Green Slimer...faded

[jharding08]

My Green Bali Slimer from Vivid Aquariums has gone from a bright green to a pale brown.

Here is my tank stats form yesterdays test -
Calcium - 420-460
Alk - 8
Mg - 1300
PO4 - .12
Nitrate - 5-10

I currently run CREE 5W Cool White LEDs and 3W Royal Blue. White at 60% and Blue at 75. It ramps up for 4 hours starting at 7 am and down starting at 4 pm.

I do bi-weekly water changes, 25% with BrightWell Neomarine salt.

I dose CA, Alk and Mg thorughout the day, CA in the morning/afternoon, MG in the evening, Alk thoughout the night.

I have 13 fish that eat frozen mysis and spriulina twice a day with two clips of nori every day (2 tangs, 1 rabbit fish, 1 dwarf angel, 2 anthias, 1 goby, 5 chromis, 1 clown).

Use GFO/Rox Carbon in dual reactor with filter sock and Aquamaxx AM250 skimmer.

All my other corals have bright color, all green montis (digi/cap) are bright green. Red Planet is red with green base and encrusting. Blue Voodoo is blue and growing. Other acros are growing.

I started dosing AAs twice a week (10ml per, on a 120 gallon tank, 20 gallon sump). I also started feeding coral frenzy twice a week (1/2 tsp per).

Any ideas?

It was sitting pretty low in the tank (below half way, but not on the sand), I moved it up to above half way, about 3/4.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e23/jharding08/IMG_20130523_0728241_zpsc8e2bd5c.jpg (http://s36.photobucket.com/user/jharding08/media/IMG_20130523_0728241_zpsc8e2bd5c.jpg.html)

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e23/jharding08/IMG_20130523_072728_zpsb16b2857.jpg (http://s36.photobucket.com/user/jharding08/media/IMG_20130523_072728_zpsb16b2857.jpg.html)

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e23/jharding08/IMG_20130523_0727371_zps15b86f8f.jpg (http://s36.photobucket.com/user/jharding08/media/IMG_20130523_0727371_zps15b86f8f.jpg.html)

[Finland]

My Green Bali Slimer from Vivid Aquariums has gone from a bright green to a pale brown.

Here is my tank stats form yesterdays test -
Calcium - 420-460
Alk - 8
Mg - 1300
PO4 - .12
Nitrate - 5-10

]

Generally, brown corals mean high nutrients or poor lighting. I would first get your water parameters in check. P04 is pretty high. Shoot for .03 for p04. N03 is a little high, but IMO not terrible.

[trueblackpercula]

It's not you lights, I would tackle the high nitrate and phosphate first. Water changes are good but 25% sems like a lot but that's just me. Are you using ro/di water for top off and water change? I would cut down the GFO and carbon on as it can be stripping the water to fast.

[ksicard]

Your lighting sounds like it's on par using 5w and 3w led's so I would have to agree with the nutrients being to high. I personally never let my nutrients go over 0.08ppm po4 and 4-5ppm no3. I would up your GFO amount by 25-50%, as well as work on exporting some of the nitrates out. I would personally proceed by using 25-50% GFO, if using one cup of GFO increase it to 1 cup and a half, as well as starting a vodka dosing regimen. For your size tank I would start with 1ml of 80% proof vodka daily, after 3 days up it to 2ml and after 1 week from starting the dosage up it to 3ml daily and add 1ml every week after that untill your no3 is in the 0-4ppm range. As well as making sure to only feed the necessary amount so that you don't have excess food rotting in the tank. That would be my personal course of action, but it's your tank so do what you please.

[jharding08]

I use RODI water for the water changes and have tested the RODI water as well as the mixed water for PO4. Both came back .021 on a Hanna.

I am going to start changing out my GFO every other week, opposite of the water change schedule. Right now I am using 1/2 cup of GFO and one cup of Rox Carbon. Both are changed out monthly. Another problem I see is that the BRS dual reactor came with a MaxiJet 1200. From my experience, the GFO stops tumbling aftera week or two with that pump, even with the gate valve all the way open. I am thinking of going to a larger pump like a Mag 5.

I think the plan is to use more GFO (maybe 3/4 or a cup), change it out every other week, and also get a bigger pump.

I will definitely look into vodka dosing as well.

For the water changes, is doing too much at one time detrimental?

[ksicard]

I would go with 3/4 cup and if your po4 doesn't drop down to 0.04-0.06 after 3 days add another 1/4 cup.

Vodka dosing is great as long as you don't struggle with low PH, it's cheap too!

Only thing that could be detrimental from to large of waterchanges is if your ca/mg/dkh swing to much from a large water change. Nothing good happens fast in this hobby, so I'd just take it slow and do 10%-15% every 5 days for 15 days then return to weekly or bi weekly water changes.

Last thing, you said the mj1200 isn't enough for tumbling? If your using the normal BRS GFO this shouldn't be happening. BRS GFO is very small and tumbles quite easily, and remember you only need the top to tumble. Also the GFO chamber should be the first chamber on the BRS dual reactor so it receives the stronger blast of water since carbon doesn't need to tumble. I have a maxijet 400 on my reactor and it easily tumbles my BRS GFO at 1/4 open on the valve, I'm using 1 1/2 cups of the GFO also and I get plenty of tumbling. Is your reactor level where ever it's sitting?

[tdb320reef]

Needs more light.

[jharding08]

Would i need to dose if I am using carbon in the dual reactor? Or are they two separate ideas? I do have the GFO in the first chamber and I do use BRS GFO. It just seems to stop tumbling after two weeks. The output from the reactor slows too. I do have the reactor mounted above the pump about 8-12". It is level. For the carbon side I use the foam pads to keep the carbon at the top and also from tumbling and breaking up.

My Ph hangs at about 7.9 at night to 8.2 during the day right now

[jharding08]

Do I need to change the ROX carbon amount up or down ?

[jharding08]

I also have the GFO sitting on the bottom of the reactor, not using the foam spacers. Maybe the bottom grid is getting clogged because of that? I'll try to use the foam spacers, to get it off of the bottom, would that help or just clog the foam?

[ksicard]

Yeah i'd bust out the manual and use the reactor as intended for the GFO, sounds like the carbon is spot on for placement in reactor. I would just use the recommended amount for carbon and change every two weeks. Carbon such as rox is not the same as carbon dosing. I use gfo to lower po4 and vodka dosing to lower nitrates, and carbon will pretty much help polish the water and remove impurities as well as help with coral warfare. Maybe take tdb320's advice as well and bump up your lighting intensity, he knows quite a bit about led systems and sps.

But i'd def make sure the gfo is being setup properly in the reactor, it does sound like a clog of some sorts.

[jharding08]

Thanks for your help everyone. I moved the slimer up in the tank to see if more light will help. I'll get into vodka dosing and use the specs you outlined.

I am thinking of going with an LED with a wider spectrum (Green, Red, UV). RapidLED has a dimmable prefab fixture that has 3 channels and a full spectrum for $330. Not a bad deal.

[jharding08]

So I'm on day 5 of the Reefkeeping vodka dosing plan (http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/index.php) and my Green Slimer is showing more polyp extension and green polyp extension at that. I am going to test my NO3 and PO4 today to see how far they've gone down. My skimmate is starting to get very dark and thick. I am on the .4 ml, twice a day routine right now, having done .2ml 2xday for days 1-3.

Another thing that is going down is my PH. I have read that this is caused by "increased bacterial population (which is the point of dosing vodka) which can lead to decreased oxygen and increased CO2 levels in the tank since the bacteria "breathe.""

It could also be " production of organic acids as dissolved organics are being consumed as part of the Nitrogen Cycle."

Right now my PH at night is 7.70 and during the day it struggles to reach 8.0. My fish and coral look ok, but at what point do I start to worry about it dropping too low? If it is part of the Nitrogen Cycle, it will eventually rise, but what if it is decreased oxygen and increased CO2? I haven't had a problem with oxygenation before. I have an open top tank, with a ceiling fan above and a fan on the sump. I live in Southern California by the beach, so I don't use or have air conditioning. I always have my windows open and the hottest it gets in my place is 80. I keep the tank at 78-79, so that just means the heater never comes on.

I tried running an airline from the skimmer to outside, but it doesn't seem to be pulling as much air. It is the hard airline tubing provided with RODI units.

Any help is appreciated.