Acros are pale and bland. Please help :(

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

Sahin provides sound advice.
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I agree. I had similar issues and increasing feeding A LOT definitely helped. But I also dose carbon and I increased that to keep algae in check. And I also recently added an ats so I probabaly changed so much in a short time I shouldn't really comment on what worked for me.

But I also wonder what test your using for no3 and po4 and I'm kind of surprised no one asked. If your not using a good test kit then you might have something else going on.
 
Well I used a Hanna checker and an API testing kit for phosphates and go zero readings on both. I just used an API testing kit for nitrates which showed zero.
 
Api is not going to show low readings. The Hanna checker is sworn by on RC. It's suggest another test for nitrates like red sea.

Another thing that hasn't been asked is your light cycle. If it's on way too long that could cause the pale corals& the algae. If it's some what normal then probably not.
 
Scoobysnack77 said:
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?
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Feed the fish a couple times daily; add a few more fish as necessary. Export heavily through filtration and water changes. I was in the same boat in April. Took 3-4 months to notice drastic changes.
 
Scoobysnack77 said:
Well I used a Hanna checker and an API testing kit for phosphates and go zero readings on both. I just used an API testing kit for nitrates which showed zero.
Click to expand...

triggreef said:
Api is not going to show low readings. The Hanna checker is sworn by on RC. It's suggest another test for nitrates like red sea.

Another thing that hasn't been asked is your light cycle. If it's on way too long that could cause the pale corals& the algae. If it's some what normal then probably not.
Click to expand...

If keeping SPS corals, those tests kits are pretty useless. Pickup a decent test kit like the Hanna Photometers or the new Elos High Resolution Phosphate kit.

Its a good question regarding your light hours? If you are running your halide more than around 9 hours then I'd say definitely cut this back to no more than 8 hours for a while to see what happens.

I''l be honest here and admit that I assumed you had all the basics covered like having test kits which people rate highly etc...everyone bashes API test kits especially for PO4 because the first reading on the scale is around 0.25ppm...

So,

1. How long is your photoperiod?

2. How old are the Halide bulbs?

3. What brand etc are the halide bulbs?

4. You state Salinity as 1.027, what are you using to measure? If using Refractometer, has it been calibrated properly? - You might want to get your LFS to measure you Salinity for you...eg if your device is out by a little bit, it could mean you true salinity could be as high as 1.030 for example.

5. What brand of Carbon are you using? Eg if using BRS Rox, this is KNOWN to be VERY powerful and can strip the water causing SPS to become pale.

6. How often do you carry out water changes and what amount?

7. Are you getting coralline algae growing on your rocks and glass?

8. Are you aware of Redbugs and AEFW's and have you tested for these pests?
 
My photo period is 6 hours due to my lighting being a pair of 250 watt metal halides over a 75 gallon tank. Jason fox was telling me it was overkill .my bulbs are brand new reef bright twin arc 20k bulbs. I check my salinity with a pinpoint checker and I calibrate it before every use to be sure. I'm using brs lignite carbon. I do a ten gallon water change weekly for a 75 gallon.i do have coralline algae growth but not as much as I did when I first set up the tank.ive never tested for redbugs. The only thing I noticed was bristle worms and copapods so far
 
Scoobysnack77 said:
I was thinking of getting a salifert nitrate testing kit. As for my light cycle , I run my metal halides for 6 hours a day
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Scoobysnack77 said:
My photo period is 6 hours due to my lighting being a pair of 250 watt metal halides over a 75 gallon tank. Jason fox was telling me it was overkill .my bulbs are brand new reef bright twin arc 20k bulbs. I check my salinity with a pinpoint checker and I calibrate it before every use to be sure. I'm using brs lignite carbon. I do a ten gallon water change weekly for a 75 gallon.i do have coralline algae growth but not as much as I did when I first set up the tank.ive never tested for redbugs. The only thing I noticed was bristle worms and copapods so far
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Salifert Nitrate kit is fine. Salifert PO4 doesnt pick up any readings as soon as PO4 gets close to 0.1ppm. I have a brand new Salifert PO4 kit sitting around, and whilst my Hanna ULR and Elos HiRes kits pick up PO4 in my tank, the Salifert doesnt.

Your lighting hours is just fine. Yes, 2x250w on a 75G is on the higher side, IMO however, its not too much. I realise Jason Fox is someone who definitely knows what he is doing, but IMO your lights isnt the issue here.

You can start an SPS frag on the bottom of the tank...and leave it there...does it still fade? I doubt the PAR on the sand is crazy high.

If you can get hold of a PAR meter you can test out the PAR that is falling over some of your SPS.

If I were you, I'd just read up on SPS pests and carry out a few tests/inspections etc to eliminate any potential pest issue.

I think I've covered as much as I can on this topic. I suggest you search the forum for "pale SPS" threads and have a good read of them as well.

Good luck. Do post back if and when things better to let us know what you did and what resolved the issue. :)
 
To add to Sahin's list what reflectors do you use? Quality reflectors (Lumenxxx type) with a higher par 250 could be a lot of light for a lowish nutrient tank.

I agree with the feed more and handle algae with a CUC. I have never had any luck starving algae out with nutrient control alone. Nutrients low enough to kill algae in my tank will pale out SPS and completely stop growth.
 
IMO you need to get a good clean up crew first and get the algae under control! Manual removal or whatever it takes! Take the rocks you can out and scrub that junk off there. You will be removing a lot of organics but it will give your cuc a great head start.

I think this is very important because the algae could be using all the available po4 and no before the corals have a chance. I don't think just dumping food in the tank will help much until the algae is at least restricted some way.

Once you get a good clean up crew and get the algae down then you can actually feed your corals and it won't be ate by and fuel green hair algae growth! Jmo
 
i totally agree with Sahin, you should follow his recommendations. Samething happened to me , my tangs wouldn't want to touch the hair algae until it has very short filaments so i start removing as much as i could and toothed brushed each rock and after that the tangs started eating.
 
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