2x daylight 54 watt each and 2 actinic 54 watt each 218 total watts 72 bowfront T5 lighting recently 12 hours a day actinic and 10 hours daylight Some of my corals are transparent and I don't know why is it to little light or do they need special vitamins or what? they split they open they do everything except have the right color
why is some of my corals transparent
- Thread starter Dragonyc
- Start date
- Location
- Selden, LI
Sounds like not enough light but some detaisl would help..
Specific names of corals
water parameters
How far are they from the bulbs
Specific names of corals
water parameters
How far are they from the bulbs
mainly hammers and frogspawns middle of tank to top of tank water parameters are all 0 except phos don't have a kit for that my ph is 8.2 salinity is 1.024 this pic is of a frogspawn I fragged off main colony yesterday thats why it's in the sand
Last edited:
- Location
- New Rochelle
How do corals get their color?
Most coral polyps have clear bodies. Their skeletons are white, like human bones. They generally get their color from the zooxanthellae that live inside their tissues. Several million zooxanthellae live in just one square inch of coral and produce pigments. These pigments are visible through the clear body of the polyp and give the coral its beautiful color.
http://www.coralreefalliance.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=62&Itemid=0
Coral reef bleaching, the whitening of diverse invertebrate taxa, results from the loss of symbiotic zooxantheallae and/or a reduction in photosynthetic pigment concentrations in zooxanthellae residing within scleractinian corals. Coral reef bleaching is caused by various anthropogenic and natural variations in the reef environment including sea temperature, solar irradiance, sedimentation, xenobiotics, subaerial exposure, inorganic nutrients, freshwater dilution, and epizootics.
http://www.marinebiology.org/coralbleaching.htm
Most coral polyps have clear bodies. Their skeletons are white, like human bones. They generally get their color from the zooxanthellae that live inside their tissues. Several million zooxanthellae live in just one square inch of coral and produce pigments. These pigments are visible through the clear body of the polyp and give the coral its beautiful color.
http://www.coralreefalliance.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=62&Itemid=0
Coral reef bleaching, the whitening of diverse invertebrate taxa, results from the loss of symbiotic zooxantheallae and/or a reduction in photosynthetic pigment concentrations in zooxanthellae residing within scleractinian corals. Coral reef bleaching is caused by various anthropogenic and natural variations in the reef environment including sea temperature, solar irradiance, sedimentation, xenobiotics, subaerial exposure, inorganic nutrients, freshwater dilution, and epizootics.
http://www.marinebiology.org/coralbleaching.htm
- Location
- New Rochelle
Do you add ro\di water to top off directly to the tank daily? No expert, but from reading what I posted above, that could be a factor.
Interesting article, however, zooxanthellae don't produce pigments. The coral itself does. The amount of zooxanthellae present in the coral will influence how much of the pigment we see.
From what I've read some corals use their pigment to both protect themselves from UV and limit the growth of zooxanthellae, as well, as exposing the zooxanthellae and allowing them to reproduce when necessary. However, there are other factors that contribute to coral coloration.
In regards to your question - sudden changes in water chemistry can also have a similar effect - whitening of tissue. Have there been any rapid/large changes in the tank's alkalinity or pH? Also... were the corals ever colorful? Your frogspawn looks fine - not all morphs have colored tips. Did they lose their color or not "color up?" Your lighting is a little on the low side for keeping certain LPS considering the depth of the tank, but not horrible, especially if placed high up (top third of tank). I keep pink tipped frogspawn off to one side in a 29g with 130 watts of 50/50 compact fluorescent lighting without any difficulty and continue to see great growth and color.
In regards to your question - sudden changes in water chemistry can also have a similar effect - whitening of tissue. Have there been any rapid/large changes in the tank's alkalinity or pH? Also... were the corals ever colorful? Your frogspawn looks fine - not all morphs have colored tips. Did they lose their color or not "color up?" Your lighting is a little on the low side for keeping certain LPS considering the depth of the tank, but not horrible, especially if placed high up (top third of tank). I keep pink tipped frogspawn off to one side in a 29g with 130 watts of 50/50 compact fluorescent lighting without any difficulty and continue to see great growth and color.
- Location
- Flushing NY 11355
Coral protect themselves from UV using a sunscreen much like our sun screen lotion, hence transparent. The amount of algae, as you say, does has a function of the color of the coral. The type of algae coral retain in their body due to different temperature, lighting also plays a part.
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