what causes sps browning

[hoot214]

Im running a 28gal hqi jbj nano cube

Lights: 150w 15k xm hqi bulb

alk: 9-10

cal: 400

phos: 0

Amonina: 0

Nitrites: 0

Nitrates: 0

Mag: 1450-1500

Ph: 8.4

salinitly: 1.025

However I have noticed that my sps are loosing olor and browning out. can anyone help me

[luther1200]

High nutrients usually. It is caused by an increase in Zooanthealla population if I'm not mistaken. I beleive the high nutrients allow them to reproduce to rapidly causing the brown look.

[hoot214]

how do i stop it, i want my color back lol

[29reef]

You don't mention temperature in your post. What is it and how do you keep it stable? How old is your tank?

[hoot214]

temp is about 80 when the lights are on and 75 with the lights off

tanks is about a month old

[29reef]

temp is about 80 when the lights are on and 75 with the lights off

tanks is about a month old

^Those are two issues you'll have to take care of. A chiller or fans and a temp controller are a good choice. Wait about 3-6 months before you add anymore sps.

[bbkid4]

^^^^agreed, a 5 degree drop at night seems like too much. Try adjusting the heater at night to keep that more. 80 degrees day and night would be perfect.

Stable good conditions=stable corals.

let your tank mature a bit and i'm sure if you keep your parameters in check you can end up with colorful coral

[fishguy597]

How do you measure for high nutrients? I have the same problem with my tank. My sa 1.025, alk 12, mag 1420, ca 460, ph 8, no2 0, no3 0, am 0. I have a 2 stage chiller temp 79 +/- 2 deg. Lights were put in June 15 09. The tank was born aug 08. It has to be nutrients since I have gha. I've been doing 80 gal water changes every week for the last 2 weeks and kept up on my weekly/ by weekly changes. I'm running carbon and a po4 reactor. I don't expect any thing to happen over night but haven't seen ant changes in the affects corals.

[luther1200]

How do you measure for high nutrients? I have the same problem with my tank. My sa 1.025, alk 12, mag 1420, ca 460, ph 8, no2 0, no3 0, am 0. I have a 2 stage chiller temp 79 +/- 2 deg. Lights were put in June 15 09. The tank was born aug 08. It has to be nutrients since I have gha. I've been doing 80 gal water changes every week for the last 2 weeks and kept up on my weekly/ by weekly changes. I'm running carbon and a po4 reactor. I don't expect any thing to happen over night but haven't seen ant changes in the affects corals.

I had very little results from GFO until I switched over the the HC from BRS. After that, I had noticable algae loss in about 1.5-2 months. And I tried practically every other common type out there.

[Dog boy Dave]

Any stress to a coral is likely to cause them to move towards the brown side. I have seen an ORA red coral go from cherry red to brown in 5 minutes just from being pushed over and dropped. Others may hold their color no matter what. Many hobbiests sucessfully maintain very brightly colored corals in what some would consider high nutrient systems. By high nutrient, i mean high fish load and measurable nitrates. (myself included) However these "high nutrient" systems generally have a very large biologicaly active filter mechanizm that breaks down the initial fish and coral byproducts to nitrates and beyond very fast and effectively. In addition, these systems do need a mechanism to export nutrients long term as well. (Harvesting algae and protein skimate are two that come to mind) My observations lead me to believe that this is the only long term method to maintain a coral system. By long term I mean longer than 3 years

Healthy corals are generally colorful corals. Corals that have been stressed by low water quality, pests, real real real bad lighting, excessive temp, alk swings, contamination predation. any number of things will loose color. In your case, i would look at water quality. Sounds like a new tank. In your case the issue is likely that the contaminants and waste products are staying in the water too long before they are broken down. Carbon may help, or a larger skimmer, but I would suggest that you might consider additional bio filteration somewhere in your system. Perhaps a sump and some sort of bio seeding, either commercial bacteria products or a culture from another established system.

[fishguy597]

I agree it is some kind of water quality issue. It's
a 200 gal with built in over flows. I do have a sump with a drip tray that I'm not to fond of. I also have a reef octo ext 200. It doesn't pull a ton of skim mate even though it sits in 7" of water and doing a wet skim. I have about 2200 gal of return pump along with 3 korilla 4's. I have a ton of live rock in there probably 300 lbs+. Maybe I need to rearrange my rock work for better flow and keep that wast suspended longer. Btw what does hc from bulk reef stand for? Not all my corals are brown just a few. My purple corals aren't as bright and deep purple like they once were.

[fishguy597]

Iam in the process of building a new sump from a 55 gal. Is it better to go with a higher micron sock then a drip tray?

[buy_baff]

Hc stands for high capacity gfo.

[Bigmike]

However I have noticed that my sps are loosing olor and browning out. can anyone help me

How do you top off evaporation? I suspect, along with the tank being too new and temp swings, it could be salinity swings if you're topping off manually.

Another thing to look at is your flow... are your corals getting enough indirect, random flow?