Green slimer mutant coral?

[alasg001]

Ok I got this 1 inch green slimer frag back in May, and it was a nice green color then. The only thing is that it was mounted on its side which bothered me bunches. It began growing branches and things looked to be doing great. It's skin color slowly began to change to an orange color where the new growth was with green highlights but it kept the green polps. I thought it was rather nice. The orange then spread to a majority of the body. Then around the base in small spots it started to lighten and in some places it slowly turned white, and I assumed it was bleaching. Well I decided to leave it alone because the rest of it still kept its orange/green colors and it was still showing new growth. Well over the past couple weeks now the white areas are turning bluish in color and it looks to be moving to more areas and becoming more prounced in color. Anyone else ever seen this happen to a green slimer? Its now blue in certain spots of the base then orange skin and green polps. The blue even shows slight shades of purple. I wonder if I am sitting on a goldmine? Hahaha! Maybe I can tag it as Freakzilla Acropora. FYI it is keep it under MH lighting. You can see a pic of it in the pink birdnest frag in the donation area. It is showing more blue now than is in the picture. Sorry for the bad pic.

[texmex]

Wow that does look pretty cool I am new to this hobby so if it is normal I couldnt tell you I also live in belton I didnt know there was anyone else on here from this hole in the wall.

[Joshua]

Sounds pretty awesome, time for a frag party!!!! :P

[bimmerzs]

Hi,
The frag being mounted on it's side actually seems to better as it branches out from each end and shoots additional branches off from there. It sounds like you may have something other than a green slimer, the coral cold have been off color in the tank you received it from and mis-identified. Good to see you getting awesome coloration non the less. Post up a pic for us to see.

Cheers,

[alasg001]

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp327/alasg001/corals/DSC02755.jpg?t=1224874047

[alasg001]

I know that a bunch of you have purple coraline, but a lot of mine seems to be of a pink hue. can that be an indicator of color changes for corals? My silver bullet prostrata(not sure of spelling) is of a toraquois color. I was wondering if that is the normal color also because it has changed colors since aquiring the frag.

[Joshua]

The greens on the base of that frag look like that green algae that takes over the skeleton when the tissue dies. As for mounting sideways that's the way I prefer to do it also, they seem to branch out a lot more like that.

[bimmerzs]

I know that a bunch of you have purple coraline, but a lot of mine seems to be of a pink hue. can that be an indicator of color changes for corals? My silver bullet prostrata(not sure of spelling) is of a toraquois color. I was wondering if that is the normal color also because it has changed colors since aquiring the frag.

There are different types/colors of coralline algae, depending on depth/origin of LR etc. Your lighting can also play a factor not only in the types of coralline that grow and spread, but also "how it appears to the eye". Are you sure the coralline didn't die back(exposed to air and turn white) and you are just seeing the actinic's color. Also realize that coral colorations usually do change to some degree depending on the tank it's in......each tank is different, lighting is different, nutrient levels are different etc., etc. The base of the frag in the pic does look like recession but it's hard to tell, the blue area could also be bleached and actinic's could be making it appear blue. There are blue slimers but I don't think they start out green.

Cheers,

[alasg001]

If you look at the picture there is no coral growth in the area of the base that is facing towards you. All the growth at the base is on the opposite side of the picture where my powerhead blows directly on the coral frag. The frag seems to be growing towards the direction of the powerhead. All of the new growth (on the opposite side of the picture) is orange with green polps and can be seen in the picture. The new growth covers that whole side of the aragonite frag disk. The blue is at the branches and starting to show in the center where the branches originate. There seems to be different colors of coraline alga growing on the frag disk of different shades from green, red, purple, and pink, but none of it is growing on the coral itself. There is no die off, or die back on that coral. Green polps extend both day and night. I have had the frag for a good while and it has never left that spot or been out of the water since its introduction. It started out as an inch long piece. I never touch the rock it sits on because it has some of my favorite items on it and it is in a position where everything seems happy . The blue colors on the coral show with all actinics off and the areas that contain the blue color can still be noticed with ambient light from the room. I wish I had a better way to take clear close ups but my digital camera seems to not be able to focus on things not close to the glass and not become whited out from the lights even with the flash off. I am not sorry if you dont believe what I am writing here, but if you really need proof we can schedule a time for you to see it in person.

[Submariner]

Had the same problem taking pictures in my tank. Try using the macro settings.

[Texreefer]

from that pic I would say that frag is in trouble, it may just be the Pic but it looks like dead skeleton and an overabundance of phosphates in the system.. looks like your digitata is looking good

[alasg001]

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp327/alasg001/DSC02786.jpg?t=1225000475

[Joshua]

I retract my comments from earlier, looks like the green is just green tissue. Good! It doesn't look like a slimer though.