additives and sps

[reef_lover24881]

I currently use bulk reef supply 2part for alk cal and mag on my Solana. Is there anything else I should be adding to aid my sps with their overall health? Would potassium be a good idea to add?

[Acronic]

are your corals not doing great as is?

[reef_lover24881]

My sps tend to lose color over time and I'm tired of it. My par are perfect. Cal 470 mag 1410 alk 9.8dkh.

[dvanacker]

colour problems are going to be nutrient or lighting related .....you are most likely barking up the wrong tree.

[reef_lover24881]

24 inch t5s with 4blue plus one purp plus an 1 aqua blue special. Should I add another aqua blue special instead of a blue plus. They run for about six hours.

[blakers82]

You might also fill us in on your bioload, feeding regimen, and water change schedule. Nitrate/phosphate levels?

Edit: Have you had success at 6 hours light? My T5 reefing buddies run nice tanks at closer to 12 hours.

[allsps40]

Only 6 hours, you need to increase your photo period to 8-10 hours. Another thing that may be effecting you is having a smaller tank. AIO units like the Solana, Nano and Bio Cubes tend to have stability issues, or I should say it is harder to keep these smaller tanks stable. And the skimmers they come with if any are sub par at best. A good controller, weekly testing, weekly water changes, automated dose and a ATO will go a long way into helping keep color full SPS. Oh and the flow need to be increase in these as well. Adding a Nano Korilia helps a lot to increase flow.

[reef_lover24881]

Ok so let's break this down. I spot feed twice a week, water change of 15% a week have a tunze 9002 skimmer run rowa phos in second chamber also have a chiller and controller and uv for fish, bubble maggus dosing pump. There is just no reason why I can't keep just about any coral. My chalices and acans do great its just sps. I have every peace of equip necessary.

[Reef Bass]

My sps tend to lose color over time ...
My chalices and acans do great its just sps.

With appropriate water chemistry, this sounds like a lighting issue.

[Mock]

I am pretty sure that if you look up the MSDS sheets on BRS Calcium you will find Potassium. I don't care where you get the calcium mix, if its made by dow you are already getting 2-3% Potassium in the mix with the CC.

http://www.rigchem.com/MSDS/CalChloride.pdf

No need to add this. After reading the thread I would think that the first place you should start would be to increase the photo period. Stretch it out to 8 hours and see if that helps any. You have to remember in the wild these creatures are used to getting upwards of 16 hours of sunlight grant it they are at different par values all day they still need quite a bit of photosynthesis to pull off growth and coloration.

[Mock]

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[allsps40]

Also what are your no3 and po4 levels at??

[batt600]

Ok first off alot of people here are giving you bad info . Are you colors fadeing or are your sps turning brown? If there fadeing its a lack of nutrient in your tank and you need to dose sps foods to keep there color. As for light 6 hours is fine of day light you can increase your blues to 10 hours . 8 Hours a day of day light will exhuast your sps and cause lack of color unless your par reading are low then you increase your day light cycle to 8 hours. Post your parameter of phos and nitrates your cal, mag and alk are great so post others for a better answer.

[allsps40]

No way man he needs to increase the light time. I run my 2 250w MH for 9 hours and could stand to increase it. I was having issues keeping in sps until I increased my lighting time. The more light I give the sps the more they color up, in fact I could stand to go to 10 hours of light. But a better judgement requires full water parameters. Pics would be very helpful.

[ridetheducati]

^^^^

Every tank is different.

[reef_lover24881]

My sps are fading. Nitrates are 0 and so are phos. I will retest today and post pics. I dose oyster feast twice a week, are there any other supplements I should be adding/food?

[Sps Dream]

Put more fish, feed them well, i solved same problem with more fish and i have a friend who has same problem with you and has same water parameter and has small fish. I agree every tank has different .

[Acronic]

Do you carbon dose? whats the fish list? I think that switching a blue + for an aquablue special would be better.

[reef_lover24881]

I use a very small amount of brs activated carbon. I have a wrasse and a clown.

[reef_lover24881]

My sand does tend to brown when I skip out on my water changes. Why could this be?

[pusanpa]

I have my t5 10+ hrs a day. My sps are more coloful and growing faster compare to6 hrs a day I had for about a year. Also try zeo spur 2 it will give you additional color pop.

[blakers82]

Your params seem pretty ideal. Regarding bioload, IMO a 34gal SPS tank could use a few more fish to go with the wrasse and clown. I'm not going to say you have to change this or that, but I think it will be easier long term if you add some livestock. SPS corals like fish poop, eh!?

Happy Thanksgiving!

[spawn2]

I have my t5 10+ hrs a day. My sps are more coloful and growing faster compare to6 hrs a day I had for about a year. Also try zeo spur 2 it will give you additional color pop.
I'm also having faded colours with sps & ulns. I dose vodka as a carbon source & have for almost a year. I think the key to bright colours is extended stability, & I am guilty of monkeying around with different things in the tank probably to often.
I have used Zeospur as well, It is not a supplement to take lightly. The effects can range from subtle to all out bleaching of the corals. I used it lightly with success.
However when we are trying to get the corals to build up their colourful flesh using zeospur I think is counter productive, as it reduces the zooanthelle population, which is involved in that flesh. If you need to reduce the population before starting on a steady & stable path that you can commit to for an extended period of time, then it will work if used carefully. If your corals are browning, & although you may be reading 0 for No3 & P04, those levels are likely higher. same as mine...... if you've got browning & or algae of any kind there are levels present. My problem is my purples tend to be pale constantly. I will be tagging along to this thread.
http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/ae199/spawn26/IMG_0260.jpg

http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/ae199/spawn26/IMG_0266.jpg

http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/ae199/spawn26/IMG_0298.jpg

[reef_lover24881]

Wow! Spawn2 your acros are beautiful! One day soon I'll figure out the trick to keeping acros lol.