# Mushrom corals turn brown redish color - need help.



## jasno999 (Oct 16, 2006)

Mushrom corals turn brown redish color - need help.

Ok here is the problem. This has now happend 2 times where I have purchased green mushroom corals at the store and after being in my tank for 1-2 weeks the corals have bsically turned a brownish color that has a little bit of red to it.

I have no idea what is going on and I am tryign to figure out what the heck is causing this. I am looking for input from everybody as to why thsi would happen.

Details:

At the store the tank had a halogen light over the corals that they prbably move daily or weekly. SO the coral was not directly under this light but was reciving that light on a angle. (store is called thatpetplace)

My tank is a small 10 gallon tank that has a 96W powerquad light on it with a 50/50 floursent bulb on it. I am currently running a phosban reacto with phosphate remove in it so my phosphate levels are low. I have a high nutriuent load because I have not done water changes as often as I should be. I will be doign them more often in the near future. Other than that my other levels are within acceptable limits....

Looking for advice/input.


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## mesapod (Aug 18, 2007)

You should probably post this in the General Saltwater forum. This is the General Freshwater forums.


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Nonetheless, it's pretty obvious what is happening.
A 96-watt 50/50 over a 10 gallon tank will turn any coral brown. 
The shock of being moved so suddenly to such a brightly lit tank is making your corals get sunburns, as it were, and they are protecting themselves. The zooxanthellae algae in their cells are getting supercharged and going crazy, and this is irritating the coral, which is in turn producing sunblocking pigments. Eventually you may see the return of other colors; many corals get different colored pigments added later after they recover from the initial shock. The brown is usually caused by the zooxanthellae bloom, and the later colors are the coral's own pigments.


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## fishboy689 (Jul 16, 2008)

Try 40-50 watts, Im not the best at saltwater but 96-watts is to much..

Fish and chips anyone?


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## jasno999 (Oct 16, 2006)

Ok I did a full tank change- meaning I pulled out all the LF and coral and put it in a new 10 gallon tank with new sand. So my water quality should be great.

Thinking more about my lights I am still a bit confused. I am actually starting to beleive the opposite of what some have said. I think I have too much lighting in my tank. I have a 96W bulb with 2 10K tubes and 2 Atnic tubes. So with that wattage over a 10 gallon tank and that amount of atnic the corals should be gettign more than enough light and more than enough in the atnic range.

So I am starting to htink that the mushrooms are losing coor because the lights are too intense.... What do you guys think?


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## trashion (Aug 24, 2007)

Uh...is this 10 gallon cycled?


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## MaelStrom (Jun 24, 2007)

jasno999 said:


> Ok I did a full tank change- meaning I pulled out all the LF and coral and put it in a new 10 gallon tank with new sand. So my water quality should be great.
> 
> Thinking more about my lights I am still a bit confused. I am actually starting to beleive the opposite of what some have said. I think I have too much lighting in my tank. I have a 96W bulb with 2 10K tubes and 2 Atnic tubes. So with that wattage over a 10 gallon tank and that amount of atnic the corals should be gettign more than enough light and more than enough in the atnic range.
> 
> So I am starting to htink that the mushrooms are losing coor because the lights are too intense.... What do you guys think?


Did you read TheOldSalt's post?


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## jasno999 (Oct 16, 2006)

Yup- I beleive he is correct. Not sure if I should downgrade lighting or just put the mushrooms in a shaded area. Not sure what the best solution is. I would liek the one that is the least expensive if possiable. 

I semi shaded the mushroom but I may need to do the same for a new riccordia I just got. I would liek to see the awsome colors instead of havign everyhtign turn a brown or red-ish color.


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