Bubble Bath Unicorn Acro Question

[CroMag676]

Does anyone out there have a Bubble Bath Unicorn Acro? If so, is your's this pale? I bought this guy as a fresh-cut frag about 2.5 months ago. The grainy blue pick is from when I first got it. It was mostly brown and you can see the mound of super glue at the base. The second pick is from today with an orange filter. It has a decent pink/green color but is just really, really pale. It's getting 6 hours of 90 par under two Radion G6s. I'm running a gradual acclimation program so it should get up to 130-150 par over the next month. The branches haven't grown very much but it has completely encrusted over the plug and down the rack I have it sitting in. The rest of the acros in the tank all have decent color to them.

I tested this morning and my nitrates are at 13.4 ppm and phosphates at .05 ppm. I have attached the latest ICP test. I'm running the Reef Moonshiner's program so the monthly corrections for Iodine, Fluoride, etc are being addressed.

I have googled pictures of Bubble Bath Unicorn acro and they all have more vivid color but those could be doctored.

 

[SpSDrew]

Acros need ideally 250 par minimum. Normally you see corals brown out with low light and bleach out with high lighting. Are you using an apogee to measure?

Mine is getting hammered with light and its colored up well.

 

[A_Blind_Reefer]

I think you’ll need a ton more light than you currently have. I never measured par as I just don’t care, but the numbers you stated are very low for acros. If you got it from Adam @Battlecorals, I think he bombards these with a ton of light (making numbers up here, but probably 300-500, maybe even more). As far as manipulated photos….(going back a few years to when I could still see well) bc pics were the most true to life that I had come across at the time. I haven’t shopped everywhere, so no offense to any others that are true to life.

Edit. I have had a couple frags in the past that expelled the Zooz from shipping stress. It took months, maybe close to six, for them to regain color. I’ve also had them pale out when bottoming out nitrate and phosphate.

 

[CroMag676]

Acros need ideally 250 par minimum. Normally you see corals brown out with low light and bleach out with high lighting. Are you using an apogee to measure?

Mine is getting hammered with light and its colored up well.

Yes, I have the MQ-510.

 

[SpSDrew]

You’ll definitely want to aim for at least 250 par with most acropora. Not getting enough light to maintain color.

 

[Shawnd08]

I assume they are XR15s ? What are the tank dimensions.

 

[CroMag676]

This is a Walt Disney after I put it in, in April. It is about 4-5 inches higher than the Bubble Bath. It's sitting at about 130 par. After the acclimation cycle, it should be at 180-190.

This is the pic I just took of the same frag.

These millies are about the same level as the Bubble Bath.

 

[CroMag676]

I assume they are XR15s ? What are the tank dimensions.

XR30s, 8 inches above the water. The tank is 90gal, 18" x 24" x 48".

 

[iseethruyou2]

What are you nitrate and phosphate levels?

 

[Shawnd08]

XR30s, 8 inches above the water. The tank is 90gal, 18" x 24" x 48".

2 XR30s should be capable of alot more par. Your frags look good and WD has obvious new growth. If other frags look healthy and are growing I wouldn't change much and definitely don't chase the results of one coral when everything else is doing good. You could always try the frag in another spot.

 

[CroMag676]

2 XR30s should be capable of alot more par. Your frags look good and WD has obvious new growth. If other frags look healthy and are growing I wouldn't change much and definitely don't chase the results of one coral when everything else is doing good.

I have a lot more power available. The challenge is keeping the acanthophyllia - bottom right - happy. That is why I have the acclimation mode going. However, if the par is the issue, wouldn't the frag brown out instead of bleaching, if that's what it's doing?

 

[CroMag676]

What are you nitrate and phosphate levels?

13.4 and .05 ppm respectivly.

 

[Shawnd08]

What did you test par with? Judging by the other sps you have alot more than 100ish par hitting those sps.

 

[CroMag676]

What did you test par with? Judging by the other sps you have alot more than 100ish par hitting those sps.

Apogee MQ-510.

 

[SeaDweller]

when this one is happy it’ll put out the purple axial growth with the yellow corallites. I only have this night pic I took a couple nights ago, but I think it’s what BC envisioned/colored this one up to be.

 

[CroMag676]

when this one is happy it’ll put out the purple axial growth with the yellow corallites. I only have this night pic I took a couple nights ago, but I think it’s what BC envisioned/colored this one up to be.

Yeah, that looks SO much better than what I have going on. I've bleached an acro with too much light before and it was only on the surfaces directly facing the light. This is an even effect all over the frag. Even the flesh under the frag is pale.

 

[SeaDweller]

Yeah, that looks SO much better than what I have going on. I've bleached an acro with too much light before and it was only on the surfaces directly facing the light. This is an even effect all over the frag. Even the flesh under the frag is pale.

It’s a super slow growing stag, ime. I’d just leave it alone. What’s funny to me is you’re saying it’s only getting 90 par but it looks like that. If anything it would brown to compensate for the lack of light.