New Frags Arrived

[FragOutpost]

I received some frags from drmaccorals.com today. Great company to deal with. I would purchase from them again. Photos were taken shortly after acclimation.

[D12monkey]

:eek: :eek: WOW :cool: Me want some :D How much did you spend on all that?

[FragOutpost]

Too much, but hey, what better way to blow your tax return. :D

I ordered the frag pack #2 that consisted of 8 ultra color acros for $129 and a few individual frags that were $25-$45 each.

Once everything grows out I'll post some frags for trading.

[FragOutpost]

In a few weeks I'll post some updated photos to see how much the color shifts under my lights.

[rembranty]

I had thought about ordering from that website next time I order any. Looks like good corals. Occassionally I read some complaints in forums about them but it is usually due to RTN, but seem like good ones to deal with. RTN can happen to anything as it did my first colony which was wild last summer. It was a bad experience for a first time however the Blue Tortuosa I had was nice but just far too slow growing.

[FragOutpost]

I would recommend ordering from Dr. Mac. RTN sucks but it is a gamble you take when ordering frags from anyone. Like you said, RTN can happen to anything despite who you order from. The only drawback to ordering from Dr. Mac was the shipping cost. Shipping alone ran me around $65. A little more than I was expecting but still worth it. Everything arrived exactly when it was supposed to and arrived healthy. So nothing to complain about.

[D12monkey]

You have any update pics now that they've been situated into it's new envirnoment?

[FragOutpost]

They've only been in the tank since last Tuesday. As far as my eyes can tell they look pretty much the same. I would have expected the color to begin to shift by now. As far as I know Dr. Mac grows his frags in a greenhouse then places them under 400 watt 20K XM's before shipping. I expect a pretty good shift in color under my 175 10K's. Since the lights have already turned off for the day I'll try to take some more pics tomorrow for comparison.

[rembranty]

I have been told it takes maybe a month to a year for color change but that is from being browned out.

From other information I had decifered that nutrient level really plays the largest role and I think it was phosphate. It is "fertilizer" for zooxanthallae. Good water will pretty much fix this, grow an algae or something, not Caulepera, it gives off a toxin and becomes a problem from overgrowth. As far as color goes related to light, bleaching is from heavy zooxanthellae loss due to stress(e.g. not acclimating to light) but this can be done at a lower level just to shed some excess zooxanthellae. I read about one "study" and I use that term loosely, they used a bunch of lighting set ups and time amounts from 30 minute sporadically to full 12 hour periods, pretty much lighting did not matter, phosphate was the problem. Now I can back this up too because at a store where I got two corals, both encrusted frags had been there a long time with many others, They all were browned out, not just slightly brown. All but the tips of the Marshall Islands was browned. This was right under VHOs with lights changed frequently and heavily skimmed, but the tank was fed often and it even had algae growing which would clean it up well. After that was the excess zooxanthellae problem is take care of, pigments come into play and sure color can chages and intensity of the coral color seems to with increased light intensity.

[FragOutpost]

I agree that lighting, spectrum and intensity, and nutrient levels play a role in coral coloration. From my own experience when I introduce corals into my tank they usually begin to shift color within the first seven days and usually stabilize after 3-4 weeks. Here is an example - Coral color shift (http://www.fragoutpost.com/forums/showthread.php?p=251)
I have a big ball of chaeto in my fuge to help with nutrient levels.

[D12monkey]

any updates?

[FragOutpost]

The lights have already turned off for the day. Here are a couple of pics taken about a week ago. I had a little more browning than expected on some frags. Will get some more photos as soon as possible.