Acros & Monties very pale but growing fast - Picture

[Montreal Ray]

Hi Guys,

I've scratched my head long enough, time to ask the pros

My SPS corals seem to growing at a pretty fast rate. My frags will cover the plug in a little less than 2 months. The problem is that 90% of my corals are very very pale. Some monties have white PE, great PE and growth over plugs and rock but they are literally white.

This is one of the better ones as it managed to maintain some of it's green, a little pale but still green

At first I thought that maybe it was the lighting but I came to the conclusion that it is not. Some of the very pale monties at 1/2 to 3/4 way below the surface and there is no way that T5's would cause that at 15" to 20" dept. Right? I have 6x T5 HO TEK about 6" off the water line.

I think I have narrowed it down to 2 possible culprits. Lack of nutrience and / or DSB . I have never been able to detect PO nor Nitrate with my test kits (API and ELOS). My dual refuge and over sized skimmer do a great job at polishing the water. maybe to great of a job?

My sump consists of

1st 33gallon tank contains my DSB (in a very low water flow section) > Drain form main - into filter sock > Carbon reactor > CR pump > Bubble Manus NAC7 Skimmer > Heater

This sump drains into sump number 2

2nd 33 gallon tank contains some live rock > ENORMOUS amount of cheato, an easy 2 basketballs worth > return pump

A little more about my set-up

60ish gallon main
2 tangs, 3 clowns, 1 firefish. Fish are fed 2-3 times per day)
CAL 450 , ALK 9 with Deltec Calcium reactor
Mag 1350-1400 with Kent additive (dose 5-6ML's daily)
Salt 35
Temp 80-81
PH 7.9 - 8.0
PO undetectable
Nitrate undetectable
5-10 gallon water change every 2 weeks.

I have been adding 3 drops of Zeo AA's every 2-3 days in hope to feed the corals a little more. I have not seen much of an increase in color if any.

I have read a few times that DSB's are not the best choice with SPS tanks as they will remove too many nutrients, starving the corals.This true? I was planning on removing the DSB anyway due to the fact that it will eventually become a ticking time bomb and I figure I have enough with the cheato.

I will post more pictures tonight.

Please help me as I can not figure this out.

 

[jc-reef]

I had a very similar issue with my tank with pale colors...but good growth. I was pulling my hair out until someone told me that I may be lacking Iodine/Iodide...potassium iodide to be more accurate. I first dosed about 1/2 of what the bottle said to dose (I can always add more) and in a matter of days, I noticed all my acros and monti caps deepening in color....truley amazing!! In fact, the very next day, all my LPS were really poofy and expanded...more so than ever before. I dosed in my overflow to get good mixing in sump before entering tank. I dosed each day for about a week, and then have slowed down to about 2-3 times a week...same 1/2 of what bottle says.


Shortly after that I also started to feed my tank a few squirts of Phyto-live/Roti/Oyster Feasts 1/2 hr before lights turned off and turned skimmer off and let run for about 4 hrs with no filtration to let corals feed. I do this 2 times a week. It has been a month and it seems like everything in the tank is really taking off with new growth and also much deeper colors.

The Iodide (potassium iodide) and some of the 'Feasts' may help your situation....I would try the Iodide first.

good luck.

 

[ZR1001]

what brand of potassium iodine are you using?

 

[jc-reef]

what brand of potassium iodine are you using?

It is REEF IODIDE from Seachem. My LFS carried it so I gave it a try. The makeup is 'potassium iodiDE' not potassium IodiNE'. From what I read, IodiDE is non-toxic where as Iodine can be very toxic, even in small amounts. You can search in RC for a thread that gets into greater detail.

 

[Montreal Ray]

Thanks JC! I will look further into this and purchase some ASAP

Here are some more pics. Kinda hard to see since they are over exposed...crappy camera.

thanks!

 

[ZR1001]

Thanks JC. I will give it a try. I have the same problem and dosing iodiNE didn't help.

 

[jc-reef]

Montreal Ray...wow those are some bleached looking corals. How LONG do you run your lights for each day?

 

[maestro]

Hi,

I had the same problem, all my acros and montis were bleached out and very pale, I tried feeding more feed to my fish and that helped a touch but not alot to be honest.


I did some research and then decided to dose Grotech ABC which is 3 part trace element formula, within a week a saw an improvement in coral colours and after 2 months some corals are nearly back to normal.

I think a trace element formula and possibly some amino acids with have a big effect.

 

[catman78]

How many days have you been dosing the AA's? It will take a few weeks to notice any change.

In your case I would have started with Zeo Coral Vitalizer as a food source. You may want to add CV to regiment.

I use both @ half of the bottles recommended maximum daily dose.
Colors and PE have improved quite well. It took a few weeks to start seeing improvement.

The Zeo additives are VERY concentrated, so start slowly.

Good Luck.

 

[Montreal Ray]

Montreal Ray...wow those are some bleached looking corals. How LONG do you run your lights for each day?

I run them 13 hours per day, however, 2 are on from 8am to 9pm and the other 4 turn on at noon and off at 6pm.

Hi,

I had the same problem, all my acros and montis were bleached out and very pale, I tried feeding more feed to my fish and that helped a touch but not alot to be honest.


I did some research and then decided to dose Grotech ABC which is 3 part trace element formula, within a week a saw an improvement in coral colours and after 2 months some corals are nearly back to normal.

I think a trace element formula and possibly some amino acids with have a big effect.

Thanks! I will deff. look into more products to dose, cant hurt at this point.

How many days have you been dosing the AA's? It will take a few weeks to notice any change.

In your case I would have started with Zeo Coral Vitalizer as a food source. You may want to add CV to regiment.

I use both @ half of the bottles recommended maximum daily dose.
Colors and PE have improved quite well. It took a few weeks to start seeing improvement.

The Zeo additives are VERY concentrated, so start slowly.

Good Luck.

I have been adding AA's for about 6-7 weeks. I forgot to mention I also add 1 TS of Coral frenzy once a week.

thanks!
Ray

 

[parkavenuereef]

Montreal ray, I posted a similar post just now.. looks like were in the same boat.. I believe its to much light as some are suggesting about mine... What exactly are you dosing for potassium iodide? I have been using kents potassium and ZOE amino acids.

 

[Montreal Ray]

Montreal ray, I posted a similar post just now.. looks like were in the same boat.. I believe its to much light as some are suggesting about mine... What exactly are you dosing for potassium iodide? I have been using kents potassium and ZOE amino acids.

Wayy Pisano! I'm also Italian, Abruzzo.

At this time, I'm dosing AA's and "coral freny" only.

I saw your thread. From what I see in pictures we are not having the same problem. Looks like you have tissue necrosis (STN, RTN)? Are your corals peeling?

My corals have PE, tissue is not peeling and they are growing. The problem is that the tissue and polyps are pale.

thanks,
Ray

 

[jc-reef]

I run them 13 hours per day, however, 2 are on from 8am to 9pm and the other 4 turn on at noon and off at 6pm.

You could cut down a couple hours of the first on or last off lights and see if that also will help...corals can become photoinhibited and pretty much dump its zooxanthella and turn pale or white. You have to remember that lighting from interior lights, windows/doors, TV's ect add to the net-total daily lighting of your corals.

http://www.marine.uq.edu.au/marbot/publications/pdffiles/litreviewtracey.PDF

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15123191

http://www.jstor.org/pss/3597462

Keep us posted after dosing iodide and if you end up trying the oyster/phyto-live/roti feasts...

---and here is a thread talking about feeding corals plankton and such...

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1843241


Good luck!

 

[parkavenuereef]

Wayy Pisano! I'm also Italian, Abruzzo.

At this time, I'm dosing AA's and "coral freny" only.

I saw your thread. From what I see in pictures we are not having the same problem. Looks like you have tissue necrosis (STN, RTN)? Are your corals peeling?

My corals have PE, tissue is not peeling and they are growing. The problem is that the tissue and polyps are pale.

thanks,
Ray

OOOOOOOhhhhhh!! Pisano!

The corals arent peeling... its completely alive... has some PE, but not what it did a few years ago.. It started as a frag in my 40 cube, then 2 years ago i transfered everything and more to the 150 which is just over 2 years old.. my slimmer next to it is doing the same thing only 6 months old or so, and again some PE, but not alot... it has some color.. I hope it didnt dump all its zooxanthella and if so, hopefully it will come back.. The tips are coloring up.. everywhere the light doesnt get to it its got some color. everything else in the tank, digi's monti's, clams etc are all good and full of color.. difference is there either way lower or on the sides... not directly under the light.

 

[Montreal Ray]

thanks JC, I have cut down 2 hours in the AM, they will now turn on at 10am.

I will try some differnt dosing "foods" and update if / when things change.

thanks for the links!

 

[Montreal Ray]

OOOOOOOhhhhhh!! Pisano!

The corals arent peeling... its completely alive... has some PE, but not what it did a few years ago.. It started as a frag in my 40 cube, then 2 years ago i transfered everything and more to the 150 which is just over 2 years old.. my slimmer next to it is doing the same thing only 6 months old or so, and again some PE, but not alot... it has some color.. I hope it didnt dump all its zooxanthella and if so, hopefully it will come back.. The tips are coloring up.. everywhere the light doesnt get to it its got some color. everything else in the tank, digi's monti's, clams etc are all good and full of color.. difference is there either way lower or on the sides... not directly under the light.

ah sorry man, I thought I saw TN from the pictures.

Please let us know when you find the problem.

thanks,
Ray

 

[parkavenuereef]

thanks JC, I have cut down 2 hours in the AM, they will now turn on at 10am.

I will try some differnt dosing "foods" and update if / when things change.

thanks for the links!

definetly keep us posted on what the feeding does for you.. I am sure we are all interested in your findings.

 

[Merfin70]

How old is the tank? What type of rocks did you use to start it off?

 

[murphreef]

my friends got corals that look all bleached like that im thinking its only one of two things too little nutrients since he has a skimmer rated for like 500gallons on a 99 gallon tank or its the lights he has 2 - 4' tek units that he runs like 12 hours a day... mind you they are only on full blast for like 3 of those hours but even so i think he should just cut them back to be like 6 -7 hours full blast and feed his fish more

 

[Jeffie]

What lighting fixture and T5 bulbs are you using? Looks like way too much light to me. You could probably run your lights half of the time that you are with the whites only being ran 2 hours or so. Once the corals are "back to normal" you could slowly ramp the lighting period back up.