SPS losing color

Reeflow · 05/09/2012, 12:36 PM

Hi,

My SPS reef has been going great until a couple of months ago. I noticed that some of my corals were slowly losing their color and growth rate. I have noticed some nuisance algae growth around the tank lately. I am not sure what is going on and I need some help from the pros!

I have a 29g tank that has almost been running for a year. I am currently using a DIY led light fixture with 25 CREE leds. I am running a skimmer, mp10, GFO, and carbon. I do weekly 3-5g water changes with RSCP salt.

Current tank Parameters:

Alk 8 (redsea)
Calcium 510 (redsea)
Mag 1440 (redsea)
Nitrate 0 (salifert)
Phosphates 0 (salifert)
PH 8.0 (salifert)
Salinity 1.026

Any advice would be great! Thanks!

SPotter · 05/09/2012, 12:41 PM

what's the color combination of the leds. I did a diy a while ago and my spectrum had too much blue in it. corals looked horrible and the ha was growing faster than the coral.

Sent from my SCH-I510 using Tapatalk 2

Reeflow · 05/09/2012, 01:20 PM

My current setup is 13 royal blue xt-e leds and 12 cool white xp-g leds. I have had this light setup since day one.

Monkeyfish · 05/09/2012, 03:21 PM

If you have algae, there must be phosphates/nitrates coming from somewhere. Do you use GFO and if so have you changed it recently?

sponger0 · 05/09/2012, 03:25 PM

If you have nuisance algae, you have phosphates.

Also how high above the tank are your LEDs??

Reeflow · 05/09/2012, 03:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Monkeyfish

If you have algae, there must be phosphates/nitrates coming from somewhere. Do you use GFO and if so have you changed it recently?

I tested for both nitrates and phosphates today. Maybe I will try and test again. I changed the GFO out a week from yesterday.

Reeflow · 05/09/2012, 03:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sponger0

If you have nuisance algae, you have phosphates.

Also how high above the tank are your LEDs??

My leds are in the hood of a biocube. I would guess a few inches from the water.

sponger0 · 05/09/2012, 04:06 PM

I am assuming you just put the LEDs in???

Reeflow · 05/09/2012, 07:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sponger0

I am assuming you just put the LEDs in???

No, they have been in since the start of the tank.

Reeflow · 05/09/2012, 08:03 PM

I just tested PO4 again and is still at 0ppm

ChrisKirkland · 05/09/2012, 08:13 PM

The only way to truly test your PO4 is to use a hanna meter as they are the most precise. Are you using RO/DI water? Whats your TDS?

562R33f3r · 05/09/2012, 08:19 PM

Have the LFS check your water for po4. Do you have fish? How often do you feed them?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

sponger0 · 05/10/2012, 06:07 AM

I would suspect high nutrients. That would cause brown out.

Usually when SPS bleach its due to too much light. A friend of mine, as soon as he built his new tank with LEDs, all his SPS bleached within the first month.

And yes, for an accurate PO4 reading, I would recommend a hanna checker. Do you have an nuisance algae? If you do, the algae is making PO4 unreadable.

Reeflow · 05/10/2012, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChrisKirkland

The only way to truly test your PO4 is to use a hanna meter as they are the most precise. Are you using RO/DI water? Whats your TDS?

I am using RO/DI from a LFS so I am not sure.

Reeflow · 05/10/2012, 11:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 562R33f3r

Have the LFS check your water for po4. Do you have fish? How often do you feed them?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ill stop by today and see if they can test. I usually feed every other day.

Reeflow · 05/10/2012, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sponger0

I would suspect high nutrients. That would cause brown out.

Usually when SPS bleach its due to too much light. A friend of mine, as soon as he built his new tank with LEDs, all his SPS bleached within the first month.

And yes, for an accurate PO4 reading, I would recommend a hanna checker. Do you have an nuisance algae? If you do, the algae is making PO4 unreadable.

The leds have been on the tank for almost 10 months and I have never experienced bleaching. I will try and get some before and after pics up. As far as the algae I have it on the sand and some of the rocks. I try to take out as much as I can with water changes.

yh1185 · 05/10/2012, 11:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reeflow

I just tested PO4 again and is still at 0ppm

From my understanding the algae use up some of the phosphates and nitrates, so readings of 0 for those two are probably due to the algae.

Reeflow · 05/10/2012, 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yh1185

From my understanding the algae use up some of the phosphates and nitrates, so readings of 0 for those two are probably due to the algae.

If this is the case what would be my next step?

marlinman86 · 05/10/2012, 11:30 AM

what do u dose?

Reeflow · 05/10/2012, 11:37 AM

BRS recipe 1

Mikez1207 · 05/10/2012, 11:43 AM

Do u spot feed corals....ur phosphate and nitrates are 0 because of algea...have u added any new rocks...how often do you change gfo and carbon

sponger0 · 05/10/2012, 12:03 PM

Any recent changes to the tank?

If you do have nuisance algae the next thing would be removing PO4. Which normally people get a GFO reactor or also you can try a turf scrubber.

ChrisKirkland · 05/10/2012, 07:38 PM

I would most definitely look at getting your PO4 checked with a hanna meter (maybe a local reefer can help you out). I would also test the TDS of the LFS water. You can buy a handheld TDS meter for like $20 to get a good idea of what your getting. Sometimes LFS's will not replace the DI cartridge as often and after the membrane it may put out at like 10ppm TDS, and since the DI is used up it doesn't remove the 10ppm of dissolved nutrients.

Reeflow · 05/10/2012, 08:15 PM

Here are a couple of before and after shots. I also included some algae pics.

Before

After

Before

After

Algae pics

Reeflow · 05/10/2012, 08:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mikez1207

Do u spot feed corals....ur phosphate and nitrates are 0 because of algea...have u added any new rocks...how often do you change gfo and carbon

No i do not spot feed. I added some new rocks around the first of the year.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sponger0

Any recent changes to the tank?

If you do have nuisance algae the next thing would be removing PO4. Which normally people get a GFO reactor or also you can try a turf scrubber.

No recent changes. I have been using GFO for six months or so. I have not heard of turf scrubber but I will look into that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChrisKirkland

I would most definitely look at getting your PO4 checked with a hanna meter (maybe a local reefer can help you out). I would also test the TDS of the LFS water. You can buy a handheld TDS meter for like $20 to get a good idea of what your getting. Sometimes LFS's will not replace the DI cartridge as often and after the membrane it may put out at like 10ppm TDS, and since the DI is used up it doesn't remove the 10ppm of dissolved nutrients.

I will have to look into this when I get some time. I do want a RO/DI unit, I just havent pulled the trigger on it yet.

05/09/2012, 12:36 PM	#1
Reeflow Registered Member Join Date: May 2012 Location: North Carolina Posts: 22	SPS losing color Hi, My SPS reef has been going great until a couple of months ago. I noticed that some of my corals were slowly losing their color and growth rate. I have noticed some nuisance algae growth around the tank lately. I am not sure what is going on and I need some help from the pros! I have a 29g tank that has almost been running for a year. I am currently using a DIY led light fixture with 25 CREE leds. I am running a skimmer, mp10, GFO, and carbon. I do weekly 3-5g water changes with RSCP salt. Current tank Parameters: Alk 8 (redsea) Calcium 510 (redsea) Mag 1440 (redsea) Nitrate 0 (salifert) Phosphates 0 (salifert) PH 8.0 (salifert) Salinity 1.026 Any advice would be great! Thanks! Last edited by Reeflow; 05/09/2012 at 01:20 PM.

05/09/2012, 12:41 PM	#2
SPotter Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Mt. Pleasant, SC Posts: 5,691	what's the color combination of the leds. I did a diy a while ago and my spectrum had too much blue in it. corals looked horrible and the ha was growing faster than the coral. Sent from my SCH-I510 using Tapatalk 2 __________________ Steve Am I really doing all of this for a fish tank?????? Current Tank Info: 360g Envision Acrylic Tank, Closed Loops, Vectra L1's, MP40QD's, 400w Radiums, Regal 300ext, Dastaco Ext3 CaRx, Controlled by GHL Profilux

05/09/2012, 03:21 PM	#4
Monkeyfish Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Long Island (NY) Posts: 4,077	If you have algae, there must be phosphates/nitrates coming from somewhere. Do you use GFO and if so have you changed it recently? __________________ Eric "One thing that humbles me deeply is to see that human genius has its limits while human stupidity does not." Current Tank Info: Taking a break

05/09/2012, 08:13 PM	#11
ChrisKirkland Reef and Coral Fanatic Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Lexington, Ky. Posts: 1,739	The only way to truly test your PO4 is to use a hanna meter as they are the most precise. Are you using RO/DI water? Whats your TDS? __________________ Chris Kirkland Reef Nerd. Current Tank Info: Getting back into the hobby.

05/09/2012, 08:19 PM	#12
562R33f3r Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: SoCal LBC Posts: 384	Have the LFS check your water for po4. Do you have fish? How often do you feed them? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk __________________ -Ed === SCRK Member == Current Tank Info: 40B, Mix Reef, Mag 7 pump, 40B sump, 72W AquaStyle DIY dimmable DIY LEDs, AquaC Urchin Skimmed

05/09/2012, 01:20 PM	#3
Reeflow Registered Member Join Date: May 2012 Location: North Carolina Posts: 22	My current setup is 13 royal blue xt-e leds and 12 cool white xp-g leds. I have had this light setup since day one.

05/09/2012, 03:25 PM	#5
sponger0 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Virginia Beach Posts: 6,659	If you have nuisance algae, you have phosphates. Also how high above the tank are your LEDs??

05/09/2012, 04:06 PM	#8
sponger0 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Virginia Beach Posts: 6,659	I am assuming you just put the LEDs in???

05/09/2012, 08:03 PM	#10
Reeflow Registered Member Join Date: May 2012 Location: North Carolina Posts: 22	I just tested PO4 again and is still at 0ppm

05/10/2012, 06:07 AM	#13
sponger0 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Virginia Beach Posts: 6,659	I would suspect high nutrients. That would cause brown out. Usually when SPS bleach its due to too much light. A friend of mine, as soon as he built his new tank with LEDs, all his SPS bleached within the first month. And yes, for an accurate PO4 reading, I would recommend a hanna checker. Do you have an nuisance algae? If you do, the algae is making PO4 unreadable.

05/10/2012, 11:30 AM	#19
marlinman86 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 53	what do u dose?

05/10/2012, 11:37 AM	#20
Reeflow Registered Member Join Date: May 2012 Location: North Carolina Posts: 22	BRS recipe 1

05/10/2012, 11:43 AM	#21
Mikez1207 MrReef 101 Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Pasadena, TX Posts: 378	Do u spot feed corals....ur phosphate and nitrates are 0 because of algea...have u added any new rocks...how often do you change gfo and carbon __________________ 5G pico mix Current Tank Info: Growing

05/10/2012, 12:03 PM	#22
sponger0 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Virginia Beach Posts: 6,659	Any recent changes to the tank? If you do have nuisance algae the next thing would be removing PO4. Which normally people get a GFO reactor or also you can try a turf scrubber.

05/10/2012, 07:38 PM	#23
ChrisKirkland Reef and Coral Fanatic Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Lexington, Ky. Posts: 1,739	I would most definitely look at getting your PO4 checked with a hanna meter (maybe a local reefer can help you out). I would also test the TDS of the LFS water. You can buy a handheld TDS meter for like $20 to get a good idea of what your getting. Sometimes LFS's will not replace the DI cartridge as often and after the membrane it may put out at like 10ppm TDS, and since the DI is used up it doesn't remove the 10ppm of dissolved nutrients. __________________ Chris Kirkland Reef Nerd. Current Tank Info: Getting back into the hobby.

05/10/2012, 08:15 PM	#24
Reeflow Registered Member Join Date: May 2012 Location: North Carolina Posts: 22	Here are a couple of before and after shots. I also included some algae pics. Before After Before After Algae pics