Digi losing color

[Smokey]

I have a forest fire digi in my tank that has been losing color over the last couple of weeks as well as having less polyp extension. It has been in the tank for a couple of months now and is still growing fine, just getting pale. I have other sps in the tank that are doing great, like a green stag and a yellow tenius and they both have fantastic color and pe. The tank is a 40B, temp is 78, no ammonia, nitrites, or nitrate. SG is 1.025, ph is 8.2. Ca is 470, alk is 11.2 and mag is 1480. I know the cal and alk are high, but haven't really fluctuated in the months Ive had the digi. My lights are a chinese led. about 19" from the highest tip of the digi. I have a screen over the tank to dim the light a bit as I had an ORA blue Voodoo bleach out from too much light. You guys have any ideas? Should I try more light?

Thanks

 

[Smiley]

what are your phosphates at?

Digi can handle lower light... so no need for more..... when you say "losing color", what do you mean? is it browning out or bleaching out?

 

[Smokey]

Digi losing color

I have to get a phos test kit and see, so not sure right now. I guess you could almost say bleaching but it hasn't been quick at all like some I have had in the past. Here are before and after pics. The time difference is about 2 months

The tissue has gone from nice green to a pale green, the polyps are more pale and less extended.

 

[Smiley]

looks to me like it has a lot of nice growth and a little bleached out from the lights... IMO i'd leave it alone.... is the first pic right when you got the coral? Kinda looks like the first pic is a new frag that was in a shaded area...

 

[ReefCheif]

Might be light, I see it sitting in the sand bad. That bad boy wants some light!

Im no expert in how corals color up, soplease dont eat me up for what Im about to say, as its probably the most basic explanation I could ever give, but i know it has something to do with unusable light spectrums and things like that. Corals take in the spectrum they want and "reflect" out what they dont want, this creates the color (I believe) you see, I could be completley wrong here and if I am I hope someone will chime in.

Generally if levels are off your SPS will simply bleach out and die off, turn bright white and no pe, beucase yours still has color and pe Im assuming its the light, have you tried moving it up the stack? Seems your other SPS are a bit higher up (based on the photo), you might try this.

 

[ReefCheif]

I have a question? In the first pic, to the left of the coral in question I see what appears to be another bleached out mille? What happened there?

 

[Smokey]

Digi losing color

Well right now I have a screen over the tank to dim the light down. I did this because I got an ORA blue voodoo stag and even though it was 2/3 down the tank, it bleached out because I didn't acclimate it well enough (I'm guessing). I can start giving the tank more time without the screen until I can just take it off completely. Think I should try that?

 

[Smokey]

Digi losing color

That was a tenius that RTNed just after I added it to the tank.

 

[ReefCheif]

Did you switch from MH to LED? Or some other type light to LED? If so how long ago?

 

[Smokey]

Digi losing color

I have had LEDs on this tank since day one. The voodoo stag was under T5 and everything else was under MH, that's the only reason I've dimmed down the lights

 

[Dbarnes]

Re: Digi losing color

Same prob i had wit LEDs. It looks bleached to me.. it likely getting to much light where it was if it continues to STN i would highly suggest fragging it prior to the whole coral being consumed

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