Losing color in my corals

[Anonymous]

some philosophical guidelines i've found helpful when dealing w/aquaria related "issues"/problems...

1) it's rarely ever just one thing, there are usually a few minor things, as well, to look at along w/the 'main' cause

2) properly performed simple process of elimination, when correctly applied, will find wherever the problem is/problems are-not finding it means you either didn't look carefully and/or hard enough

3) most "problems" come from missing, overlooking, or simply forgetting the basics

4)everyone gets problems sooner or later-all livings have to die, heh, so in a sense the deck is stacked against you from the very moment you purchase any critter-research, learning, reading etc is the way to pay to enjoy the play (as long as you learn from the 'mistake', it's cool, no ? but do it again, and THEN you're a dumdumpoopoohead

5) fish get cancer, liver or any organ failure, strokes, heart attacks that have nothing to do with the keeper-just like the story of the guy who gets a perfect physical walks out of the dr.'s office and has a heart attack

6)most fish kept in captivity planetwide die w/out the owner knowing exactly why w/out full autopsy forensics, it's always an (hopefully) educated best guess that's in the ballpark-even if a fish is fairly infested w/something and dies-it does not automatically follow that what you see all over the fish is what actualy killed it :idea:

7)always test the physical/chemical parameters first-their breathing doesn't change because of both mood and/or illness , and that's the easiest set of data for elimination there is-in less than one hour a pretty (expletive) accurate and thorough picture of all 'chemical' levels can be done-from temp ph and sg to Ca and strontium, dissolved Oz, etc etc-the only limit is the wallet, as always

8) TEST YOUR (expletive) YOURSELF! don't rely on others to test for you-learn how to do it, and plunk down the bux for decent kits-one day they will pay you back to no end (if i'm gonna get data about my own tank/system's behaviors/issues-+ it better come from me and not some yahoo who's competency level at testing i'm not even sure of ! -but if you have someone you think appears to know his (expletive), and you trust them-by all means, if you haven't the means )

hope you enjoyed this novella

 

[Sea Turtle]

Thanks Vitz, very helpfull. I think that I need to start from the bottom and test everything. Elemination process.

I was deap thinking last night. It could be a litst of a million different things. It could be the residue from the shampo that I use or the hand soap etc... Here is one other thing that I thought of last night that very well could be the problem. I use a large filter bag in the sump catching the water from the tank before it enters into the sump. Every couple weeks it gets crudded up. So, I take it and throw it in the washingmachine with no soap. Just water. Could this be getting saop on it still fro the wash machine and putting it back into the tank? Some one on an old forum told me to do this? :?

Anyway, to save you all the effort, I have already abandoned this method and am no longer using the filter bag. I like it though because it cut down on the little micro bubbles in the display.

 

[Anonymous]

As a general rule, I'd say keep your hands out of the tank as much as possible. As you say, it's incredibly difficult to isolate whatever it is that might be on your hands/arms, if it is that which is causing your problems. Even if it's not, the disturbance from you putting your hands/arms in will cause some stress to fish and coral, no matter what. If there is stuff you need to do, by all means do it, but if you're just tempted to reposition a coral or a bit of LR for aesthetic reasons and it can wait, let it wait.

 

[haven_knight62403]

How far away are the lights also how long do you keep the lights on. Also try Salifert test kits if you can find them.

 

[Sea Turtle]

How far away are the lights also how long do you keep the lights on. Also try Salifert test kits if you can find them.

I use all saliferet test kits for everything except dKH. My light are probably 8 to 10 inches away from the top corals. My zoas are all the way on the botton.

 

[Sea Turtle]

I just got the phoenix 14,000 K and I am very impressed. I have niticed that it has made some of the corals stand out a bit more, but I definently have noticed that there is stilll a color loss. I hooked up the tds meter and it is readin 55 in and 0 out. So, its not that! I was wondering if it could be too much iodine or a potassiom difeciency. Could this be a possible problem?

 

[Anonymous]

I hooked up the tds meter and it is readin 55 in and 0 out. So, its not that! I was wondering if it could be too much iodine or a potassiom difeciency. Could this be a possible problem?

Thanks Vitz, very helpfull. I think that I need to start from the bottom and test everything. Elemination process.

highly doubtful on either being deficient, btw

 

[iseeweed]

I hooked up the tds meter and it is readin 55 in and 0 out.

Wow, You have some good water coming in. My TDS meter reads 120-150 coming in!

 

[Sea Turtle]

I hooked up the tds meter and it is readin 55 in and 0 out.

Wow, You have some good water coming in. My TDS meter reads 120-150 coming in!

Yeah, I kinda though the same thing. I would have thought that TDS would have been much higher coming in. What is the range of tollerability of corals. In other words, how much TDS can then they handle?

 

[kgross]

The amount of TDS in your water means nothing, what that TDS is means a lot if you 400 tds, and it was all calcium magnesium carbonates and bicarbonates, the water would be great.

If you have a tds of 1 and it is all copper, you tank will be dead after a few months.

You just changed your lights. Now give the tank 2 or 3 weeks to stabilize before you try anything else.

Kim

 

[Sea Turtle]

I am really amazed. For those of you that had said that it was most likely my lights, I give you props. It has now been a little more than a full week with the new 14K Phoenix lights. I can't believe how much color has come back into all my corals. It is amazing!! The tubs blue zoa's have almost completely regenerated all their deep blue color and the sps corals are starting to get their deep color back at the growth tips. Thanks for the advice. Also, absolutely love the 14k Phoenix lights. 8O They made my tank look so much better than the 10K.