Acropora desalwii blue?

[1979fishgeek]

I bought this Acro back in August 2015, it was my first ever Acro. The photo online showed a pale purple coral with bright blue tips. I received a tan coloured frag see second photo.

It's always showed good PE and did nothing for several months, it's finally started to encrust and thicken up and has gotten really 'bushy' but the colour is as you can see far from blue and more orange brown with a green sheen under the polyps. How can I get it blue? Is it a Desalwii Blue? Am I doing something wrong?

PH 8.2
Salinity 1.025
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate .5
Phosphates 0 to 0.3
KH/Alk 8.3/2.96
Calc 450
Mag 1250
Temp 26C
It's sitting under ai hydra and 20k metal Halide.

Photo taken few days ago.... I call him Chewbacca

This was when I first got him....

 

[Va_Reef]

You can't really ID on polyp extension alone, especially on a frag. However I will say I've never seen a desalwii with that much PE.

As far as bringing blues out, higher PAR tends to do that. I'd suggest moving it up some.

 

[1979fishgeek]

You can't really ID on polyp extension alone, especially on a frag. However I will say I've never seen a desalwii with that much PE.

As far as bringing blues out, higher PAR tends to do that. I'd suggest moving it up some.

It is weirdly bushy, I can find comments saying Desalwii can be bushy but not seen one like that? You can't see the colour very well from the brown scraggy bush buts it's greenish underneath, even at night it's looks like that scraggy rug.

Unfortunately I can't move it up any higher its right at the top of the tank, the ai hydra has everything set at 100% and it's only about 10 inches from it. Wondering if I need a better light as it's the first hydra model?