Will green sps change color?

[KJoFan]

I purchased a couple healthy looking frags at my LFS a little while back, one was a milli, one is a sermantosa, both have good PE, but polyps are...brownish.

The sermantosa has lightened up a bit, but is still decidedly green.

The question is, will these forever be green or is it possible they'll change eventually?

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

What color were they at the LFS?

 

[Waters]

Depends on a lot of different factors such as lighting and nutrients. Both will affect coral color.

 

[Eddie7144]

green sps usually stay green, some yellow ones do turn green. if they are losing color of turning brown, check you're nutrients , do a water change, or try moving them up.

 

[KJoFan]

What color were they at the LFS?

They were green at the LFS.

green sps usually stay green, some yellow ones do turn green. if they are losing color of turning brown, check you're nutrients , do a water change, or try moving them up.

They aren't losing color or turning brown, they are the same as they were when I bought them. It's only been a few weeks, so I don't expect anything major yet anyway. The one, as mentioned, is a lighter green than when I first got it, I believe it gets more light where it is than it probably did at the LFS.

I also have no idea how long the LFS had had them before I purchased.

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

Light intensity usually is the determining factor for color change. I have two PC rainbow frags I recently got from the owner of my LFS after he moved his main display. One is already attached to a rock towards the top of my aquascape and is turning the green color that this acro is known to have around it's base. The other is in a frag rack and is lower than the other piece. The piece on the frag rack is still red with no color change. Both pieces have pretty good PE and are starting to encrust the glue around them. I think if I put the other piece closer to the light, it too would begin turning green.

Overall, the color changing is largely dependent on the species, some of the rainbow variety of millepora are known for their wide color shifts, but most other acros and sps only change by a few shades. It'll just be a waiting game to see what happens with most of them.

 

[BoomCorals]

You honestly won't know until you try a variety of lighting positions and just wait to see. I've had green wild/mariculture pieces that stayed green and I've had some that went from green to adding more and changing to much prettier colors. Some needed less light to do that, and some needed to be pounded with light to do that.

 

[BoomCorals]

Here's an example of one that was brown when I got it, its growing now and turned all green at first, but now is starting to get yellow/blue branches and blue polyps.

 

[Donovan Joannes]

Don't sweat until it start to sprout new branch. Most acros usually have green encrusting base. Light intensity and spectrum will affect coloration too.

 

[kennedpa]

My green sarmentosa is getting some purple to it. It's been about 2 months and it's just starting to give a hint of tabeling out. I can only tell because I watch my tank several times a day everyday.

No need to worry. Let them grow. As the mini colony develops if it stays green try different lighting strategies assuming it's growing well and not just slowly chugging along (unless it's a species known for that) Then it's a game at that point.

 

[kennedpa]

Show us your new sticks!

 

[KJoFan]

Show us your new sticks!

I looked through my pics and really have nothing worth showing. Most are just showing them on the frag rack when they were fresh. They're all mounted now, so maybe I can try to get some pics on the weekend that will do them justice.

 

[kennedpa]

Cool!!

 

[KJoFan]

And that same LFS I purchased from just posted a video of some nice looking colonies they just got in, first time in 2 years they've loaded up on sps colonies. Of course!

 

[kennedpa]

And that same LFS I purchased from just posted a video of some nice looking colonies they just got in, first time in 2 years they've loaded up on sps colonies. Of course!

You don't need them. You have two boxes of brownies coming

 

[KJoFan]

You don't need them. You have two boxes of brownies coming

Probably just one unless a shipping miracle happens.

 

[Ibn]

Sure, let me show you some pics.

This one was purchased as a fresh frag on 7/16/6. It had hints of mint green in it and had a lighter body. Looked interesting enough to take it home.

Same piece earlier this year on 1/4/17.

Here it is today, exactly 1 year later from when I first picked it up (picture was taken yesterday). Pretty close to the same colors as in January, but spread out over a much larger area. Waiting for this to become a true colony to see if it holds its shape.

Some are slower to develop. Here's another piece that was picked up at the same time as the above piece. This was taken on 1/23/17. You can see how green this sucker is compared to the other. I wanted to hold onto this piece to see what happens to it since it had yet to put out any new branches.

One year later (yesterday). New shoots are sprouting and the tips are definitely a different color from the base.

Lastly, here's an ugly brown piece from a different vendor. This pic was shot on 4/27/17, about a month after picking it up. It was even uglier than this prior if you can imagine that.

Almost 4 months later (yesterday). Slowly shedding its ugly duckling look and I'm looking forward to seeing what it eventually colors up to.

 

[kennedpa]

Sure, let me show you some pics.

This one was purchased as a fresh frag on 7/16/6. It had hints of mint green in it and had a lighter body. Looked interesting enough to take it home.

Same piece earlier this year on 1/4/17.

Here it is today, exactly 1 year later from when I first picked it up (picture was taken yesterday). Pretty close to the same colors as in January, but spread out over a much larger area. Waiting for this to become a true colony to see if it holds its shape.

Some are slower to develop. Here's another piece that was picked up at the same time as the above piece. This was taken on 1/23/17. You can see how green this sucker is compared to the other. I wanted to hold onto this piece to see what happens to it since it had yet to put out any new branches.

One year later (yesterday). New shoots are sprouting and the tips are definitely a different color from the base.

Lastly, here's an ugly brown piece from a different vendor. This pic was shot on 4/27/17, about a month after picking it up. It was even uglier than this prior if you can imagine that.

Almost 4 months later (yesterday). Slowly shedding its ugly duckling look and I'm looking forward to seeing what it eventually colors up to.

Love it when these get rescued from the LFS to a great home... Nice work!! Stellar pieces.

 

[cpvince]

Sure, there's a possibility they could change colors. You can also let it grow out a bit and then frag off a small branch to place it in an area with more/less light. Then see if that will have any effect on the coloring.

 

[KJoFan]

The green ones in question (I can't get great pics of them):
Untitled by KJoFan, on Flickr
Untitled by KJoFan, on Flickr