Color Enhancement Question for SPS

[pwderhog]

Over the past couple of months, I've taken an interest in SPS mainly to add color and growth to the top half of my tank. Unfortunately, I've only been able to achieve the growth part, not doing so well on the coloration. Basically I've noticed that many pieces have lost its color and vibrance in comparison to what they looked like in the store.

To give you a better idea, below are some pictures I took when I first purchased them and what they look like today. As you can see, the Birds of Paradise and the Stylo have turned to a brownish color. What's puzzling is that growth does not seem to be an issue as you can see in the before and after pictures.

As I peruse the forum, I'm very envious of the photos people are posting of their SPS. Any ideas/tips on how I can improve the coloration on my SPS? Could this be a water chemistry issue? From a lighting perspective, I have 150W MH 14K on top of a 30 gallon tank, could it be lighting? Lastly, the tank runs at a pretty consistent 76 degrees.

Many thanks!

Stylo (May 2010)

Stylo (Today)

Birds of Paradise (August 2010)

Birds of Paradise (Today)



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Setosa (July 2010) - Unrelated to my question above, but I thought this before and after picture was pretty cool. Back in July, the frag was a little more than 1/2 an inch. It's grown at a pretty good clip to about 3.75 inches today!

Setosa (Today)


Full Tank Shot

 

[fishman1069]

I havent kept much SPS but done some reading. Waer chemistry definitley has alot to do with coloration. Heres a thread that talks about different elements and how they affect different colors in SPS http://renegadereefers.org/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=8672

 

[jerl77]

whats your water levels like? cal,kh,mag?

 

[Jakef150]

No idea and im still learning about sps cares

I have few Sps and they haven't lost any colors, one yellow milli turns little brown and little yellow but growing good

My tank - 440 cal , alk 8 , 1380 mg , nit/nit-0 phos-0 and uses pc-r light and reefbrite led blues.
I change water every Saturday

Jake

 

[batt600]

If you what more color the 150 if not stong enuff to bring color out go with 250w MH like 14k or 20k Radium bulbs to bring out color light has alot to do with color. Or you can go with T5 ATI sunpower fixture 4 or 6 bulb.

 

[pwderhog]

I havent kept much SPS but done some reading. Waer chemistry definitley has alot to do with coloration. Heres a thread that talks about different elements and how they affect different colors in SPS http://renegadereefers.org/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=8672

That's an awesome link. I never knew yellow was the baseline color with purple being the hardest color to bring out. The color gradients are very helpful in tracking progress, which can save me some $$$

Thanks!

 

[pwderhog]

whats your water levels like? cal,kh,mag?

Tested my water this morning and parameters are as follows:

Cal = 450
dKH = 6.2 (a bit low, I'd like to bring that up to 10 - 11)
Mag = 1,350
Iodide = 0.01
Strontium = 4
Phosphate = 0.0
Salinity = 1.026

Anything you would recommend bringing up/down?

Thanks!

 

[pwderhog]

I havent kept much SPS but done some reading. Waer chemistry definitley has alot to do with coloration. Heres a thread that talks about different elements and how they affect different colors in SPS http://renegadereefers.org/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=8672

That's an awesome link. I never knew yellow was the baseline color with purple being the hardest color to bring out. The color gradients are very helpful in tracking progress, which can save me some $$$

Thanks!

 

[pwderhog]

I havent kept much SPS but done some reading. Waer chemistry definitley has alot to do with coloration. Heres a thread that talks about different elements and how they affect different colors in SPS http://renegadereefers.org/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=8672

That's an awesome link. I never knew yellow was the baseline color with purple being the hardest color to bring out. The color gradients are very helpful in tracking progress, which can save me some $$$

Awesome resource, thanks Fishman!

 

[pwderhog]

I havent kept much SPS but done some reading. Waer chemistry definitley has alot to do with coloration. Heres a thread that talks about different elements and how they affect different colors in SPS http://renegadereefers.org/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=8672

I havent kept much SPS but done some reading. Waer chemistry definitley has alot to do with coloration. Heres a thread that talks about different elements and how they affect different colors in SPS http://renegadereefers.org/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=8672

That's an awesome link. I never knew yellow was the baseline color with purple being the hardest color to bring out. The color gradients are very helpful in tracking progress, which can save me some $$$ as opposed to spending a boatload of $$$ on what looks cool.

Much appreciated Fisherman

 

[pwderhog]

If you what more color the 150 if not stong enuff to bring color out go with 250w MH like 14k or 20k Radium bulbs to bring out color light has alot to do with color. Or you can go with T5 ATI sunpower fixture 4 or 6 bulb.

I always thought the kelvin rating brings out the color while the wattage helps growth. I have 14k's right now, so I'm curious to see what 20k's look like.

Thanks

 

[reefman]

try stronger lighting as suggested.


note: gradually acclimate the new lights to avoid bleaching.

 

[fishman1069]

Defraise your Alk. Thats below NSW(7 dkh)

 

[prattreef]

Coral coloration is a very complicated and not particularly well understood subject and there are tons of variables---- many that you can't accurately test for or control.

A few general observations/suggestions:

1) 150W. MH lamps are without question strong enough for use on a 30g. system and to suggest otherwise is simply nonsense. If I can use 250W. lamps over my 240G. system...

2) If anything, your corals look a little pale from TOO MUCH light and you might want to cut back your photo period a bit.

3) The coloration on your corals and system actually looks pretty good to me--very nice tank. If anything, I'd look to add some actinic supplementation for just a little shimmer and pop and I think you'd be quite happy.

4) If you are going to try 20K lamps--research them well and make sure that research includes the ballast and reflector combo you have as this makes a big difference in the appearance of individual lamps. Some 20K's are quite nice and others are disgustingly blue.

5) The link posted above is anecdotal info period and the author is of unknown skill/expertise or knowledge. He/she may be on to something, may be totally off base, or may be partially correct, so I wouldn't make too many changes based on that evidence, or if you do, go VERY slowly.

6) How are you measuring PO4? I can pretty much guarantee it is not 0.0--it isn't for any of us. Elevated PO4 can cause browning out in corals.

7) Your ALk. is low as you note. How are you supplementing Ca. and Alk. ?

8) DO NOT make a lot of changes at once or too quickly as you won't be able to tell what has made a difference AND your tank is seemingly in very good shape so we are looking for tweaks here---sometimes better is the enemy of good.

 

[NYreefNoob]

+1 to what randy said, usually brown sps = too high of phosphates. and because something looks one way in one tank doesnt mean it will look the same for you

 

[pwderhog]

6) How are you measuring PO4? I can pretty much guarantee it is not 0.0--it isn't for any of us. Elevated PO4 can cause browning out in corals.

7) Your ALk. is low as you note. How are you supplementing Ca. and Alk. ?

8) DO NOT make a lot of changes at once or too quickly as you won't be able to tell what has made a difference AND your tank is seemingly in very good shape so we are looking for tweaks here---sometimes better is the enemy of good.

Thank you!

6) I'm using Salifert test kits to test individual elements. Regarding PO4, results come out < 0.03ppm, but nowhere near dangerous color levels as indicated on the card.

7) Regarding Ca and Alk dosing, I'm currently using ESV B-Ionic 2 part in equal proportions on a daily basis. Odd thing is that I've never seen the Alk dip so low in the past.

I think the first order of priority is to raise Alk to a more acceptable level. I agree that adding actinic supplementation + 20K MH bulb will go a long way in enhancing the coloration, but good to know that my water parameters generally appear inline with others that are successful in keeping SPS.

 

[kakado]

Nice tank man, I am in the same situation as you, but luckily for me I had a local SPS guru come past my place last night. (he won totm 2 years ago in April I think) Maybe ask one to do the same in your area.

He highlighted the following:
Phosphates must be kept in check. So large water changes weekly can assist, aim to do 20% a week. Possible cause is that I over feed corals, use cyclop eeze and mussel meat. So I am also stopping the coral feeding and monitoring more regularly.

For my 5 month old mixed reef stability of alk is vital, then ca and mg. However with large water changes I don't have to be to concerned about mg, will monitor ca and dose if required.

My RO was also tested and found to be great, so will continue to buy it from current LFS.

If you use NSW you can also test the phosphate levels first to get an idea of how good your source is.

My 2 c, best if luck with your SPS, truly adds another dimentiom to reef keeping. Hope this helps.

Was referred to this:

http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/reefs-magazine/71913-sps-recipe-success.html

Cheers

 

[henrystyle]

Explains why my green acros lost there color. The gang of cheato I have growing sucked up all the iron.

 

[smoq]

Thank you!

6) I'm using Salifert test kits to test individual elements. Regarding PO4, results come out < 0.03ppm, but nowhere near dangerous color levels as indicated on the card.

7) Regarding Ca and Alk dosing, I'm currently using ESV B-Ionic 2 part in equal proportions on a daily basis. Odd thing is that I've never seen the Alk dip so low in the past.

+2 on what Randy said. If you want to raise alkalinity, do it slowly, dose only alkalinity part for a couple of days and test everyday until you bring it to desired level. I think bringing it to 10dkH is not necessary, raise it to 8-9dkH and you're good to go.


The problem with all PO4 test is that it's really hard to read the color chart in all of them, the color transitions are not contrasty enough and it's easy to read the results wrong. I use a hanna colorimeter for PO4, it's the best way to measure PO4 levels accurately.