dosing Iron & Strontium for SPS Coloration

[DJYoshi]

Does anyone out there dose Iron & Strontium separately for increased coloration in their SPS?
Here's some info on my tank. I've attached pictures as well.
8 months old (in the new system). 14 months old (migrated from old system)
skimmer: set to skim a little wet (Reef Octopus Extreme 160)
Other Filtration: Filter Socks. BRS: Phosphate (GFO) & Carbon).
fuge w/ 6" sand bed, macro rocks & chaeto (reverse cycle)

Lights: 1 Blueline 300 watt LED. 1 Current dual T5 fixture (purple plus & blue plus)
Korrallin 1502 Calcium reactor
parameters
75 total gallons
temp: 79 (steady all year round)
ph: 8.2
kh: 9.6
cal: 440
mg: 1350
phosphate: 0.5
nitrate: 15 mq/l

Dosing: aside from feeding w/ Garlic, Amino Acids, Vitamin C...
I dose 2 drops of iodine in weekly. I do a 15 gallon water change weekly

I guess the biggest sign that something is up w/ my system is the superman that you can see on the right side of the tank..it used to be blue base w/ orange long polyps. now you can hardly see the blue base & it's turned to something like a light blue and the polyps went from bright orange now to orange & light green.

A few weeks ago I got a gorgeous purple acro... brown/green base w/ purple polyps & tips.... (right side). over the past week..the base has been getting more brown & green..and only the tips are staying purple...

I was reading that for coloration, it might be best to dose strontium & iron for sps coloration. The red planet (top middle) looks healthy w/ a bright green base & vividly colored polyps. The pink poci has went from being pink/pink to being pink base w/ light green polyps. The only thing that seems to be getting brighter at the tips and base is the tri-color... went from being a dull brown, green & purple tip...to being a tan base, green branches, purple tips.... other acros that were brown branch and brown polyp went to being a brown base with green polyps....

Since I'm fairly new to the hobby and to keeping SPS (started in February), I was wondering what you guys dose...especially the subject of the thread...and what your results have been. Thanks guys.

Here are the pics

 

[cdamiano]

I find purple to be one of the more difficult colors to master for acros. I believe that the higher kelvin type lighting provided by actinics helps to enhance the purple color. Good flow and stabile ALK will also go a long way for all acros.

 

[MIKE NY]

x2.....test before dosing anything. I dose strontium along with a few other things all of which I test for except AAs....

 

[fishieness]

Certain elements will help coloration, but that color wont show if there is so much zooxanthellae that they look brown. Your phosphates are pretty darn high. What test kit are you using? Are you running any type of media?

 

[duke62]

you have alot going on in that tank..ive seen alot of sps tanks with alot of color and mixed reefs alwaysshows less color in sps..your phosphates are probably high along with nitrates.i didnt read the the whole post but saw you needed more color and looked at the pics and saw alot of softies and leathers in there.the best mixed reefs i saw had alot of water volume and constant water testing.

 

[Jzhou]

I agree with the others in that your phosphate and nitrate levels probably have a hand in your coral losing your color. In the past I have used iron and strontium to help return color to bleached corals that I have gotten from other reefers. The thought is that iron helps promote the growth of zooxanthellae that is responsible for the coloration in the coral. However, I cannot say for sure that was what helped return the color or if it was just living in better conditions that returned color to the coral. Also, have you checked your iodine levels? I have heard that iodine also helps play a role in zooxathellae algae growth because it aids in the transport of oxygen in an out of coral tissues. But again, I am not entirely sure of that. Definitely try lowering your phosphate and nitrate levels though before you begin dosing.