Browning Digi

[kkiel02]

My german blue digi has slowly browned out over the last month or so. It receives high light being right under my 250w mh but the bulbs need replacing I know. My Calcium has been high around 500 or so. It hasnt effected any corals and growth has been regular so I dont know if this would be a problem. All my other tests(ph, phosphate, nitrite, nitrate, ammonia) were on par I think with the kh being on the higher side at around 10 dKH. My temp gets around 81-82 during the day. It gets fairly high flow being in front of a koralia 4. My purple digi also browned out but it gets low light and I am pretty sure that is why. Any ideas?

Oh and it has been growing like crazy through all of this.

[hobogato]

i would put money on the alkalinity. montis seem to brown very easily with an alk change

[kkiel02]

I will keep testing the alk and see what happens. I think it has been around that high for awhile as I dont dose anything just do my 10 gallon weekly water changes. Magnesium will drop my calcium and alk correct? I think I remember reading that they all balanced each other out...

Edit- Will I see the color come back or once its gone is it gone for good?

[hobogato]

it should recover once you fix what ever caused it.

[corydrysdale]

I was told to try Chromplex since it has carotonoids (spelling) to help it color up faster.

[justahobby]

My experience w/ browning blue digis: I've noticed blue digis will brown out for an undetermined amount of time after moving to a new tank, vodka dosing, and bad bulbs. I've recently learned that purple digis are extremely prone to browning out. One of our sponsors shared a story w/ me about his trip to pick out corals in Cali. There were all these vivid purple digis that no one was picking. So he grabbed some and well... he tried every type of lighting imaginable and it still browned out.


Here's a list of possible nutrient deficiencies and ways to boost coloring:
http://reefbuilders.com/2008/09/03/g...-vivid-bright/

[kkiel02]

Justin my Teal digi is actually from that same sponsor. I thought I would buy it to see if I could get it to color back and it seems to be slowly making a come back. Ill grab some chromoplex next time Im at the store and see if that helps. I also need to order the new bulbs and see if that helps.