PDs and browning

Azurel · Sep 4, 2007

In the year or so I have had these polyps I have never had any not one polyp go brown on me. Last week I lost my Icecap VHO ballast that ran my actinic supplement lighting, and over the last 4 days or so I have noticed that the purple is not as nice and the skirts have turned a brownish color. The lighting I have on my tank right now is a single Hamilton 14k SE 250 although the corals seem OK they are not as nice as they were and don't look as "happy" as they did.

I honestly think the purple of the PDs is or could be perpetuated by the use of actinic lighting, I have been doing some reading on actinic lighting getting ready for my new lights and I honestly think the problem with browning might be that those that have had the issue with browning of PDs is because they don't have enough actinic lighting and the polyps start to turn brown due to the changes of lighting that they go from to the lighting that they are now in.....
I know the 14k puts out some actinic spectrum but my tank is getting no where near the amount that it once did and I have seen changes in my PD polyps.....Just a though from personal changes viewed in my own tank with no supplemented actinic lighting....

Those that have had issues with browning please post here with you lighting and lets see if you have any actinic lighting or just MH bulbs with no actinic supplementation.

MarvinsReef · Sep 4, 2007

Azurel said:
I honestly think the purple of the PDs is or could be perpetuated by the use of actinic lighting

my theory is this applies to other corals as well... that's why I'm adding actinic supplementation on my MH only set up..

revhtree · Sep 4, 2007

GREAT thread man!

I tend to agree with you. I have noticed this type of behavior as well with palys and many other corals.

gioNVA · Sep 4, 2007

I run MH only (20K XM 400W on magnetic ballast) and sadly my purple deaths are brown. On my 12g aquapod, my purple deaths are purple but not like the ones in photos I've seen posted.

Btw, i'll send you a pm shortly about purple unknowns.

fishes2889 · Sep 4, 2007

Hmm had mine for about 2 weeks-ish. Under T5's 2 actinic and one daylight bulb and the polyp i have is a brilliant purple, also growing to an adult polyp quickly....

Hey James, didnt you just get some T5's? If so, that would solve your problem if indeed the PD's purple coloration is perpetuated by the use of actinic lighting.

Azurel · Sep 4, 2007

Ig et my new lights on Thursday.....I had 220 watts of VHO actinic untill mid last week, and in the 4-5 days of no supplimentation I have noticed the skirts turning brown......So hopefully I can stop it in time.....

fishes2889 · Sep 4, 2007

Azurel said:
Ig et my new lights on Thursday.....I had 220 watts of VHO actinic untill mid last week, and in the 4-5 days of no supplimentation I have noticed the skirts turning brown......So hopefully I can stop it in time.....

Just make sure you acclimate with some mesh sheets or something. I have to acclimate corals to my T5's, or they bleach.

Azurel · Sep 4, 2007

O am going to have them raised up and slowly lower them, as I don't have a canopy yet. I will be making me one by the time the corals acclimate, I figure 2-3 weeks should be good.....Both bulbs are actinic and once they acclimate and I get the canopy I am changing one out with a Geismann Aqua blue +....Then I will see how the PDs react and see if the change is permanent or they change back...

fishes2889 · Sep 4, 2007

cool yo, you're gonna love the T5's, colors will really pop on your rics...

kenske · Sep 4, 2007

Im gonna go with Azurel's theory on this one b/c:

When i got mine about a month ago, it had brownish skirts and the disc is not all that purple. The reefer i got it from had only MH lighting over his frag tank. Now a month later, under 150 watt MH and 2 x 24 watt blue.actinic lighting, the Paly is actually purple, just like the pics posted by other PD owners.

jonbar1 · Sep 5, 2007

When I switched from stock lighting on my aquapod to the 70w SunPod I noticed a lot of my corals lost their vibrance...until I added a 40w dual actinic bulb to the mix. 70w "14K" bulbs are basically 6700K bulbs IME so I think you are right. My PDs during that time were always brown, and didn't obtain their brilliant purple color until they went into another tank that was only lit by a 150w Phoenix 14K bulb. They still appear a duller purple when viewed from the side of the tank, but glow purple when viewed from above.

Kigs! · Sep 5, 2007

I'm currently running 250w 14k phoenix with no actinic supplementation. I've noticed that it becomes brown when exposed to higher amount of light, and regains the deep purple coloration when I put them under areas of indirect lighting or on the sandbed.