Enigma! What is wrong?

lestat737 · 06/13/2008, 09:33 PM

Hi,

I have an 120gal 1.5 year stable system. All parameters are rock solid. Water change 5-10% per week.

Problem is that most of my SPS lose their color and nice fat polyps for thin darker polyp within 1-2 weeks. The color turns into a brown- dark. They are healthy though in the sense that they do grow and react very nicely to food.

These photos were taken wih a macro lens. The SPS is under 4X T5 at 15k-18k colors. I have 2 X 250W MH 12.5k illuminating for 7 hours per day. Tempeture is at 80F with the help of a chiller. Flow is maintain with 2 Vortex face to face at the end of the tank and return water from sump is coming through an wavy sea that goes left to right.

They red ACAN in the other hand is doing fine and looks preatty much like i was inthe LFS. I feed him mysis with a tube evry 3-4 days. I feed the acro a mix of Phyto/frozen cyclopez/mysis evry 2-3 days. Other day I feed 2-3 times a day some reef frenzy (its like reefroid/dried coral food).

What would you do differently to have brighter colors?

nava405 · 06/14/2008, 02:27 AM

looks all healthy to me tho, can't see anything wrong in the picture.

however, example for blue tort, if you want brighter blue ( or even baby blue) u need alot more light, and lower light would be darker blue.

shred5 · 06/14/2008, 08:39 AM

Yea they look fine to me.... colors are good..

Dave

kirstenk · 06/14/2008, 09:53 AM

What would you do differently to have brighter colors?

1. Slowly increase lighting schedule to 9-10hrs day.

2. Stop feeding the SPS.

3. Color meter test your PO4.

That is where I would start.

tonyespinoza · 06/14/2008, 04:53 PM

how do you maintain your ca/alk? reactor or 2 part? where do you keep them?

b16drag · 06/15/2008, 01:29 AM

Increase your lighting time... Also with all the "coral" food such as phyto etc, I'm certain your P04 is high. No point in checking it since the tests are usually inaccurate anyways. Try using a phosphate reactor with GFO.

lestat737 · 06/15/2008, 07:30 AM

"how do you maintain your ca/alk? reactor or 2 part? where do you keep them?"

I got a calcium reactor and Ca/Dk are always the same.

"Increase your lighting time... Also with all the "coral" food such as phyto etc, I'm certain your P04 is high. No point in checking it since the tests are usually inaccurate anyways. Try using a phosphate reactor with GFO."

I got a reactor+Rowaphos

Stop feeding the coral.. is out of concern for PO4?

So to understand more colors come from more light time period and less food/protein input to the tank?

What about he look of the polyps?.. they are thin darken and unequal lenght. They use to be thick and uniform.. what causes that?

stevedola · 06/15/2008, 08:17 AM

i wouldnt stop feeding (maybe cut back on the amount-maybe)and dont think that the period of light would do much to the coloring. Maybe adding another MH bulb in the middle on a good reflector would help lighten their coloring. IME when a tank has alot of light the corals tend to have a lighter almost pastel quality to them. You could even run the 3rd bulb like a high noon bulb where it only turns on for 3-4 hours just in nature.

I personally dont see anything wrong with your health or color but its your tank and if it bothers your that would be my suggestion.

kirstenk · 06/15/2008, 08:29 AM

[b]So to understand more colors come from more light time period and less food/protein input to the tank?[b/]

Not necessarily, its only a place to start when you are looking for lighter/brighter coral colors.

tonyespinoza · 06/15/2008, 09:05 AM

i've seen high alk affect polyp extension. SPS like it nearer natural sea water levels (7.5 - 8) so a lot of folks shoot for 9.

i dose phyto and rotofeast regularly and have low P04 thanks to a system i run by Polyp Labs called Reef-resh. it's a slower gentler and much easier to use approach to probiotics such as zeovit. in fact, i've stopped running GFO and my colors and growth have never been better.

one issue with GFO is that it is not balanced between P and N uptake so it can inhibit growth of macro algae (if you have a fuge).

random question: how are your green SPS corals? i've seen those shift the most in response to nutrient issues...

dphins · 06/15/2008, 10:33 AM

How old are your bulbs and what brand are they?

lestat737 · 06/16/2008, 07:31 PM

ok it seems but then again it very early to say... that the polyp are extending very nicely.

I probably will be able to tell for sure at least after 1month.

I havent lowered the amount of food. I tested again PO4 and Nitrate. It is still holding at PO4=0ppm, Nitrate 5ppm. I do have a oversized skimmer.. Its rated at 200gallon for my 100 gallon.

My light Bulb are brand new 12.5 Phoenix... 6 month

Anyone tried adding from Zeovit : Coral Snow, Kaliofluo, Amino Acid?

stevedola · 06/17/2008, 08:08 AM

I add elos AA 2x a week and think its helpalittle with color/PE but I had good color before imo. Ill be snapping pics soon to compare b4 and after.

06/13/2008, 09:33 PM	#1
lestat737 Premium Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Canada Posts: 49	Enigma! What is wrong? Hi, I have an 120gal 1.5 year stable system. All parameters are rock solid. Water change 5-10% per week. Problem is that most of my SPS lose their color and nice fat polyps for thin darker polyp within 1-2 weeks. The color turns into a brown- dark. They are healthy though in the sense that they do grow and react very nicely to food. These photos were taken wih a macro lens. The SPS is under 4X T5 at 15k-18k colors. I have 2 X 250W MH 12.5k illuminating for 7 hours per day. Tempeture is at 80F with the help of a chiller. Flow is maintain with 2 Vortex face to face at the end of the tank and return water from sump is coming through an wavy sea that goes left to right. They red ACAN in the other hand is doing fine and looks preatty much like i was inthe LFS. I feed him mysis with a tube evry 3-4 days. I feed the acro a mix of Phyto/frozen cyclopez/mysis evry 2-3 days. Other day I feed 2-3 times a day some reef frenzy (its like reefroid/dried coral food). What would you do differently to have brighter colors? Last edited by lestat737; 06/13/2008 at 09:41 PM.

06/14/2008, 02:27 AM	#2
nava405 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: CA Irvine Posts: 2,818	looks all healthy to me tho, can't see anything wrong in the picture. however, example for blue tort, if you want brighter blue ( or even baby blue) u need alot more light, and lower light would be darker blue. __________________ I hate polyp extension... Current Tank Info: rimelss 48x30x20, sump 72x22x16, 2x mp40s, nano wavebox

06/14/2008, 09:53 AM	#4
kirstenk 23.5 Degrees Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Scottsdale, AZ Posts: 5,509	What would you do differently to have brighter colors? 1. Slowly increase lighting schedule to 9-10hrs day. 2. Stop feeding the SPS. 3. Color meter test your PO4. That is where I would start. __________________ KIRSTEN REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE Reefer stabs Reefer in back over quarrel. Current Tank Info: 150g, 58g

06/15/2008, 08:17 AM	#8
stevedola Master of my domain Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Rhode Island Posts: 3,340	i wouldnt stop feeding (maybe cut back on the amount-maybe)and dont think that the period of light would do much to the coloring. Maybe adding another MH bulb in the middle on a good reflector would help lighten their coloring. IME when a tank has alot of light the corals tend to have a lighter almost pastel quality to them. You could even run the 3rd bulb like a high noon bulb where it only turns on for 3-4 hours just in nature. I personally dont see anything wrong with your health or color but its your tank and if it bothers your that would be my suggestion. __________________ Cool Club Current Tank Info: 60g 2ft rimless cube tank - ATI 8x24 Sunpower, 2xVortech MP10 wes w/ tunze 6045,Super Reef Octopus 1000, Bubblemagus Doser

06/15/2008, 08:29 AM	#9
kirstenk 23.5 Degrees Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Scottsdale, AZ Posts: 5,509	[b]So to understand more colors come from more light time period and less food/protein input to the tank?[b/] Not necessarily, its only a place to start when you are looking for lighter/brighter coral colors. __________________ KIRSTEN REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE Reefer stabs Reefer in back over quarrel. Current Tank Info: 150g, 58g

06/14/2008, 08:39 AM	#3
shred5 Premium Member Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: Waukesha , wi Posts: 3,709	Yea they look fine to me.... colors are good.. Dave

06/14/2008, 04:53 PM	#5
tonyespinoza Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: san francisco / palo alto Posts: 1,399	how do you maintain your ca/alk? reactor or 2 part? where do you keep them?

06/15/2008, 01:29 AM	#6
b16drag Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: California Posts: 905	Increase your lighting time... Also with all the "coral" food such as phyto etc, I'm certain your P04 is high. No point in checking it since the tests are usually inaccurate anyways. Try using a phosphate reactor with GFO.

06/15/2008, 07:30 AM	#7
lestat737 Premium Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Canada Posts: 49	"how do you maintain your ca/alk? reactor or 2 part? where do you keep them?" I got a calcium reactor and Ca/Dk are always the same. "Increase your lighting time... Also with all the "coral" food such as phyto etc, I'm certain your P04 is high. No point in checking it since the tests are usually inaccurate anyways. Try using a phosphate reactor with GFO." I got a reactor+Rowaphos Stop feeding the coral.. is out of concern for PO4? So to understand more colors come from more light time period and less food/protein input to the tank? What about he look of the polyps?.. they are thin darken and unequal lenght. They use to be thick and uniform.. what causes that?

06/15/2008, 09:05 AM	#10
tonyespinoza Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: san francisco / palo alto Posts: 1,399	i've seen high alk affect polyp extension. SPS like it nearer natural sea water levels (7.5 - 8) so a lot of folks shoot for 9. i dose phyto and rotofeast regularly and have low P04 thanks to a system i run by Polyp Labs called Reef-resh. it's a slower gentler and much easier to use approach to probiotics such as zeovit. in fact, i've stopped running GFO and my colors and growth have never been better. one issue with GFO is that it is not balanced between P and N uptake so it can inhibit growth of macro algae (if you have a fuge). random question: how are your green SPS corals? i've seen those shift the most in response to nutrient issues... Last edited by tonyespinoza; 06/15/2008 at 09:30 AM.

06/15/2008, 10:33 AM	#11
dphins Last place no more! Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Godfrey, IL Posts: 3,200	How old are your bulbs and what brand are they? __________________ I work with a bunch of monkeys! Current Tank Info: 120 rr tank. Hamilton Cebu light fixture.. Apex controller. ATB 840 v1.5 skimmer. Lifereef calcium reactor with Geo 2nd chamber. Tunze 6100, 6105 and 6045. 40 breeder sump with eheim 1262 return. Pacific coast chiller...

06/16/2008, 07:31 PM	#12
lestat737 Premium Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Canada Posts: 49	ok it seems but then again it very early to say... that the polyp are extending very nicely. I probably will be able to tell for sure at least after 1month. I havent lowered the amount of food. I tested again PO4 and Nitrate. It is still holding at PO4=0ppm, Nitrate 5ppm. I do have a oversized skimmer.. Its rated at 200gallon for my 100 gallon. My light Bulb are brand new 12.5 Phoenix... 6 month Anyone tried adding from Zeovit : Coral Snow, Kaliofluo, Amino Acid?

06/17/2008, 08:08 AM	#13
stevedola Master of my domain Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Rhode Island Posts: 3,340	I add elos AA 2x a week and think its helpalittle with color/PE but I had good color before imo. Ill be snapping pics soon to compare b4 and after. __________________ Cool Club Current Tank Info: 60g 2ft rimless cube tank - ATI 8x24 Sunpower, 2xVortech MP10 wes w/ tunze 6045,Super Reef Octopus 1000, Bubblemagus Doser