Acro changing color

[Dive_Master]

My acro had changed color from light brown to very dark brown and the purple tips changed to white since i bought it.

Otherwise she is turning a little green (just a tint) all over.

The water parameters are fine!

Is it the light or the nutirents?

I have had a small outbreak of Cyno for the last month.

Nitrates are less than 5 ppm.

She is in the top 1/3 of the tank under 250 MH.

What can it be?

[Reefland]

Do the tips appear to be lacking tissue? if not, usually white tips are a sign of growth. Color change is also normal and will vary under different lighting and in different conditions. I wouldn;t worry to much about it unless it looks like the tips have no tissue on them.

[Dive_Master]

Tips definitely have tissue on them.

She is growing. I just liked the purple tips. She is turning from brown to green.

My montipora frag turned brown from Purple and has doubled in size. She is on the bottom of the 75 gallon tank.

I am thinking of bringing her up a little. I like the purple look.

[Reefland]

If you do make sure you do it slowly.

Many other factors impact color. Make sure nitrates stay low and alkalinity and calcium stay balanced.

[kevinpo]

IME lighting intensity and spectrum have the biggest impact on coral coloration. Acropora species are the most likely to have a very wide range of color. They can change color very easily even well established colonies can turn completely brown from just replacing bulbs for up to 6 months (I know, it happened to me). What I do is try to duplicate the light (spectrum and intensity) that the coral came from as close as I can. Sometimes this is impossible so I just place the coral in a low light spot for a week and then start moving it up in about 6" increments each week. When I get it to the place I would like to keep it. I leave it there for 3-4 weeks. Normally that is the length of time to reach the color it is going to be in that spot.

As a rule of thumb if you want the color to be lighter move it into higher light and if you want to darken the coral move into lower light.

HTH,
Kevin