Browned Corals Showing Growth?

[CodyRVA]

I ordered a bunch of frags online a couple months back, all of which looked horrid on arrival. This was a surprise as the retailer is quite popular and has a great reputation. However, while none of them have died, many have actually grown. I know this because I placed them with Two Little Fishes AquaStik. The corals have since grown down over the putty, but still lack color.

Has anyone ever experienced this and if so why would these frags grow, but not color up?

 

[DancingShark]

I have one like this. Bleached out. I knocked it off the rock work and it was on the sand bed for months on it's side. Even getting buried under the sand. Finally I gave it another try and although bleach it was encrusting.

It has started to color up some but we are a talking almost a year in the tank.

 

[jda]

Brown corals are not usually unhealthy. They just have an excess of zoox. They can grow quite well.

It can sometimes take a long time for them to color up once they brown. They usually brown from too high of nutrients, but tank moves and lighting changes can cause it, as well. Sometimes, then new growth will show the "true" colors and the rest of the frag will stay brown for a long time.

It is a VERY good sign that they are growing.

 

[Jwheld]

I’ve had a frag stress and brown on a 2 hour trip home and take 3+ months to color back up.

I agree the growth is a good sign. Keep an eye on the parameters and the color will come.

 

[samnaz]

my best guess is that the lighting is different from what you saw them under on their website or whatever. Maybe they are colorful but your lights don't allow them to pop?

what light was the vendor using and what light are you using?

 

[CodyRVA]

my best guess is that the lighting is different from what you saw them under on their website or whatever. Maybe they are colorful but your lights don't allow them to pop?

what light was the vendor using and what light are you using?

Nah, lack of color/different spectrums is one thing, these frags are straight up browned out. They didn't brown over time either, they were brown when they came out of the bags. I inquired about the PAR and flow, I have matched extremely close to the vendors specs.

While they are brown, I still get polyp extension as well. They are far from dead, but i've just never seen browned sps corals continue to grow. All of the browned corals i've fostered before never grew until they colored up.

It's a bit nerve racking... 2 inches away from a browned out acro i've got various other acros/montis that are growing quite well. I'm more so looking for confirmation that i'm not crazy and these things are growing and will eventually regain their color; as mentioned, they have great polyp extension and that's always a good sign.

 

[cameron27803]

I'm having the same issue with one of my Acros. The polyp extension is great and seems to be growing rather quickly. I am just leaving it alone and giving it time and hopefully it will color up.

 

[Graffiti Spot]

The seller probably had a bunch of wild frags cut and took the images then they browned out. You say that they browned out after they came out of the bag? That doesn't sound right. Jda summed it up pretty well though. Just let them grow an the brown will be gone before you know if it you leave them alone and keep everything stable. Normally the more beautiful colored acros will brown easier than others, so I always get excited when a coral browns out and j am getting colors for the first time.

 

[CodyRVA]

The seller probably had a bunch of wild frags cut and took the images then they browned out. You say that they browned out after they came out of the bag? That doesn't sound right. Jda summed it up pretty well though. Just let them grow an the brown will be gone before you know if it you leave them alone and keep everything stable. Normally the more beautiful colored acros will brown easier than others, so I always get excited when a coral browns out and j am getting colors for the first time.

Thanks for the input. I mean when I unboxed the frags, many of them were brown upon unboxing. They've pretty much stayed the same color since I introduced them into my system. I got one monti, it was colored up fine, but all the acros and millies are either brown or faded. Some have shown growth, others have simply been stagnant. That is to say... no improvements, but no die off either.

As long as they color up i'll be happy. It's a bit annoying though when you order specific frags and they're brown because you really have no idea if the shipper actually sent you what you bought.