Wellsophyllia Brain

[ocean diver]

Hey I have a red with green center Wellsophyllia brain that has or is losing its color and I am looking for ideas as to why?? Any thoughts on why it has lost its color?

[Reef_Geek]

over what time span? Did you just get it?

[ocean diver]

its been about 2 years now

[Reef_Geek]

hmm... just a guess.

I thought I read somewhere that coral pigments have a lot to do with iodide. Also, coral pigments are functional to protect corals from UV rays. So maybe it's just acclimated to its new environment? Perhaps your lights aren't bright or are in need of bulb change?

Just wild guesses.

[Reef_Geek]

here you go.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/PIC/article.cfm?aid=114

[ocean diver]

Ive never tested for iodine and I just got new LEDS in August, the coral looks nice and has nice color under the royal blues only but during the day it is very pale in colors.

[ocean diver]

any other thoughts

[Reef_Geek]

What kind of LED light did you get?



Anyone else have ideas?

[ocean diver]

I had T5's and I had a tank crash and The brain coral started to lose its color, but I think maybe the coral is coming back not sure. My LED's are Cree XP-E white and royal blues DIY from Modular LED and I love them!!!!!!

[ScubaSteve]

I had T5's and I had a tank crash and The brain coral started to lose its color, but I think maybe the coral is coming back not sure. My LED's are Cree XP-E white and royal blues DIY from Modular LED and I love them!!!!!!

Errr, ya. That's kinda important info...

How long ago did you switch to LED and did it start losi g colour after that? What caused the tank crash? Did it start losing colour after that? Do you feed it?

[Reef_Geek]

All web searching point to lighting and trace element supplements. If you do regular water changes, most trace elements are in good salt mixes. I would think that with supplements/water changes in combination with a good light since August, you should have noticed some results.

Maybe others have ideas or experience specific to this coral?

I've had some bleaching with sps and acans, but that's due to my own dumb*** fault at putting them too close to a bright light, too soon upon introduction. Bleaching is obviously not what we're dealing with here.

[ocean diver]

I switched to led in august, I am not sure what caused the problem with the tank but I lost about 6 corals, and that is when the brain lost its color. It still has color but not as bright as it once was.

[Reef_Geek]

could it be bleaching from lighting installation?

I bleached an Acan back in the summer, bought the frag and put it too high in the tank. Basically, the coral was used to a low lighting intensity at the shop. What that means is that the coral regulates the density of zooxanthellae within its tissues, so the lower the light, the more zooxanthellae it needs for a steady output of sugars from photosynthesis. If lighting intensity suddenly increased, such as when I bought it, put it in my bright tank too high on the rocks (near the light), the zooxanthellae is way too high in density within the coral tissue. Not exactly sure why this irritates the corals, but it does. The balance of reciprocal exchange is out of whack. Coral provides nitrogenous wastes and carbon dioxide to zooxanthellae, and zooxanthellae provides sugars and oxygen to coral. Oxygen in high concentration can be toxic to some things. Whatever irritates the coral, the coral drastically adjusts by spitting out its zooxanthellae and deflating its tissues to minimize light exposure. I have killed Blastomusa this way. It's been since the summer for the Acan and the piece is finally regaining some colour after months of being in a shaded area.

Maybe you bleached some corals with the drastic increase in lighting, some corals died while this brain is on a slow recovery?