Blue Milli

[grouper25]

I recently got a spectacular aquacultered blue milli from the LFS.
I placed it on the top of the reef, say 8 inches below 2 X250 DE Phoenix 14 K Halides. The PE is great but the blue coloration has faded to more of a whiteish brown......

Wondering if it could one of two things:

(1) My SPS dominated tank has shown increased demands for ALK and Calc lately given my # of frags and I only dose manually. There are times when I come home from work and test only to conclude that ALK is 7 or lower and Calc is 360. I immediately dose which obviously is sub-optimal. Plan to pick up an dual auto dosing system to achieve greater stability this week.
(2)Placement...... Could it be browning out since it is high up in the tank????? Should a blue Milli be placed more towards the bottom?????

Would appreciate your insights........

[Fsurocks99]

As I'm sure you know, most corals' colors are not the same in every tank, but I would try putting it lower about mid way in the tank. And make sure it is in good flow. You may want to try kalkwasser or Randy's Two Part to fix the flunctuating alk and calcium levels because sps need stable levels to grow.

[mark728]

Hi try some of this Potassium Iodide it helped with my blues I had a problem with my blues when I was using reef crystals salt for my old tank when I switched over to Seachem Reef Salt I did not need it anymore ,I hope my info helps good luck

[Fsurocks99]

+1. I also use Potassium(Brightwell Aquatics) it definitely brings out the blues.

[Marklu]

I have a similar situation. My blue milli was awesome when i first got it, but i put it up high and it browned out kinda. Is this a result of too muh light perhaps? I know its not nutrients, i have acros on the bottom with great color and my nitrates and phosphates are 0

[ros_sco]

Some acros also brown out when they are moved to a new tank, including mine when I bought it. My blue mille is 6 inches under the surface.

[grouper25]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14725881#post14725881 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mark728
Hi try some of this Potassium Iodide it helped with my blues I had a problem with my blues when I was using reef crystals salt for my old tank when I switched over to Seachem Reef Salt I did not need it anymore ,I hope my info helps good luck

Interesting comment. I am using Potassium now but have not seen much change other than some green algae. I use Reef Crystals on my 220 FOWLR , 55 Zoa and 75 SPS reef. I am thinking of not using Reef Crystals any more for my Reef as each water change requires substantial modification to Calc and Alk. What has happened to your corals after switching to Seachem reef salt. I also have read favorable things about Tropic Marin..

In the meantime , I plan to move it to a lower light area. Great OPE but just losing color.......Yuk......

Appreciate the feed back.

[mark728]

Hi when I switched over to Seachem reef salt all of my corals looked better in 1 month ,mixes up perfect for me I mix my buckets of salt very good roll it around upside down mix the bucket up good ,the Seachem reef salt works great with my geo 618 cal/reactor my alk is solid 8 to 9 dkh I use mag chips in my reactor so no extra mag needed. Ive used tropic marine reef salt and I like this better and its cheaper .

[john90009]

My blue millie turned brown now the new grown parts are blue but i think as it grows the sticks are turning brown again only holding the blue color on the tips

[mark728]

Just wantd to add a pic off my palmers blue mille.Approx 8 months old from a very small 1/2 frag .

http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/41/palmersbluemillie1.jpg



http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/8277/palmersbluemillie.jpg

[john90009]

Where did you get that palmers from? Im also from NJ

[mark728]

I picked up a frag from Ming at Atlantis Aquarium .

[john90009]

Oh its been hard to find the palmers in new jersey they come at high prices around here.

[mark728]

Yea I paid over $100 for a 1/2 frag when I bought that frag Atl only had 1 other frag I wanted so they shipped that and a Purple heart frag ,that order was over 240$ ,when mine gets big enough I will sell some frags I will let you know .

[Poorcollegereef]

I picked up a blue milli, more of a Carolina blue (curses), for a 1" twin branch frag for $60. The polyps appear more brown since bringing ir home but my 2 14k Hamilton have just never brought out the blue and I do not any supplemental lighting.