Lets talk SPS

[lnevo]

Did some searches...either gall crab or levels some pointing to alk and mag.

 

[Dimitrios91]

Unless it's the tiniest crab around, only crabs I have are two emerald crabs and 3 hermits, they stay under the rocks, until the Halides are off then they come up and pick at the gha issue.

My parameters are Mg 1360 Kh 9 Ca 430
Salinity is 1.026 Ph 8.2 Temp 78
0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrite, 0 Nitrate, 0.02 Phos
My lighting period is 9am-7pm actinic, 11am-5pm Halides. I use 2=250w Phoenix Hexarc 14K bulbs and ATI Coral +, ATI Blue +, 2 ATI True Blue
Dose BRS Two Part
Via Aqua Reactor running Continuum GFO

 

[lnevo]

Yeah tiny...live inside. Otherwise no idea.

 

[Dimitrios91]

Yeah tiny...live inside. Otherwise no idea.

Ugh, how do you rid of that without damaging the skin on the coral, I'm surprised it hasn't peeled on me, if that's the case

 

[SteveZ15]

Question for sps guys..I have a 40 breeder thats pro way over stocked. Its about 60%sps 40%lps and some zoas.. I have decent growth good pe. I notice my sps are not as vivid as I want, kinda pastel colors of what they should be at least in my eyes.I know its not alk swings since i broke up my manual dose to#x a day and just got my doser today.I do 10 gal water changes using rc once a week some times every 5 days.I know for a fact its not lack of nutrients since I have some algae here and there.I dont dose mag but it runs on the high side around 1500. The tank gets 30ml part one and 2. alk 10 and cal 460. I removed the sand in fuge a month ago and most of the sand in the display just a dusting to cover the bottom and slightly deeper for the snails that live there.Removing the sand helped with phos and I am dosing less it was 45ml the sand was sucking it up.I was reading about potassium Iodide and strontium and Molybdenum. I never thought about these elements thinking water changes take care of this.I stoped using pellets and now use artic pods oyster roe and rods food 2x a day and a few drops of pods here and there because the anthias is always hungry. Its not from the light which is 2 150 14k phoniex and 4 ati blue plus t5 as the color was lost over a period of a month or so.I test everything and its 10 alk test everyother day cal460 every week nitrate .05 to .10 and phos 0-.04 depending on test usually a avg of 3 tests run back to back same sample just read 3 times on hanna checker,since they tend to give different readings.I just dont wanna keep making adjustments that are not needed.Should I be looking into getting test kits for these trace elements? I feel like I am missing something.I thought it was the lighting so I lowered the unit closer to the water and the green slimer at the top bleached the next day so I raised the unit and ruled out light starvation.Keep in mind I am still a fairly new Reefer my tank is 300 days old,yes its a young tank for sps ,but growth and pe are there just not that bold bright color.Anything that can be shared will be helpfull or anyones experience in what they do to maintain color in sps.Just trying to pick the more experienced peoples brains for some pointers.

 

[jedimaster1138]

Question for sps guys..I have a 40 breeder thats pro way over stocked. Its about 60%sps 40%lps and some zoas.. I have decent growth good pe. I notice my sps are not as vivid as I want, kinda pastel colors of what they should be at least in my eyes.I know its not alk swings since i broke up my manual dose to#x a day and just got my doser today.I do 10 gal water changes using rc once a week some times every 5 days.I know for a fact its not lack of nutrients since I have some algae here and there.I dont dose mag but it runs on the high side around 1500. The tank gets 30ml part one and 2. alk 10 and cal 460. I removed the sand in fuge a month ago and most of the sand in the display just a dusting to cover the bottom and slightly deeper for the snails that live there.Removing the sand helped with phos and I am dosing less it was 45ml the sand was sucking it up.I was reading about potassium Iodide and strontium and Molybdenum. I never thought about these elements thinking water changes take care of this.I stoped using pellets and now use artic pods oyster roe and rods food 2x a day and a few drops of pods here and there because the anthias is always hungry. Its not from the light which is 2 150 14k phoniex and 4 ati blue plus t5 as the color was lost over a period of a month or so.I test everything and its 10 alk test everyother day cal460 every week nitrate .05 to .10 and phos 0-.04 depending on test usually a avg of 3 tests run back to back same sample just read 3 times on hanna checker,since they tend to give different readings.I just dont wanna keep making adjustments that are not needed.Should I be looking into getting test kits for these trace elements? I feel like I am missing something.I thought it was the lighting so I lowered the unit closer to the water and the green slimer at the top bleached the next day so I raised the unit and ruled out light starvation.Keep in mind I am still a fairly new Reefer my tank is 300 days old,yes its a young tank for sps ,but growth and pe are there just not that bold bright color.Anything that can be shared will be helpfull or anyones experience in what they do to maintain color in sps.Just trying to pick the more experienced peoples brains for some pointers.

If you are doing water changes that frequently it's highly unlikely that it's a trace element issue. I wouldn't spend the $ on the trace kits just yet.

I'm not clear on your nitrate reading... what test kit is that? is that .05 PPM? What's your fish load look like?

If things are growing and PE is there, then you're correct in that it's probably not light starvation.

Pictures wouldn't hurt.

The only thing I can think of, assuming Nitrates are quite low is that perhaps you want to change one or 2 of the Blue+ bulbs to something that will better stimulate color florescence. Say swap out a Blue+ for a True Actinic. But don't spend $ just yet till you rule out chemistry.

The system could still be adjusting to removing the biopellets and the sand too...

 

[SteveZ15]

I use the salifert kit using the low range reading its barely pink so its hard to judge the colors.The fish I have are a pj cardinal,2 small clowns,small pink anthias,and a small dotty back.I will try to get pics I cant get the camera to pick up the color correctly it looks really blue.I am gonna re calibrate my ph probe just to be sure.Its when I see some tanks the color is night and day compare to mine.It might just be that its a kinda young tank and I am in the learning stage of sps.

 

[jedimaster1138]

I use the salifert kit using the low range reading its barely pink so its hard to judge the colors.The fish I have are a pj cardinal,2 small clowns,small pink anthias,and a small dotty back.I will try to get pics I cant get the camera to pick up the color correctly it looks really blue.I am gonna re calibrate my ph probe just to be sure.Its when I see some tanks the color is night and day compare to mine.It might just be that its a kinda young tank and I am in the learning stage of sps.

When you run out of Salifert nitrate reagent, I *HIGHLY* recommend the Red Sea Nitrate kit. It's actually usable and readable. The best part though is that you can get reagent refills when you run out for much cheaper than buying a whole new kit like you have to with Salifert. But most importantly, the test is readable.

You are not at all overstocked on fish, that's for sure. Your PO4 readings are low. You feed normally, so that's good. You could probably even feed more if you wanted to with those chemistry stats. I'm a big fan of cyclopeeze myself. I bet your nitrate levels are indeed real low, which is great. Feel free to ignore my not understanding the NO3 levels as measured, as I think they are really low given your situation and husbandry.

I think if I were you I'd keep to a weekly or bi-weekly water change schedule (not more than 10g at a time) and just... be patient, hard as that sounds. With all the changes you made to your system in the past month, the SPS are probably adjusting. The fact that you have PE and growth is a huge plus. If you didn't have PE and growth, then you'd have a need to worry. I had none from my acropora under my LED's which is what led me to switch to T5, as it turns out, too late for some of the frags which never came back. But many have, and those are turning into my best pieces. I won't go on a T5 vs LED rant though

If you find yourself buying stuff in the near future, grab an actinic bulb while you're at it, but don't go out of your way throwing $ at the problem...the ATI one is called True Actinic. If might enhance things a little, but like I said, could just be SPS adjusting to a lot of changes.

Anyway, yeah I get what you are saying with the colors and photography. Without an dSLR and at least some photography knowledge, it's hard. I've mostly given up on trying to get good pictures of coral.

PS - are you bulbs, T5 or MH very old? You sound like you know what you are doing so I assume you are keeping to a reasonable bulb change period.

PPS - how are the colors on your LPS/zoas etc?

 

[duke62]

Are you seeing peoples tanks personally or looking at pics. I can tell you from expierence Ive seen peoples tanks whos colors look amazing in pics to where i say what am I doing wrong then when i go to their house they look nothing like what they posted and then I say damn my colors are so much better LOL

 

[lnevo]

are you seeing peoples tanks personally or looking at pics. I can tell you from expierence ive seen peoples tanks whos colors look amazing in pics to where i say what am i doing wrong then when i go to their house they look nothing like what they posted and then i say damn my colors are so much better lol

+1

 

[jedimaster1138]

Are you seeing peoples tanks personally or looking at pics. I can tell you from expierence Ive seen peoples tanks whos colors look amazing in pics to where i say what am I doing wrong then when i go to their house they look nothing like what they posted and then I say damn my colors are so much better LOL

This.

Duke makes a very good point. All coral photos look real good when they get some attention in Photoshop/LightRoom :type:

 

[SteveZ15]

The mh are almost at 8 months the t5 at 4,Knowing what I am doing..I am getting the hang of it. The lps are fine the zoas are pretty good except my yellow and purple.The few montis and zoas did lighten up a bit since I bought them.Its like they dropped 2 shades on a color chart.I am suspecting it was pro lingering from the slight mishaps i had.I was getting worried because of the cleaner water lately that I might have been missing something.Some tanks I see have better color than mine but not crazy like pics I havent personally seen.But some members I bought frags from had better color than mine.Here is a pic before things went foul for a min look at the monti caps it looks pink instead of red and the big green one is like light brownish.Some things have change I lost the colony on the sandbed but they were cheap so not so bad and added some new rock and a ton of new stuff.Thanks for adding suggestions it helps me learn.

 

[mbg75]

The mh are almost at 8 months the t5 at 4,Knowing what I am doing..I am getting the hang of it. The lps are fine the zoas are pretty good except my yellow and purple.The few montis and zoas did lighten up a bit since I bought them.Its like they dropped 2 shades on a color chart.I am suspecting it was pro lingering from the slight mishaps i had.I was getting worried because of the cleaner water lately that I might have been missing something.Some tanks I see have better color than mine but not crazy like pics I havent personally seen.But some members I bought frags from had better color than mine.Here is a pic before things went foul for a min look at the monti caps it looks pink instead of red and the big green one is like light brownish.Some things have change I lost the colony on the sandbed but they were cheap so not so bad and added some new rock and a ton of new stuff.Thanks for adding suggestions it helps me learn.

Alot of people actually aim for lighter colors. Just judging by the pink cap, it looks like low nutrients.
I'd bet that your nitrate really is as low as the test shows.

 

[SteveZ15]

How can I up the nitrates without upping the phos.Should I try the amino acid or something else to add?

 

[lnevo]

Sodium nitrate seems to be the choice apparently you can get it at a garden center...I think there's some planted tank products you can get as well that is the same thing. It's basically fertilizer..

Your other choice is to feed more...also you could raise the temp of your tank which will increase fish metabolism...

I would just feed heavier...

 

[mbg75]

Seachem flourish nitrogen

 

[jedimaster1138]

If you have been wanting to add another small fish or 2, and feed a little more, you can definitely fit that into your bioload. It would probably help feed the corals a bit. Fish poop is the best coral food! You could also do something like dose amino acids (red sea, elos, kz) gently, not the full dose at first (or ever even) but I'd favor adding a little more bio and just waiting things out first.

I think that True Actinic bulb towards the front of your bulb array might help bring things out a little too, especially glowing greens. Otherwise I wouldn't sweat it all to much. Let your changes settle out, see where nutrient levels are in a few months.

 

[Rob&Gab]

FOund this, Its some great stuff to read.!

http://reefbuilders.com/2013/06/26/coral-color-indication-success-health/

 

[SteveZ15]

That makes a good point I was assuming they were slightly stressed because they had less color.

 

[SteveZ15]

So I got red sea nitrate .. it clearly read .75.. I got the doser hooked up and I added some amino .and 2 days later I am starting to see more color on some frags.. I wonder if its the stability of the doser or the amino,I added 1/2 the dose on the bottle. Its wierd its like on some frags and the green monti polyps are out like crazy but the color of the coral is like a pale off white color and grows not crazy fast but it grows.. I just dont get it.