color change

valgae

Member
i have these awesome zoas,yellow w/ yellow mouth(pirate's booty). got a new tank, dimensions didn't change except tnk is 6" longer. i put them in the same spot as before. my problem is that they have changed from pretty yellow to a greenish brown. should i move them higher or more shade? there are also some watermelons on the same rock that have never looked better and are spread. ugh frustrating!


 

reefkprz

Active Member
the greenish brown is the healthy color full of zooxanthellae, the bright yellow was a sickly bleached color lacking the healthy zooxanthellae. they are healthier now than they were before. though not as attractive to your eye a healthier specimen for it.
 

flricordia

Active Member
Lower light will bring them back to color. When zoanthids, corals, any xoozanthellae hosting animal gets too much lighting the xoozanthellae multiply dramatically. One result is that because algae are brown/golden in color the host animal will also appear brownish/golden. Also what can happen when exposed to too much light for extended time is what is known as oxygen poisoning, the host gets too much oxygen as a result of the over producing algae and expells the algae, turning white, though this is rare in zoanthids. Zoanthids are able to adapt and take on a darker coloration keeping the algae from getting too much light. This is what you are seeing, the zoanthid pigments/proteins turning dark, not necessarily darkening from the algae multiplication itself.
Its all relitive. As reefkeeperZ said, they are fine where they are, jsut a different color. Your others are doing better where theya re now so you have to decide which you want, a lighter yellow or a fast growing watermellon.
Any zoanthid can change color to a degree depending on placement to light. That's why we buy zoas that look one color in a pic but when we put them under our lighting they soon change.
Move them to lower light and they should color up again.
 

valgae

Member
well they are already all the way at the bottom, i'll move them closer to the side and see what happens. thx guys.
 
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