Green Acropora turning Brown

[daniel_mourra]

bump the par up. I’m running 275 par on my bottom glass (but I do run wall to wall sps). Did you see the mother colony? Is it suppose to be green? Some corals turn green under stress and then after acclimating or getting better return to their original colors. Also don’t raise it to higher par too fast- too much light can brown just like too low light.

How fast is too fast? What would be the par increment / day recomendation?

 

[daniel_mourra]

It can but How many lights do you have and what are your dimensions

Inhave (3 units) of XR15 PROS… the tank is 79 inches (peninsula) long, 22 inch wide and 26 inches tall… (a bit too tall)

 

[scotty333]

I’ve just acclimatised my new lights starting at 30% to 100% in 2 weeks from 80 par to 250 so like 12 par a day and had no issues , I have an acro frag that’s gone from brown to green now

 

[ryanjohn1]

More light=more good

 

[Falc!]

How fast is too fast? What would be the par increment / day recomendation?

20-50 par a week should work

 

[Falc!]

Inhave (3 units) of XR15 PROS… the tank is 79 inches (peninsula) long, 22 inch wide and 26 inches tall… (a bit too tall)

Ok well that’s probably the issue there… if I remember correctly from previous years, 1xr15 per 2 tank ft for softies and 1 xr30 per 2 ft for mixed reef and 1 xr30 per tank foot for wall to wall sps. So if you want to stick with xr15s you might want to add a few more units to keep acros. You can get away with only a couple of units but placement of the sticks will be key and difficult to get the punch you need in a tank that’s over 6.5 ft long and somewhat tall with just 3 xr15s. I run 4 XR30s in my2 yr old 4 ft long tank ( I know I could use 3 and be ok but the 4th fills in all the shadows and gaps) …. There are a lot of “lower” light sps you can keep like several montis and even some acros do well in lower par but generally for “acropora” you want to give them a solid 250 par minimum.

 

[HudsonReefer2.0]

Idk 2 xr 15 g5 pro, acro, no problem.

 

[Falc!]

Idk 2 xr 15 g5 pro, acro, no problem.

Looks good…but not a 6.5 ft tank like the op

 

[HudsonReefer2.0]

Looks good…but not a 6.5 ft tank like the op

Ty. Point is they grow acro. Happy reefing.

 

[Falc!]

Ty. Point is they grow acro. Happy reefing.

100% correct radions do grow acros like crazy, that’s why I run them. Just got to have the right amount for the right size tank and of course the right settings

 

[HudsonReefer2.0]

100% correct radions do grow acros like crazy, that’s why I run them. Just got to have the right amount for the right size tank and of course the right settings

Yes brother. Agree 100%

 

[HudsonReefer2.0]

Yes brother. Agree 100%

I have some xr 30 g5 pros x 4 for a Fall WB 7225 build. Good things.

 

[Reeferbadness]

Got it… how slow is slow? I am new

I usually raise mine by 1% every other day to slowly acclimate the corals. You might be able to go a little faster but you know how it goes with reefing, slow go is best

 

[daniel_mourra]

Ok well that’s probably the issue there… if I remember correctly from previous years, 1xr15 per 2 tank ft for softies and 1 xr30 per 2 ft for mixed reef and 1 xr30 per tank foot for wall to wall sps. So if you want to stick with xr15s you might want to add a few more units to keep acros. You can get away with only a couple of units but placement of the sticks will be key and difficult to get the punch you need in a tank that’s over 6.5 ft long and somewhat tall with just 3 xr15s. I run 4 XR30s in my2 yr old 4 ft long tank ( I know I could use 3 and be ok but the 4th fills in all the shadows and gaps) …. There are a lot of “lower” light sps you can keep like several montis and even some acros do well in lower par but generally for “acropora” you want to give them a solid 250 par minimum.

Excelent example. Looks great.! Yes my next step would be rampnup the lighting

 

[Northern Flicker]

Just to add - my favourite aquaculture shop runs Radions and grows beautiful acros. They don't supplment with T-5 or anything like that.

I am very curious about this photoinhibition topic. It doesn't seem like any of my SPS have ever really reacted poorly from cranked lighting. Used to grow them just underneath MHs.

My Bali Slimer is also browning (only stick doing so) so I've been feeding heavier and actually cranked my lights up rather than down. Will see where it goes.

 

[Formulator]

What are your phosphates at? My acros turned brown when I had very high phosphate (>1.0). Good news is the browning is reversible and the coral can color back up if you find the problem. I also think your lighting is too low for acropora. I’ve always been advised 300 PAR minimum for most acro. I keep mine around 500 with my metal halides. 150 sounds crazy to me… though I’m certainly not an expert with these finicky corals and have failed many times to keep them happy. I am having some success recently after paying more attention to nutrients (NO3 and PO4).

 

[Troylee]

Need more light!

 

[JustAnotherNanoTank]

*Acropora* “I love lamp!!”

Edit: Added video

 

[Northern Flicker]

Need more light!

The average LED user: "I don't know maybe I am turning the lights on too bright, should I go from 55% to 50%??"

The acros in Troylee's tank when he flicks on his metal halides every morning:

 

[lakai]

I’ve just acclimatised my new lights starting at 30% to 100% in 2 weeks from 80 par to 250 so like 12 par a day and had no issues , I have an acro frag that’s gone from brown to green now

Just blast them from day 1 you don't need to acclimate most acros to light.