Acros are pale and bland. Please help :(

[Scoobysnack77]

Ive had quite a few acros in my tank for about 6 months now and i stopped adding them to my year old tank because the colors are nothing like the pics i saw online of them. They had more color when they arrived in the mail. Their growth rate has been pretty slow as well. Here is a glimpse into my system and the testing i did today. Please help me get the color back right now I'm running a 75 gallon tank with a 15 gallon sump which contains live rock, tons of chaeto algae and my in sump tunze protein skimmer. my lighting is a pair of 250watt metal halides (20k bulbs) with blue LED strips on them. for flow i have an vortex mp40 and an mp10 so the water is moving quite a bit. my test results for today were salinity 1.027, ALK 9.2, nitrate 0ppm, phosphate 0ppm, calcium 450, magnesium 1500 and potassium is at 400. I'm currently dosing alk,ca and mag with bubble magus dosing pump. i feed the tank every other day with phytoplankton, oyster eggs, and oyster feast. and i feed my fish brine shrimp daily.

 

[Scoobysnack77]

oh i also forgot to mention that I'm running GFO and carbon in a dual reactor

 

[Jettareefer]

I think your nutrients may be to low. I saw your nitrates & phosphates are both at 0 you may want to take you reactor offline.

 

[Scoobysnack77]

i just put it back online this week because i thought maybe my tests were wrong. this problem has been ongoing. i have hair algae growing in my display tank still so i figured i have to have too much phosphate. i also figured the gfo would help take care of my hair algae problem. u still think i should stop the gfo for now?

 

[sahin]

Ive had quite a few acros in my tank for about 6 months now and i stopped adding them to my year old tank because the colors are nothing like the pics i saw online of them. They had more color when they arrived in the mail. Their growth rate has been pretty slow as well. Here is a glimpse into my system and the testing i did today. Please help me get the color back right now I'm running a 75 gallon tank with a 15 gallon sump which contains live rock, tons of chaeto algae and my in sump tunze protein skimmer. my lighting is a pair of 250watt metal halides (20k bulbs) with blue LED strips on them. for flow i have an vortex mp40 and an mp10 so the water is moving quite a bit. my test results for today were salinity 1.027, ALK 9.2, nitrate 0ppm, phosphate 0ppm, calcium 450, magnesium 1500 and potassium is at 400. I'm currently dosing alk,ca and mag with bubble magus dosing pump. i feed the tank every other day with phytoplankton, oyster eggs, and oyster feast. and i feed my fish brine shrimp daily.

I see TWO issues here:

1. Coral starvation

2. Algae issues - ie the algae behind the frag in the 1st pic.

Have a GOOD read of this thread: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2357136

I would stop the GAC, if you must use GAC use 1/4 of the amount. But keep the GFO running in small amounts and test your PO4; you need some measurable PO4, somewhere around 0.03ppm to control the algae.

Start feeding your fish MUCH more (feed, stuff like PE Mysis, Flake foods, Rod's food etc). Carry out at least 20% weekly water changes.

Before each water change BLAST the rocks with a turkey baster to get the detritus into the water column. If you can manually remove as much of the algae as possible. Try and ID the algae and get appropriate CUC.

Within a month you should start to see progress. Good luck. And report back on the what.

 

[Scoobysnack77]

yes i do have a hair algae problem thats why i started to use gfo thinking my phosphates were too high. but I've always gotten 0PPM readings with phosphates and nitrates too. u think i should get more fish? i only have 1 goby, 1 damsel, a wrasse and a royal gramma. i was thinking of getting a purple or powder blue tang to feast on the algae but i only have a 75 gallon tank is that too small? i will take the carbon out now. should i ever use carbon again?

 

[sahin]

yes i do have a hair algae problem thats why i started to use gfo thinking my phosphates were too high. but I've always gotten 0PPM readings with phosphates and nitrates too. u think i should get more fish? i only have 1 goby, 1 damsel, a wrasse and a royal gramma. i was thinking of getting a purple or powder blue tang to feast on the algae but i only have a 75 gallon tank is that too small? i will take the carbon out now. should i ever use carbon again?

To combat the algae issue:

I would look to really beefing up the CUC. Are you in the USA? If so, then you are lucky to have access to online places where you can order a whole load of CUC for your tank-at good prices too.

You can get a Kole Tang or a Tomini Tang, which are a bit smaller max sized. You can also get an Algae Blenny.

However, there is NO guarantee that those fishes will eat your algae. You might get lucky and a fish you buy might go nuts eating all the algae, but its not a certainty. To deal with the algae, you need to try and manually remove as much as possible, run GFO to keep PO4 low and get a good CUC.

My tank had hair algae about 6 months ago as I was fighting a very high PO4 level for a long time. I just slowly upped the GFO, beefed up my CUC (lots of different snails-Trochus, Astrea, Mexican Turbos etc, Hermits; red legged and blue legged). You can also get a seahare as well. I also blasted my rocks before a water change to reduce detritus that the algae could be feeding on.

I dont have any algae anymore. In fact, nutrients went so low in my tank that I didnt need to even wipe down the glass for 7-8. Now with a lot of feeding I wipe my glass clean every 2-3 days.

Algae can survive even when you take PO4 down. It requires a multi approach attack to get rid of it.

With regards to the corals, if you follow the advice on that thread I linked you should see results within a month or two.

 

[DopeCantWin]

To combat the algae issue:

I would look to really beefing up the CUC. Are you in the USA? If so, then you are lucky to have access to online places where you can order a whole load of CUC for your tank-at good prices too.

You can get a Kole Tang or a Tomini Tang, which are a bit smaller max sized. You can also get an Algae Blenny.

However, there is NO guarantee that those fishes will eat your algae. You might get lucky and a fish you buy might go nuts eating all the algae, but its not a certainty. To deal with the algae, you need to try and manually remove as much as possible, run GFO to keep PO4 low and get a good CUC.

My tank had hair algae about 6 months ago as I was fighting a very high PO4 level for a long time. I just slowly upped the GFO, beefed up my CUC (lots of different snails-Trochus, Astrea, Mexican Turbos etc, Hermits; red legged and blue legged). You can also get a seahare as well. I also blasted my rocks before a water change to reduce detritus that the algae could be feeding on.

I dont have any algae anymore. In fact, nutrients went so low in my tank that I didnt need to even wipe down the glass for 7-8. Now with a lot of feeding I wipe my glass clean every 2-3 days.

Algae can survive even when you take PO4 down. It requires a multi approach attack to get rid of it.

With regards to the corals, if you follow the advice on that thread I linked you should see results within a month or two.

I have mixed emotions on your solution. Adding fish will likely require further feedings. Snails might be the better choice. Although in general I agree.

 

[sahin]

I have mixed emotions on your solution. Adding fish will likely require further feedings. Snails might be the better choice. Although in general I agree.

Look at my first post in the thread. Nowhere in that post did I suggest adding fishes to consume algae.

I didnt tell the OP to add fish to combat their algae issue...it was brought up by the OP. Re-read my post. I even bolded and stated that fish may not even eat the algae.

I stated: "To deal with the algae, you need to try and manually remove as much as possible, run GFO to keep PO4 low and get a good CUC".

The OP expressed an interest to get a tang, hence I gave appropriate suggestions...

Look at my first post in the thread. Nowhere in that post did I suggest adding fishes to consume algae.

 

[sahin]

Snails might be the better choice.

If you read my 2nd post properly you would have seen that I gave suggestions for 3 different snails...not only that I suggested hermits as well.

It just feels like you didnt read my post properly or understood the context or the content.

 

[Scoobysnack77]

Well I'm confused because i have a few people telling me to feed more heavily because i have a zero nitrate and phosphate reading which is starving my corals. they told me to stop running gfo and carbon for now. but then i hear to keep running gfo. I'm just confused. do you think this could be a lighting issue since I'm running two 250 watt metal halides over a 75 gallon tank?

 

[Scoobysnack77]

ok, i will add a better clean up crew asap. but what about my acros becoming pale ? i just started to feed every other night a DIY clam,shrimp,oyster and mussel puree to try to get some sort of nitrate and phosphate reading. is that a good idea when i got algae growing all over the place?

 

[Scoobysnack77]

this is what i wanna kno. how can i have an algae problem and have no phosphate and nitrate ? its almost impossible right?

 

[ReefCowboy]

I had the exact same issue. Was running Rox carbon and fed very lightly. Added more fish and the colors came back. If you are running a good quality carbon, do less than half of the recommended dosage and feed more. That should fix the color problem

 

[fishguy597]

I would continue to use the gfo and maybe pull the carbon. Btw what type of carbon are you running ? Are you using ro/di water ? Tds?I think the advise that has been given to you is good. The snails are going to help along with manual removal.

 

[fishguy597]

How old are your bulbs ?

 

[sahin]

ok, i will add a better clean up crew asap. but what about my acros becoming pale ? i just started to feed every other night a DIY clam,shrimp,oyster and mussel puree to try to get some sort of nitrate and phosphate reading. is that a good idea when i got algae growing all over the place?

I've been in the same position...hence why I am trying to help you. I've seen so many of these threads come up on the SPS forum over the years...And trust me, I SPEND A LOT OF TIME ON THE RC SPS FORUM. In fact 95% of my time I spend here. Been browsing this forum for over 10 years...have seen the same issues come up again and again. I'm not saying that I am know it all...far from it.

But I am sitting here writing these long posts because I feel that I can help you.

People will always give differing information...its down to you to decide whose advice to take. Its part of the forum.

Here is a photo of one of my corals which was browned out and not too happy looking, take note of the polyps...they dont look "full" and happy":

There were others like this one...some others were just PALE sort of brown.

Here it is a recent shot, not only has colour improved, but take note of the polyps:

Another shot of it, notice the healthy tissue and polyps:

This piece was just a light creamy brown, now its got nice shimmering colour in it:

The coral on the right was another pale and just light brown, now it has very good colour along with lots of fluorescence:

this is what i wanna kno. how can i have an algae problem and have no phosphate and nitrate ? its almost impossible right?

It is VERY possible that you can have lots of crappy nuisance algae and yet have zero NO3 and PO4 readings.

Most people will go for the GFO and GAC and try to fight nuisance algae this way...in most cases it doesnt work. And it starves your SPS corals which turn pale and brown looking.

The method I prescribed, will slowly take care of the algae issue, and at the same time nourish your corals and get them healthy and colourful.

My method isnt the ONLY way...but it works for me. And it has worked for others I or others have advised.

This is a post from that link that I advised you read:

This has been a great thread to read and follow and the initial diagnosis and solution presented here has definitely hit home with me as well. I too used to have very similar symptoms with my SPS as the OP presented and also very similar tank parameters: very little growth and not so good coloration on my SPS. The solution for me as well was also to increase feeding even though I had some hair algae issues. I now have an automatic feeder that feeds 4 times a day and I also feed a pinch of cyclopeeze once or twice a day. My Kh and Ca consumption rate has gone way up as well in the past four months from about 60 ml per day to around 100.

From my experience, the key is what sahin suggested earlier: high import and high export. From when I started keeping SPS almost three years ago all I heard was "keep your PO4 and nitrates low" when in practice it seems to be more of feed as much as you can while still keeping PO4 around 0.03 and low nitrates. This has been my experience at least and what I have learned about my tank.

Also, I have very little HA any more, lol. This is reverse of what I would have thought as well, however; I did increase my water changes from 1 gallon a day to still 1 gallon a day plus a 5 gallon WC once a week (90 gallon system).

Congrats Koralcrazy!

Note the bits I bolded.

 

[Scoobysnack77]

yes I'm running carbon i got from bulk reef supply . it wasn't cheap so I'm guessing it was of high quality. my bulbs are brand new and they are reef brides twin arc bulbs which are designed to hold the right spectrums longer due to having two filaments

 

[Scoobysnack77]

Thank you so much Sahin for your advice and time. I'm gonna try feeding more, get a mega clean up crew and cut my gfo- carbon reactor for awhile. also i have a pair of 250 watt metal halides over a 75 gallon tank. is that overkill?

 

[ridetheducati]

Well I'm confused...

Welcome to Reef Central. You will develop the skill of separating information from misinformation.

Sahin provides sound advice.