Quote:
Originally Posted by csauer52
I'm going to test this out and see what happens. I always have low PO4 and NO3 and was running my Alk around 9. My coral colors are pretty much all washed out.
I am slowly bringing it down to around 7.8 in order to see if there truly is a correlation. Should be interesting. I guess I should take some before/after pics?
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While lowering the alkalinity from 9 to ~8 dKh may help somewhat with coloration, pale colored corals typically indicate a lack of nutrients via feeding. I have tested this out by going fishless in a system with no external feeding. Within a few months the SPS corals had paled noticeably. I then fed the tank as if fish were present and they recovered their original coloration. This was with an alkalinity of ~10 dKh.
The key is to feed adequately to supply nutrients to the coral, but also effectively remove the waste products (especially inorganic phosphate) via detritus removal, skimming, GFO, etc. If inorganic PO4 is not dealt with, coral growth/health will be compromised and algae will proliferate.