: 250-350

Didn't mean you have too much white light, I just mean it won't make them look as colorful as a bluer spectrum. It will be at least as good or better for the coral health and growth

I have never seen a coral turn dark brown from too much light. If they lose color they would lose zooxanthellae first and look bleached on the upward facing surfaces, and you could lose some pigments during that process but the coral would look white, not dark brown. Alternative to this paling/bleaching process would just be straight to a dead coral if the transition is too sudden.

After dosing my nitrates up to the levels you have in my backup system, some corals are looking like yours and don't grow nearly as fast as they do in my main system that has 0 detectable nitrates. I am starting to think that nitrates are not the answer to healthy colorful acros. Some varieties do get more colorful in there and a small minority do better in that system, but overall my growth is much faster in the main system.