Northern Lights Granulosa - Total Color Shift?

[Nano sapiens]

Looking for some input from those familiar with 'Deepwater' Acropora.

Northern Lights Granulosa (more than a year ago):

Northern Lights Granulosa today:

While I'm not adverse to an Acro turning all green as long as it stays healthy and grows (as in this case), I do prefer the original coloration of this coral with its varied pigments. After a lot of reading the general consensus seems to indicate that an Acro turning green is often due to high nutrients, especially phosphate/nitrate. In this case, I haven't had a Phosphate reading above '0' (Salifert, high res + confirmed yearly by LFS) in the tank for years and ditto for nitrate. The majority of the color shift seemed to roughly correlate to the time when I add a 'full spectrum' LED mini-array (OCW 'red, blue, tourquoise' and 430 nm Hyper Violet) to my existing CW/Blue LED array which led to a modest bump in PAR from 130 to 160 for this specimen. All other parameters are the same and none of my other corals, including the few SPS I have, showed any major color shifts.

Parameters: Temp = 80F, 'Moderate' intermittent flow, Cal = 440, Alk = 9.0, Mag = 1400, PO4 = 0, NO3 = 0. Lighting: 12 hrs total - 2hrs Royal Blue, 8 hrs 'Full Spectrum', 2 hrs Royal Blue.

The perplexing question is what could trigger such a dramatic change in coloration and only in one species/specimen? From scientific articles, A. granulosa is found in habitats from near surface down to 40 meters so it is able to adapt to varying light spectra. Could this be a case of a coral reacting normally to a more 'shallow water' type lighting spectrum?

Input appreciated...

 

[m88a2]

maybe its in a recovery stage. when recovering, most sps for me turn a shade of green just before it starts showing their true colors.

 

[Nano sapiens]

It's actually been this color of green for over 6 months, now, which leads me to believe it is a permanent color shift under the current tank conditions. It also continues to encrust well, so it doesn't seem to be stressed.

 

[Big E]

You have very little growth in either of those acros pictured. Those pictures are a year+ apart and the growth looks like about 2 months worth.

 

[Zack]

Its probably your leds. They seem to change the color of acros that are grown under t5 or halide

 

[carolinareefguy]

Usually when sps turn green it's from lack of lighting.

 

[jackson6745]

You have very little growth in either of those acros pictured. Those pictures are a year+ apart and the growth looks like about 2 months worth.

+1 something is not right. Could be po4 level or lighting.

 

[turbo21]

+1 something is not right. Could be po4 level or lighting.

+2. The monti undata to the right looks like it had almost no growth in the time period

Bob

 

[Nano sapiens]

You have very little growth in either of those acros pictured. Those pictures are a year+ apart and the growth looks like about 2 months worth.

The green Millipora actually grows very fast, but I've had to physically contain it to a very small area or it will destroy it's SPS neighbors since this is a small tank. Since it isn't allowed to encrust much, it doesn't obtain enough energy to grow upwards. The Granulosa I've let encrust as much as it wants to. This is a better pic:

 

[ddavies564]

From my experience too much royal blue from leds definitely turns acros a weird green color. If u are all leds I would think about adding two white t5 bulbs. If u already have burning bulbs run them a tad whiter and a tad longer.

 

[Nano sapiens]

+2. The monti undata to the right looks like it had almost no growth in the time period

Bob

The Undata was virtually destroyed twice by the Millepora. It has had to regrow from next to nothing...twice. Because of this warfare, I contain the Millepora encrustation on a weekly basis to a defined area.

 

[Nano sapiens]

To be clear, all my other SPS (Pavona, Montipora) and everything else in the tank grows rather quickly. There is a lot of coral warfare going on in a small space which can give the impression that 'things aren't growing much', but that is not the case as I have to scrape coral tissue weekly to keep them from nuking and overgrowing each other:

I appreciate the detailed observations on my other SPS, the question of what would cause a complete color shift in the Granulosa in a very healthy tank is what interests me.

 

[Nano sapiens]

From my experience too much royal blue from leds definitely turns acros a weird green color. If u are all leds I would think about adding two white t5 bulbs. If u already have burning bulbs run them a tad whiter and a tad longer.

With the addition of the more full spectrum LED strip, the light appears to be quite well balanced to the eye (~10K). When I take photos the coral coloration is nearly dead on, which was not the case before. I have a good balance of different types of white to different blues/violets (~1:1.5 ratio).

Unfortunately, the tank is not long enough for anything longer than a 12" T5...and there aren't really any good bulbs this size or with anything other than NO (normal output). So, I'm basically stuck with making LEDs work. This is okay, though, since maybe something can be learned regarding LEDs that might help out other reefers.

Another variable I'm considering is flow. The tank has a moderate, intermittent flow from a Hydor rotating flow device. By adding something like a Sicce Wavemaker I wonder if a more rigorous flow might have an impact on coloration.

 

[TJ's Reef]

Your lighting has most definitely had an affect on corals coloring as its symbiotic algae species have shifted to utilize a now different spectrum. Personally I really like the look of your lighting and corals coloring under them. Different species of zoox use different wavelengths of the light spectrum and each has its own color of pigment. Most all so called 'Deep Water' corals will change dramatically unless left in a similar low intensity Blue - Violet lighting. Under my full spectrum LED fixture had a 20K Lokani colony change to a 10K/20K/30K (green/turquoise/blue) colony because of its location in tank up high and between different emitters. Lost this piece during an Alk issue and a colony of Blue Tenuis that had a Pinkish Purple tipped section that was directly below a Red 625nm LED. If your tank was larger you could prbably place in a lower more shaded area under a Blue or Violet emitter and get more of its original coloring back over time.

Cheers, Todd

 

[Reefnjunkie]

Agree with TJ-

I would say its your lights and nothing else. I've ran strictly LED for years and green is a color morph or pigment that is more present in my tank in SOME acros while others remain just as any pics I can find online

Before I even got to seeing what type of lights you were using, as I read the first few lines of your thread mentioning the color morph I was thinking "I bet the tank is running LEDs"

Out of curiosity what brand of LEDs, not that it matters just curious

 

[Nano sapiens]

Your lighting has most definitely had an affect on corals coloring as its symbiotic algae species have shifted to utilize a now different spectrum. Personally I really like the look of your lighting and corals coloring under them. Different species of zoox use different wavelengths of the light spectrum and each has its own color of pigment. Most all so called 'Deep Water' corals will change dramatically unless left in a similar low intensity Blue - Violet lighting. Under my full spectrum LED fixture had a 20K Lokani colony change to a 10K/20K/30K (green/turquoise/blue) colony because of its location in tank up high and between different emitters. Lost this piece during an Alk issue and a colony of Blue Tenuis that had a Pinkish Purple tipped section that was directly below a Red 625nm LED. If your tank was larger you could prbably place in a lower more shaded area under a Blue or Violet emitter and get more of its original coloring back over time.

Cheers, Todd

Thanks, Todd, for you insight. Coral pigmentation under the full spectrum LED strip in all corals (other than the Granulosa) didn't shift much, but intensified greatly.

The interesting part is that the green coloration is actually quite fluorescent under just Royal Blue lighting. So the color shift may be due to both a change in zooanthellae as well as a shift in coral fluorescent pigmentation. I don't have too many options in a tank this small, so suppose I'll just have to accept that this Granulosa is going to look like an asparagus spike from now on

Have you found that your 'Deppwater' Acros require a substantial base before they start growing outwards/upwards?

 

[Nano sapiens]

Agree with TJ-

I would say its your lights and nothing else. I've ran strictly LED for years and green is a color morph or pigment that is more present in my tank in SOME acros while others remain just as any pics I can find online

Before I even got to seeing what type of lights you were using, as I read the first few lines of your thread mentioning the color morph I was thinking "I bet the tank is running LEDs"

Out of curiosity what brand of LEDs, not that it matters just curious

Interesting that you have seen some Acros color shifting to green...and others don't. I've seen this as a consistent theme in other threads with LEDs, too. The question I would ask is why are only certain Acropora corals effected and what is it that makes these types different from those that don't color shift? Looks like something for Dana Riddle to sink his teeth into.

Keeping in mind that this is a small, relatively shallow tank, the 'base' LEDs are all Ecoxotic Stunner Strips w/individual reflectors (mostly 8k & a few 12k White, Blue, Royal Blue, Magenta). The 'Full Spectrum' strip is a DIY with Bridglux/Exotic (HV, RB & NW) plus OCWs (red, blue, cyan). The whole system currently produces 265 PAR (Apogee quantum meter, +15% correction factor) at 10" from the light source (half of that under water). A spectrometer reading of the tank would be very interesting, but that's one piece of equipment out of my price range.

 

[TJ's Reef]

The difference is the corals themselves as to where or how deep they are located on the Reef or Mari-culture facility. Green is a very healthy color for many coral species produced by a mix of zoox within. The number of zoox species that can be supported diminishes with depth as well as the corals overall colors with the exception of non-photo species. I'm going to try and photo-document a coral I recently moved during re-aquascaping it is/was a Lavender Tort with Teal polyps colony that was deeper, shaded and in more bluer area and now up high in full spectrum with part of it directly under a Red LED. I'm very curious to see outcome and will do my best to document the changes.

Cheers, Todd

 

[Nano sapiens]

The difference is the corals themselves as to where or how deep they are located on the Reef or Mari-culture facility. Green is a very healthy color for many coral species produced by a mix of zoox within. The number of zoox species that can be supported diminishes with depth as well as the corals overall colors with the exception of non-photo species. I'm going to try and photo-document a coral I recently moved during re-aquascaping it is/was a Lavender Tort with Teal polyps colony that was deeper, shaded and in more bluer area and now up high in full spectrum with part of it directly under a Red LED. I'm very curious to see outcome and will do my best to document the changes.

Cheers, Todd

Yes, the color shift in your coral would be very interesting to see. If you would, please post in this thread with the result.

Looking closely at my green Granulosa frag pic, while comparing it to the original cream coloration, the tissue appears more 'plump' and the few polyps are extended more normally. This case supports your observation that green coloration is often indicative of a healthy specimen.

 

[TJ's Reef]

My partial educated take on this is: Deep Water Stony Coral is either a slow growing photosynthetic animal relying on light energy or potentially faster growing species also capable of prey capture or non-photo species relying solely on prey capture. The little colony of Lokani I currently have has grown or increased mass maybe 25% in past year while my Rose Milli and Green Birdsnest around 500% both being relatively shallow water species and from a somewhat calmer Reef bio-type. I also have five different Stylophora colonies that very immensely in growth and am unsure if due to exact species or Reef location of original coral. Two Hot Pink and a Pink/Purple Stylo that might grow 20-25% annually and two different Green (one being an ORA) that at least double their mass annually. The two Hot Pink colonies were moved this past July and ended up under RB or B LED's and completely turned brownish Purple and since placing them back into whiter light just a couple weeks ago have made significant shifts back towards Pink. Under my old VHO's or when they've been directly below 5-8000K White emitters they literally glow HOT PINK like a Neon Lamp. On your 'Plump' comment, healthy corals definitely have thicker flesh/tissue and often more green or brown in coloration than the nutrient starved skinny or high intensity lit though sometimes more colorful counterparts.

Cheers, Todd