Please help! Sps getting pale.

[Uprising Rage]

2 weeks ago I bought a new api calcium test kit and it said my calcium was high. 600. So over two weeks from then I haven't been adding any calcium waiting for it to get back to 450 before adding anymore calcium.

3 days ago I did a water change. The day after, I realized two of my acropora frags got very pale. So that day after work I went to the pet store to buy chemipure and a salafert calcium test. Of coarse they didn't have any in stock so I bought another api calcium test.
Last night I tested all the parameters and everything was right in ranfe according to the tests. And added the chemipure to the sump. Now today all the SPS looks pale and unhealthy and no polyps extended. I took the chemipure out of the tank. Today after work I'm going to buy a salafert test from a different store.

I'm thinking that my calcium is super low and those two api test kits are bad.before this everything looked so colorful and healthy. Now the tank looks horrible.

Any ideas what could be doing this?? Something in the water change or the test kit bad? Or am I missing something else? I use tropic Marin salt.

 

[reefiness]

will need some more parameters.... whats your alk, ca, mag, no3, and po4 levels. Also what lights are you running? intensity? photoperiod?

What salt mix are you using? what is your salinity? and what are you using to test salinity?

 

[Uprising Rage]

Everything has been doing great for months and months. Only things that changed was the calcium and water change. All the other parameters are right where they should be. I used my old calcium test down to the last drop so when I bought the new one and it said my calcium was super high I figured the new one was probably right- so I let the calcium level drop for 2 weeks. And now it says it is 480 on the test. Alk is 9 magnesium is 1480 nitrate close to 0. Phosphate close to 0. Ph 8.4 SALINITY 1.026 TEMP 77

 

[Uprising Rage]

Potassium 350. And I did the water change the same as I always do so I don't think it's that. I'm thinking I got 2 bad alk test kits. Would low calcium make corals turn pale to white? If it's not the calcium I really don't know what it could be.

 

[reefiness]

from my experience pale sps is more a sign of a low nutrients and or too high lights. Any chance your no3 and po4 have been trending downward recently, or you have increased the intensity of your lights/changed the bulbs?

I've never personally seen a low calcium level causing anything except for slow growth.

 

[Uprising Rage]

No. I lowered the lights 5% yesterday when I saw the first 2 acropora were looking pale. Cleaned my skimmer when I did a water change... nothing different. Except letting tbe calcium drop over 2 weeks.

 

[Uprising Rage]

I fed heavy last night to get the nutrients up because I was thinking that too. But everything looks worst today. Maybe because I put the chemipure in? I took it out already.

 

[bonomo53]

If both phos and nitrates are at 0 you are starving your corals. What are you testing with?

 

[Uprising Rage]

Api test kits. They were both pretty close to zero when I tested last night. And then I put the chemi pure in probably took out more I had my gf bring a water bottle full of tank water and a test she just bought at pets ware house right now. It's a nutrafin test. The calcium came up 440 when I just tested. I'm thinking it's the chemipure with Low nutrients now that did it. Should I shut.off my skimmer? And feed a lot? Will my sps come back??

 

[reefiness]

You don't want to feed too heavy. Your biologic filtration. Is established to deal with you're normal tank parameters and feeding schedule. If you feed too much you can cause an ammonia alike and that would be much worse than low nutrients.

 

[Donewiththisplace]

Had an sps frag that someone gave me to try..had the same issue with it bleaching out...still get good polyp extension though and it's definitely growing, but has no color.

It's like a white/peach color, very different from it's original blue/green.

Also have very low po4 and no3 readings...ca is at 500.

 

[B.BASH]

what size is your tank? sps hate sudden changes and IME do well with mid levels of po4 and no3. changing calcium levels shouldn't be a big deal over a 2 wk period. fresh chemipure combined with a wc can strip a small aquarium pretty quickly adding clarity can increase light intensity. all sudden changes that can stress sps