SOME ??? need input lps doing good, sps eh..

[btldreef]

okay... some background info i hope i can cover most of whats going on in the tank to give you guys a better idea.
155 custom non bow tank. had t5ho's upgraded to coralife aqualight 72"
3 x 150mh 10k... they are a year old (needs to be changed)
asm g3
40g sump
mag 7 return split into two and eshops overflow?
4 koralia 2s
1 koralia 4
1 aquaclear 50 going to be upgraded to a koralia 4
wavemaker

mixed tank fish and coral lps/sps w/ anenomes

taken w/ halides on
phos <.25ppm
nitrate 3-5ppm maybe take 1 1/2 -2 hours after tank was fed with 1 cube Emerald Entree
calcium 520 ppm .... really high was dosing once a week not full recommended amount of brightwells code a and code b calcium n alk buffer
ph 8.2 -8.4 high range

water change weekly... religiously water sits 24hrs heated and w/ pump salted w/ coralife

tank feeding one cube of emerald entree 2x a day
coral frenzy mon and thurs
marine snow sat after water change with mysis 2x per week

NOW, I know that halide bulbs must be changed yearly... we just bought this light from a fellow mr member so we decided since we were previously running t5hos that we need to adjust the corals to the new lighting accordingly. So, we have left the old bulbs in there and kept the light height 8" away for the first two days then after to 6".

LEFT SIDE 3/4 of the way up almost directly under halide.
ora bird of paradis looks really good full polyps extension
dustins deep water acro color is there w/ pe
RIGHT SIDE 3/4 little less
ora green birds nest looks good lower then other acros full PE
RIGHT SIDE higher then 3/4
green slimer not in direct light brownish from (t5s) but has green polyps coming out
turqoise stag neon blue on each polyp don't see extension bright blue on tips brownsih/pink branch in direct light
green mili higher then stag tips are white, branch light brown (from t5s( looks like turning yellow?? not full polyp extension direct light
marshall island's acro??? was darker green/blueish full PE when first purchased a few days ago, not as much now, lighter neon green at tips and more of a pinkish branch.
monit caps doing awesome... deeper color.

I feel like I might be doing something wrong. Maybe the high calcium is hurting the acros?? possibly my return pump has calcium build up and needs to be cleaned? why are the birdsnests doing soo much better then the rest? thanks for any ideas/comments/help in advance.

 

[ZANYMASTER]

The calcium is a tad high and your Nitrates are as well.What kind of filtration are you running?

 

[btldreef]

The calcium is a tad high and your Nitrates are as well.What kind of filtration are you running?

chemi pure carbon media and phoslock phosphate remover. we change the chemi pure every 2 months and phoslock once a month. i think i have to cut down on feedings, like go to one cube for morning and night feeding. as far as calcium, i am going to do a water change tomorrow and when i do i am going to check out that return pump, see if there is calcium build up.

 

[ZANYMASTER]

Might want to switch to using Rowaphos or Phosban.For a 155,you'll need at least 3 bags of the chemipure unless you're using their giant bags they sell.Or,,just use quality Carbon like ESV.

 

[isgon26]

I would upgrade to 250w halides. I have a 150 gallon tank with lots of SPS and I think 250 watts is necessary for that size tank for the SPS. Also changing the bulbs will do wonders. My SPS were browning out and I put in New bulbs and they came back to normal. Your calcium is high you should aim for 425-450. Your Nitrates are high too. I also have a 40 gallon sump with a deep sand bed in one cahmber with cheato. My nitrates are 0 and have never had a problem. I also have a ASM G3.

 

[btldreef]

thank you guys this means alot. okay as far as chemi pure... it is the big bag. phosban?? i will do research on it but can you enlighten me alittle bit?

did a water change today.... nitrate back down to zero... i am going to change the chemi pure bag tonight. i also cleaned my return pump, no major calcium build up?? but it was filled w/ some waste so that could have contributed to higher nitrate. i did not add prime this water change either i wanted to know true result.

as far as upgrading to 250w halides. i know the ideal lighting is 250w for that deep of a tank but i have a ton of LPS and SOFTIES... i don't want too much strong lighting. all my sps well be withing 10" from the light sources. my calcium is now at 520ppm. not sure what to do about that just yet.

 

[juiceguy]

high phosphate affects the colors on sps, higher the phos, browner the sps will be. try to maintain .02-.05 phos.

250w halides will also improve the colors. as for lps you can always put them closer to the bottom but they usually adjust to the more intense lighting.

 

[cali_reef]

You should skip marine snow feeding or do it before water changes.

What type or water are you using to mix up new water? test the fresh mix water and see if thats not causing problems. How long has the tank been setup? You have any algae growing on the rocks, sand or glass?

Check your Alk and Mg to resolve your high Ca issue.

 

[btldreef]

not for nothing but i believe my calcium test solution might be bad its api and its a year old. just had a local fish store that we trust check our water and our alk was okay i think he said 11. good news though the milli is definitely lightening up and more PE is occurring. the turq stag is getting more blueish and the slimmer ..still brownish has all of its polyps out. maybe the adjustment from t5 to halides could have caused things to act funny??? i tried to suddely bring the halides lower so it would not be such a shock... things are looking better though.

 

[isgon26]

I double that. My lps's are toward the bottom and mid tank are thriving.

high phosphate affects the colors on sps, higher the phos, browner the sps will be. try to maintain .02-.05 phos.

250w halides will also improve the colors. as for lps you can always put them closer to the bottom but they usually adjust to the more intense lighting.