Tek elite T5 with sps having problems

[MBIETZ]

I have a 6 bulb tek elite T5 fixture over my 65g reef 36Lx18Wx24H. My problem is that my sps are kinda brown they have some color but partially brown they are around 16" from the light. My tank chemistry is CA-430, ALK-10, MG-1300, Nitrate-undetectable and Phosphate-undetectable but not with hanna checker so may not be accurate also i do weekly water changes of 7-14g using seachem. My bulbs are all Giesemann around 10 months old but i have had problems since i started using this light. Any feed back would be highly appreciated.

Front to back
Actinic
aqua blue
aqua pink
6500k
aqua blue
aqua blue

[CJ 1098]

Try running less red spectrum bulbs and more actinic bulbs.
I have a 8 bulb tek light and I run 4 actinic plus, 2 Blue plus,1 purple plus and one pure actnic. The bulbs you have will make most corals look brown.

[MBIETZ]

I had a second actinic on it at one time but it was the same deal i was think about running a different combo since i will need new bulbs soon but i dont want to spend the money when i could buy bulbs for my MH lights that i had better luck with. Just so everyone knows i dont doubt T5s i know the can grow anything and i have personally seen tanks that were amazing with T5s. Could my light be defective such as the ballasts or something?

[reefinder]

It's not the light, it's got to be your husbandry on the tank.

[sahin]

I agree its not the lights. You have enough of a range of spectrum there. It is some form of water issue. It could be a lack of nutrients for the corals...it could be that the tank is new (ie less than 1 year old). It could be stability issues...How old is the tank? How are you maintaining Alk and Ca? What fishes do you have in the tank? How often do you feed the fishes?

[jroovers]

I also agree probably not the lights. Brown usually means too much of something (i.e. nutrients), pale usually means too little. If you can get a more accurate reading of your phosphates, might be the culprit there. What are you running in terms of filtration (e.g. biopellets, GFO/carbon, etc.)? The more husbandry info you provide, the clearer the picture will likely become.

[MBIETZ]

I dont run any sort of media im going to start GFO soon. I dose b-ionic for CA/ALK and kent for Mag i feed lightly every day. I have a total of 7 fish and i have an ATB 840 for a skimmer. Water changes are weekly 7-14g depending on how much i mix and it seems that my blue acros are the ones that are brownish as well as my jedi monti. My other acros/sps look more pale not brown and the tank is about 10 months old. Also my room mate and i shared water he had a nano and i would give him my water after a water change and i gave him frags of the corals from my tank but in his tank they would turn back to their original color. He had no filtration except for a little carbon and no sump.

[sahin]

Also my room mate and i shared water he had a nano and i would give him my water after a water change and i gave him frags of the corals from my tank but in his tank they would turn back to their original color. He had no filtration except for a little carbon and no sump.

Interesting:

1. What lighting did your room mate have? Was it Metal Halide?

2. The fact that he had no filtration other than Carbon, and that he used your tanks old water, and corals coloured up in his tank tells me that overall his tank must have a high nutrient level than yours.

3. What fishes did he have in the tank?

4. What did he feed the fishes?

[bellis31]

I have the 6 bulb tek elite also and my SPS are growing and not brown, IMHO I think your bulbs are old at 10 months so start there. I would also drop this light 1 inch a week after you have the new bulbs in for at least a week and see how things go, my light is only 6 inches off the water with all ATI bulbs.

Make sure you are doing your water changes and it may also help to run GFO and carbon in a reactor to help clean up your water but I would start with the changes to the light and see how that goes, it's never a good idea to make to many changes all at once.

[MBIETZ]

Yes my room mate had MH lights a single 150w 14K and he had 3 fish in a 20g. He feed his fish mysis shrimp every day lightly.

My light is only about 8" off the waters surface and i never miss a water change i feel odd if i do. I agree the light should work fine i guess i can try new bulbs and run gfo/carbon.