Whay Are My Zoanthids Losing Their Color?

[Sea Turtle]

I purchased some Bule Orgasmic Zoanthids about 3 months ago from my LFS. They were in beautiful shape, deep blue in color with chocolate hairs around them. As soon as I put them into my tank, they lost all their color. They are now a sky blue in color and the hairs are a light orange/brown. I know that my water parimiters are very good. I have lots of sps and lps, clams, fish, and inverts in the tank and they are all doing very well. It's just these Zoanthids. They seem to be growing ok, it's just that their color has faded. The guy at the lfs told me to put them closer to the light so I did, and there has been no change. I have 300w MH. What could be causing this? How do I get the color back in them? Has anyone had this problem before? I keep my calcium levels around 400, alk at 7-9, ph at 8.2, temp at 79-80F, salinity at 1.025-1.026, I have not checked Mag recently but I am sure it is around 1400. What could it be??? I realy loved the color of them in the store and now their ugly. I also use RO/DI water.

Thanks.

 

[ben1987]

try putting them lower in the tank. Zoo's dont tend to want much light.

 

[Sea Turtle]

try putting them lower in the tank. Zoo's dont tend to want much light.

I was under the impression that the more intense the light, the brighter the coloring?? Also, they were about 6 inches under a 400w MH in the LFS. I don't think that this is the problem.

 

[ben1987]

i was under the impression that th more intensed coloured zoo's wer those that thrived under lower light levels. Plus you dont know how long they had been in the LFS. I may be wrong, but worth a go

 

[Sea Turtle]

i was under the impression that th more intensed coloured zoo's wer those that thrived under lower light levels. Plus you dont know how long they had been in the LFS. I may be wrong, but worth a go

OK, I'll give it a try tonight. Do you think maybe it should be in the shade or just on the bottom?

 

[ben1987]

i would try on the bottom in a mid light area. Im usre intense light can bleech corals.
Also what K rating are your bulbs? if the ones in the fish shop were higher than yours it would look more blue

 

[Sea Turtle]

i would try on the bottom in a mid light area. Im usre intense light can bleech corals.
Also what K rating are your bulbs? if the ones in the fish shop were higher than yours it would look more blue

They are 10000k but I have the 200watts of Blue actinic lighting as well. I will try it out and see if that works. I am sure that it probably is the lighting but I also worry that it might be something in the water that I am overlooking.

Thanks.

 

[Colin_T]

I purchased some Bule Orgasmic Zoanthids about 3 months ago from my LFS. They were in beautiful shape, deep blue in color with chocolate hairs around them. As soon as I put them into my tank, they lost all their color.

if they lost their colour within a day of going into your tank, then they bleached. Bleaching is where the coral is stressed to a point they shed their symbiotic zooxanthellae (coloured algae) and go white. Over time they can recapture new algae but they don't always end up the same colour. Often they catch brown or green zooxanthellae and end up brown or green.
As a general rule if corals fade in colour over a course of weeks or months, it is caused by lack of light or poor water quality. Their colour can also vary depending on the colour of the light. The shop might have been using a light with more blue in and this gave the appearance of more intense blue coloured corals.

 

[Sea Turtle]

I purchased some Bule Orgasmic Zoanthids about 3 months ago from my LFS. They were in beautiful shape, deep blue in color with chocolate hairs around them. As soon as I put them into my tank, they lost all their color.

if they lost their colour within a day of going into your tank, then they bleached. Bleaching is where the coral is stressed to a point they shed their symbiotic zooxanthellae (coloured algae) and go white. Over time they can recapture new algae but they don't always end up the same colour. Often they catch brown or green zooxanthellae and end up brown or green.
As a general rule if corals fade in colour over a course of weeks or months, it is caused by lack of light or poor water quality. Their colour can also vary depending on the colour of the light. The shop might have been using a light with more blue in and this gave the appearance of more intense blue coloured corals.

So are you saying that they will never be that deep blue calor ever again?

 

[Colin_T]

sometimes they get their old colour back but other times they don't. If they still have the same colours as originally, just lighter, then they should go back to the old deep blue colour when the problem is sorted out.

 

[Sea Turtle]

sometimes they get their old colour back but other times they don't. If they still have the same colours as originally, just lighter, then they should go back to the old deep blue colour when the problem is sorted out.

OK, great! I'll go ahead and try to move them to a slightly shaded area for a week or two and see if that helps them out at all. I do know that the light it was under at the store was very bright. 400w MH and they were a few inches below the water surface. Let's hope this works. I am so upset over this. I was so excited to get these home into my tank because of the awsome color an now their yuk!!!

 

[Sea Turtle]

I think that I may have found my answer Here

 

[Colin_T]

how did that link help you find the answer?

 

[Sea Turtle]

how did that link help you find the answer?

It says that they have a deep blue color under low light and a bright sky blue under high intensity light. Maybe because it is under the high light, that's why it's sky blue. I took Bens advice and moved it lower down. It already seems to have opened a bit more. Might just work!!

 

[Colin_T]

cool