Why isn't my hammer bright green like in the lfs?

[MoreDakka]

You can see it brown in the bottom leftish area. In the fish store these are bright green. They are under LED lights in the lfs but a single T5 fixture at home. Could the bulb need replacing? Replaced it in January so not even 6 months old yet.

sigh, my tank is bare...I want more...expensive hobby.

Oh and PS - Should i scrape the back wall? I have high nitrates right now (40ppm) and I'm trying to find the culprit as water changes aren't bringing it down much.

[sphelps]

Lighting is your issue, you have a single T5 bulb that's probably a lower K rating. You need actinic or blue type of lighting to bring out florescent greens.

[ScubaSteve]

Also more light tends to bring out more intense coloration.

You also have high nitrates - high nutrient levels will make corals be more brown (typically).

And yes, scrape the back.

How old is your tank?

[MoreDakka]

This tank is about 8 months old. Heh, it looks younger than that...

When I scrape the wall I'm assuming I would scrape up and take it out of the tank?

[Spyd]

I think a bit stronger lighting than a single T5 would help. What colour bulb are you using? Also, the browning is far more likely caused by your nitrates. No coral likes nitrates that high. Having some in a LPS tank is fine, but not anywhere near that high. Bi-weekly water changes and a skimmer should keep nitrates down.

[DAVE]

Nitrates at 40ppm although high, would not likely be the cause of the browing of that LPS coral. I have seen a number of tanks with LPS corals with nitrates 40ppm and higher that don't have issues like that with LPS.

SPS is a different story....

Your single light bulb is the biggest problem here.