Red Gracilaria turning white

I bought some red gracilaria from reefcleaners, 3 portions worth, and they were pretty deep red. Threw them in the fuge and now they are turning white. Not like a light red white, but just plain white. Would you suggest this means they are dieing? Any chance of bringing them back?

All I have on the fuge right now is one 100 watt bulb. And its on all the time.

Thanks!

 

Wow, following. I have the same issue with some gracilaria I got from RC as well. My chaeto and mangroves are doing ok, it's just the gracilaria that bleached. Mine are under 6x39w T5, in a holding box, since my fuge isn't up yet.

 

I just read John's email that said my lighting is too bright and it likely shocked the grac.

 

From my experiences, Red anything should be in a subdued lighting or shaded, and any brighter lighting will bleach it. A single 100 watt bulb shouldn't, but blackravens lights would most definitely bleach it.

Case in point, I had some red Grac that was pulled down under a rock by my pistol shrimp, it's growing and bright red, the red grac that was in the light is now a pinkish color and isn't showing any signs of growth. The lighting I have is a 4 blub T5, 30", even less than your 6 bulb fixture.

This might not hold true with other types of lighting (MH or LED).

 

That's interesting. I had a red grape kelp a while ago that grew like mad under the 6x39w fixture, with slightly worse bulbs. It only "died" because my snails decided to eat it in the span of about a week. I still have leaders in the rock, but they never get to grow out.

 

Good to know. Mine hasn't grown one bit since I put it in the fuge and I only have one of those curly fluorescent bulbs in there. My chaeto does great, but the gracilaria doesn't. I just put it under the shade of my chaeto. We'll see how it does there. Thanks for the tips guys!!

- Mag.

 

So if the red gracilaria turns white does that mean its dead? Or will it eventually come back if the water perimeters are somewhat ok?

 

I can say that a small bit of living algae can easily grow back into a large portion, given the right conditions.