sps color morphing

mkzimms

Member
my endeavour into sps is relatively recent (aprox 10 months) so i have a quick question about color morphing. i have a nice size purple acropora nana which has been growing purple since i got it. in the last 2 months or so it has begun to change color. now im seeing a mix of electric purple, green and blue hues on the tips as well as where it has started to encrust on the rock around it. i have changed my bulbs to different color spectrum since ive had the coral but you can clearly see where the old growth is its normal purple and where the change started the new flesh is like multi colored, so i dont believe its the color of the light affecting how i view it. is this a common occurrence or is this thing going through some strange morph. none of my other sps have been affected in this way. this particular coral has been in the tank for about 8 months and i have recognized the change for about the past 2 months.
heres a pic from when it was about a month old, you can see that it was definitely solid purple.

ill try to get a picture showing its new color later tonight.
 

kb338

New Member
that is one cool color.
i'm no expert and have many problems with SPS but I'm pretty sure the different kelvin rating of the bulbs definitely affects color, and rate of growth for that matter.
 

mkzimms

Member
Originally Posted by kb338
http:///forum/post/2876345
that is one cool color.
i'm no expert and have many problems with SPS but I'm pretty sure the different kelvin rating of the bulbs definitely affects color, and rate of growth for that matter.
i can understand the difference kelvin bulbs changing the growth rate but the color in which it grows? like i said, the old flesh looks the same, but the new flesh growing in has the change in color, and definitely not "im dying" color, it seems perfectly healthy. pretty weird.
 

mkzimms

Member
Originally Posted by alix2.0
http:///forum/post/2877228
that acro's sweet!
thank you! ill try to take some more pictures this weekend, i just picked up an atlantis acro symplex, tyree tri-color, a ufo green w/ red polyps monti, dark purple milli with lineage from the my local aquarium... a whole bunch of stuff.
 

gatorwpb

Active Member
the changing colors could actually be a very good sign that your water quality is better than the water it came from. Color changes can take several months to actually occur.
Also, whether its your change of bulbs or not, the same coral can look completely different in two different tanks. there are so many variable, its not just the difference in light.
nice coral and get us a pic of it now!!
 

acroaddict

Member
Originally Posted by mkzimms
http:///forum/post/2876259
my endeavour into sps is relatively recent (aprox 10 months) so i have a quick question about color morphing. i have a nice size purple acropora nana which has been growing purple since i got it. in the last 2 months or so it has begun to change color. now im seeing a mix of electric purple, green and blue hues on the tips as well as where it has started to encrust on the rock around it. i have changed my bulbs to different color spectrum since ive had the coral but you can clearly see where the old growth is its normal purple and where the change started the new flesh is like multi colored, so i dont believe its the color of the light affecting how i view it. is this a common occurrence or is this thing going through some strange morph. none of my other sps have been affected in this way. this particular coral has been in the tank for about 8 months and i have recognized the change for about the past 2 months.
heres a pic from when it was about a month old, you can see that it was definitely solid purple.

ill try to get a picture showing its new color later tonight.
excuse me but i think i can see red bugs on dat photo. i may be wrong but im just tellin u.
 

mkzimms

Member
Originally Posted by AcroAddict
http:///forum/post/2880351
excuse me but i think i can see red bugs on dat photo. i may be wrong but im just tellin u.
can you pull the photo in to ms-paint and try to circle them for me? i havent recognized anything while viewing and maintaining the tank. do you mean red bugs like flatworms?
 

matt b

Active Member
It is not really "morphing". SPS will change color by the bulb and type of lighting. Like if you only had 10k bulbs then you would not see much color at all. If you had 20k with actinics then you would see alot more color. And the color will be different. And same with the type of flow it is in. If it is in alot higher flow it will grow thicker some times. If it is in lower flow it will grow thiner some times. Or the other way around. The type of lighting and flow decide how the coral will look.
 

acroaddict

Member
Originally Posted by mkzimms
http:///forum/post/2880507
can you pull the photo in to ms-paint and try to circle them for me? i havent recognized anything while viewing and maintaining the tank. do you mean red bugs like flatworms?

they are lil yellow/red color bugs. about the size of a dot. if u look close enough youll be able to see them.
 

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
It's fun to keep SpS corals. I hope it all works out for you. I'm in the process of starting my 240 gallon sps dominated barebottom reef tank!
 

mkzimms

Member
i think what your seeing as bugs are just artifacts from the photograph. when i look closely in real life at that coral and all the rest there is nothing like that. thanks for giving me something to keep my eye out for. i did not know something like that existed.
 

steelytom

Member
acroaddict,
Looks like you have an eye for redbugs. I have been lucky with bugs since starting sps. I had the monti eating nudis, but nothing else.
 

mkzimms

Member
does anyone have a scientific name for "red bugs" and any other sps eating things so i can do some research?
 
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