why is my chalice changing colors

[nanonøkk]

ok so i have a red chalice with green eyes but recently it’s been turning a light blue is it bleaching and should i move it

 

[MohrReefs]

Mine has gone from florescent yellow and teal to brown and teal, following.

 

[JoshB94]

Could be anything from parameters/nutrients to lighting. I had a green chalice turn into purple striped and another shade of green in a different tank. I've experienced it with most all types of my corals both for better and worse.

 

[nanonøkk]

Could be anything from parameters/nutrients to lighting. I had a green chalice turn into purple striped and another shade of green in a different tank. I've experienced it with most all types of my corals both for better and worse.

could it be because my new light is way better than my old one because my old light had 18 watts but the new one has 44 but it’s in the same place as were it was with my old light

 

[Albertan22]

Mine has gone from florescent yellow and teal to brown and teal, following.

Corals browning is typically from not enough light and/or high phosphate levels.

 

[Albertan22]

could it be because my new light is way better than my old one because my old light had 18 watts but the new one has 44 but it’s in the same place as were it was with my old light

Yes that’s quite possible. Did you just switch the lights or did you do any kind of acclimation? Starting the new light fairly low then ramping up over the course of 2-4 weeks would be best. Maybe consider either turning the light down for awhile or moving the coral lower in the tank.

 

[nanonøkk]

Yes that’s quite possible. Did you just switch the lights or did you do any kind of acclimation? Starting the new light fairly low then ramping up over the course of 2-4 weeks would be best. Maybe consider either turning the light down for awhile or moving the coral lower in the tank.

the light has been on acclamation mode for the last week or so it’s on 60% right now and the coral started off as a rusty brown red and now it turning to a blue/light blue

 

[Albertan22]

the light has been on acclamation mode for the last week or so it’s on 60% right now and the coral started off as a rusty brown red and now it turning to a blue/light blue

I’d keep an eye on it then. If it was a brownish colour before then it might just not have had enough light and is “colouring up” to its natural colours. Keep a close eye for signs of bleaching. Bleaching is when it goes white, but you can see the tissue is still there and alive (at first).

 

[nanonøkk]

I’d keep an eye on it then. If it was a brownish colour before then it might just not have had enough light and is “colouring up” to its natural colours. Keep a close eye for signs of bleaching. Bleaching is when it goes white, but you can see the tissue is still there and alive (at first).

ok i’ll keep watching it and it’s still eating healthy but someone said it looked like a alien eye chalice and it looks to be turning the color of one

 

[PicassoClown04]

Chalice are notorious for changing colors on you. I had a very nice purple one that eventually morphed to hot pink with lavender stripes then to a middle blue color, I think nutrients in the water has a lot to do with it as well as the other stuff like lighting and health of the coral

 

[nanonøkk]

Chalice are notorious for changing colors on you. I had a very nice purple one that eventually morphed to hot pink with lavender stripes then to a middle blue color, I think nutrients in the water has a lot to do with it as well as the other stuff like lighting and health of the coral

ok so could it just be the switch in lighting

 

[living_tribunal]

ok so i have a red chalice with green eyes but recently it’s been turning a light blue is it bleaching and should i move it

I’ve had chalices change tint. Sometimes chalices may grow in darker/heavier blue tanks and have darker tints. When you add them to higher uv tanks they changed colors.

You’ll know if it’s bleaching or not if the tissue looks more like a pastel color and the color is inconsistent among the tissue with fading transitions. Any color transitions in chalices should be strong shifts for rainbows/multicolored chalices.

One thing to note, when chalices are forming new eyes, they will develop white circular spots all over. These look like white blotches which will then develop the color of the usual eyes. If that matches your case, don’t be afraid, the dude is just growing.

 

[nanonøkk]

I’ve had chalices change tint. Sometimes chalices may grow in darker/heavier blue tanks and have darker tints. When you add them to higher uv tanks they changed colors.

You’ll know if it’s bleaching or not if the tissue looks more like a pastel color And the color is inconsistent among the tissue with fading transitions. Any color transitions in chalices should be strong shifts for rainbows/multicolored chalices.

One thing to note, when chalices are forming new eyes, they will develop white circular spots all over. These look like white blotches which will then develop the color of the usual eyes. If that matches your case, don’t be afraid, the dude is just growing.

yea i see some new eyes growing but they are like a green color and it’s like a bluish purple around a small bit of red in the middle right now as of color

 

[living_tribunal]

yea i see some new eyes growing but they are like a green color and it’s like a bluish purple around a small bit of red in the middle right now as of color

Then I'd say you're good! Some chalices can really change colors initially. I always find it fun when you get a so/so coral and then it just transforms over time to something very appealing.

 

[nanonøkk]

Then I'd say you're good! Some chalices can really change colors initially. I always find it fun when you get a so/so coral and then it just transforms over time to something very appealing.

yea i think it might just be finally settling in because a month ago i never saw any feeder tentacles or any sweepers and now i’m starting to see them

 

[MohrReefs]

Corals browning is typically from not enough light and/or high phosphate levels.

Doubt its light, phos would make sense since I just had to clean a ton of hair algae. Just got some phosguard. Hope it will help.

 

[living_tribunal]

Doubt its light, phos would make sense since I just had to clean a ton of hair algae. Just got some phosguard. Hope it will help.

Phosphate levels would not cause a coral to change it's colors unless phosphate levels were too low. In that case, the coral would bleach. Certainly wouldn't have the same impact as lights would if it did.

 

[Albertan22]

Phosphate levels would not cause a coral to change it's colors unless phosphate levels were too low. In that case, the coral would bleach. Certainly wouldn't have the same impact as lights would if it did.

I’m not sure where you’re getting your information, but any basic search of corals browning out will give results indicating that elevated nutrients leads to browning coral. Here is one of the first citations that pop up on Google: https://saltwateraquariumadvice.com/2017/02/make-corals-more-colorful/

 

[living_tribunal]

I’m not sure where you’re getting your information, but any basic search of corals browning out will give results indicating that elevated nutrients leads to browning coral. Here is one of the first citations that pop up on Google: https://saltwateraquariumadvice.com/2017/02/make-corals-more-colorful/

The article in question makes many generalizations that aren't very accurate. Zooxanthellae densities for corals in low nitrate/high phosphate conditions is nearly identical to those under high nitrate/high phosphate replete conditions.

Furthermore, most every other major biomarker is very close when comparing normal nutrient levels to those of corals under high phosphate conditions:

In this study, what they found was that zoox densities under high phosphate conditions are able to maintain chemically balanced while and normal functional photosynthesis. So while sure, there are slightly less densities when your N/P is heavily skewed towards phosphate enrichment, the impact is minimal.

The response I made was to point out that light intensity should be the first place to check, not phosphate levels. As light intensity is the more likely suspect. This is supported by another NCBI article:

"The caramel brown colour of corals, in the absence of strong host pigments, epilithic algae and colour in the skeleton, is a product of both the density of the symbiotic dinoflagellates (family Symbiodiniaceae, LaJeunesse, et al.28) and concentration of their primary photosynthetic and accessory pigments. The majority of the pigments are associated with the peridinin-chlorophyll a-protein (PCP) complex29,30 including chlorophyll a (with absorption greatest at 435–440 nm and 670–680 nm), chlorophyll c2 (450–460 nm) and the carotenoid, peridinin (478–500 nm)31. For all species the deep brown pigmentation was caused by high pigment concentration per algal cell and for A. millepora, P. damicornis and Porites lobata/lutea by higher symbiont density. The higher algal pigment concentration is consistent with the photoacclimatory responses described previously for dinoflagellates29,32,33 and in symbiotic dinoflagellates in symbiosis with corals, is considered to be a mechanism to increase light absorptivity under progressive light limitation34–39."

Sources:
Responses of Corals to Chronic Turbidity
Phosphate deficiency promotes coral bleaching and is reflected by the ultrastructure of symbiotic dinoflagellates

 

[Albertan22]

@living_tribunal You will note that my initial response listed low light as a leading cause for browning. Your article confirms this but doesn’t disprove the common thought that high phosphate also causes browning. You argue that the zoox maintain normal photosynthesis under high phosphate, but the argument about browning isn’ that photosynthesis is being reduced. In fact, it is that it is accelerated. This is why it’s a response to low light. The bar chart that you posted shows density of zoos at 5x that of the low nutrient samples, which cooberates the theory that high nutrients leads to overproduction of zoox. I fail to see how your literature disproves the commonly held assumption that high nutrients can lead to browning.