Growth tips or light burn?

[CloudReefer]

Hello, looking to get some opinions here!

I've had this stylophora for awhile now and it's grown quite a bit. I just added a Maxima and have been increasing the light over the last week and started seeing some white tips on the highest branches.

I run two Reefi Uno 2s about 18" above the water on my 20" deep tank.

Does this look like light burn or growth? It's gone from about 200-250 par to about 300-350 par over the last week (daily increases). I came home from work today and saw a couple of tips had gone white with little or no polyp extension and I am not experienced enough to know for sure what it is but I suspect light burn.

I moved it from a flat rock to a sloped rock about a month ago, that's why it looks like it's "leaning".

I did see a small alk jump from 7.4 to 7.7 today (adjusting my all for reef dosing). Nutrients are N at 6.0 or so and P around .10 - .15.

It's in the center back of my tank so the pics are very zoomed in and that's affecting their clarity. I can try to get better ones if it'll help.

Thanks!

 

[tbrown]

That's how mine look when they're growing.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hello, looking to get some opinions here!

I've had this stylophora for awhile now and it's grown quite a bit. I just added a Maxima and have been increasing the light over the last week and started seeing some white tips on the highest branches.

I run two Reefi Uno 2s about 18" above the water on my 20" deep tank.

Does this look like light burn or growth? It's gone from about 200-250 par to about 300-350 par over the last week (daily increases). I came home from work today and saw a couple of tips had gone white with little or no polyp extension and I am not experienced enough to know for sure what it is but I suspect light burn.

I moved it from a flat rock to a sloped rock about a month ago, that's why it looks like it's "leaning".

I did see a small alk jump from 7.4 to 7.7 today (adjusting my all for reef dosing). Nutrients are N at 6.0 or so and P around .10 - .15.

It's in the center back of my tank so the pics are very zoomed in and that's affecting their clarity. I can try to get better ones if it'll help.

Thanks!

Tips look like growth tip but base is bare likely due to shading ( area that is blocked from light and even water flow) and is quite common with stylo. Also can be elevated phos - you want .06 - .1 and ph around 8 and alk at about 8.5 (these are ranges)

 

[CloudReefer]

Tips look like growth tip but base is bare likely due to shading ( area that is blocked from light and even water flow) and is quite common with stylo. Also can be elevated phos - you want .06 - .1 and ph around 8 and alk at about 8.5 (these are ranges)

That is correct about the base area. It's been shaded for a long time. You can actually see some areas in the base that are coloring back up because the tilted angle is allowing for light. In fact the little nub growing out of the right side of the base wasn't there 2 weeks ago.

 

[CloudReefer]

If the white area expands down from the tips, that would indicate something other than growth yes?

The polyps look less extended the further up (closer to lights) the coral branches you go. If you look closely you can see the higher side on the right of the coral has slightly less PE than the left. Is this normal? Perhaps it's still adjusting to the higher light?

Thank you!

 

[tbrown]

Mine does similar in shady and lower flow areas. Too much flow and the polyps retract, not enough flow and they kinda flatten out and look ugly.

What variety Stylo is it? Milka/Purple? Rainbow?

 

[CloudReefer]

Mine does similar in shady and lower flow areas. Too much flow and the polyps retract, not enough flow and they kinda flatten out and look ugly.

What variety Stylo is it? Milka/Purple? Rainbow?

I have no idea what variety it is. I picked it up from my LFS back in spring or something. Pics aren't great but the flesh is a mauve/purple color and the polyps are kinda light purple with some green and blue in the right lighting.

I will say that when the lights were around 200 par I didn't have growth tips. Still not 100% sure that's growth and not burning, but I did just increase my light by 50% so it could very well be growing fast enough to have white tips. My alk/ca/mg usage is definitely up by about that same percentage.

 

[tbrown]

Sounds like your typical Milka/Purple variety.

Mine have super white tips when they're growing.

This one is on the sandbed so it grows slower than the one in higher light.

These two are more shaded as well. In my old tank they showed much more white but stayed shorter and grew fatter and "bushier".

 

[CloudReefer]

Sounds like your typical Milka/Purple variety.

Mine have super white tips when they're growing.

This one is on the sandbed so it grows slower than the one in higher light.

These two are more shaded as well. In my old tank they showed much more white but stayed shorter and grew fatter and "bushier".

Woah thank you for posting your pics! I tried to find something to compare my coral to but it was hard to find anything that was helpful, thus starting this thread. Your pics are exactly how mine looks, so I'm a lot less worried now. What kind of par are yours under?

Mine is definitely fat and bushy as you can see. When you look at it from the top, if the polyps are fully extended it looks like it's tabling.

Yours are really dark and look great! What variety? I wouldn't mind finding a frag of that color!

 

[CloudReefer]

Also, we seem to have the same taste in fish

My yellow wrasse killed himself trying to carpet surf last summer. The anthias are attached because who doesn't love anthias pics? haha

 

[tbrown]

Woah thank you for posting your pics! I tried to find something to compare my coral to but it was hard to find anything that was helpful, thus starting this thread. Your pics are exactly how mine looks, so I'm a lot less worried now. What kind of par are yours under?

Mine is definitely fat and bushy as you can see. When you look at it from the top, if the polyps are fully extended it looks like it's tabling.

Yours are really dark and look great! What variety? I wouldn't mind finding a frag of that color!

My first pic is probably sitting around 100-150 and the second pic are under close to 250. Originally they were under close to 300-325 PAR in the other tank. These are Milka - purple flesh with purple polyps. One is "Rainbow" but in lower PAR it shows less of the green on the stalks of the polyps.

 

[tbrown]

Also, we seem to have the same taste in fish

My yellow wrasse killed himself trying to carpet surf last summer. The anthias are attached because who doesn't love anthias pics? haha

I don't have any anthias but they're beautiful fish for sure! My Leopard is my favorite and the Yellow isn't a Chrysus, it's a Leucoxanthus so it's half white/pink, half yellow. I also have a Melanurus swimming around. #3 is beautiful! Biocellatus?

 

[CloudReefer]

I don't have any anthias but they're beautiful fish for sure! My Leopard is my favorite and the Yellow isn't a Chrysus, it's a Leucoxanthus so it's half white/pink, half yellow. I also have a Melanurus swimming around. #3 is beautiful! Biocellatus?

Those are N. carberryi, I have a group of 3 that I got from a QT vendor on another site back in May and they're inseparable. Love these fish!

Ohhhh I see the white on the bottom now! I haven't seen that before, what a beautiful fish! How is the temperament?

I saw the melanrus. I can't have one of those, it would eat my baby snails, shrimp, crabs and who knows what else! lol

Yep, H. biocellatus! Almost finished transitioning to male. It was about half female colored and half male when I got him (her? it? what do you call a transitioning fish? lol). I'm hoping by Christmas it's fully in it's male colors. Beautiful fish and like my M. melagris, a very friendly and even-tempered wrasse.

 

[CloudReefer]

Wait, is the striped wrasse a 12-line or your melanarus?

 

[tbrown]

Melanurus. I used to have a garnoti as well but she decided to carpet surf. My leucoxanthus is a super friendly fish. I got him as a female and he quickly transitioned (probably because my melanurus was male).

Both the mel and leuco ate my stomatellas but they left the Berghia and Peppermint Shrimp alone.

 

[tbrown]

 

[CloudReefer]

The aquascaping is on point

 

[tbrown]

The aquascaping is on point

I made most of the rocks in my tank - Aragocrete.