Battling coral paleness (KZ Products)

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kevin_e

New member
I have increased my bioload and my feedings over the course of 5-6 weeks and while I haven't seen much, if any improvement, I am expecting that in time, coral coloration will return.

With that in mind, I am considering supplementing a couple of KZ products (not long term, as I think my fish load/feeding should eventual maintain coloration). I am considering the KZ Pohl's Coral Vitalizer and the KZ Zeofood 7; however, I am wondering if I should use KZ Pohl's Extra in place of the Zeofood.

Thanks for the insight.
 
I would continue down the path you started with increasing bio load and maybe some light extra feedings before you start introducing other variables. What are your nutrient levels? While it's true that higher nutrients can lead to richer colors, other factors can affect pale colors as well, including too bright of lighting and or too long of a photoperiod.

Some other info about the tank, setup and inhabitants might shed a better picture of your situation as well.
 
swk said:
I would continue down the path you started with increasing bio load and maybe some light extra feedings before you start introducing other variables. What are your nutrient levels? While it's true that higher nutrients can lead to richer colors, other factors can affect pale colors as well, including too bright of lighting and or too long of a photoperiod.

Some other info about the tank, setup and inhabitants might shed a better picture of your situation as well.
Click to expand...

Yes, the lighting variable was another thing I changed approximately 6 weeks ago as well. I reduced my photo period considerably. 1x 150 radium is on for 5 hours (was 8 hours), 2x 24 watt Blue Plus are running 10 hours (was 15 hours) and 2x24 watt Coral Plus are running for 7 hours (was 11 hours).

It's most certainly a nutrient related issue at this juncture. I had 1-2 fish in my 50 cube for a couple of months as coral started to pale.
 
fbb039f65815fb85f6c635c17783d2a2.jpg


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Turn your skimmer off for a couple of days. I do that now and then and the extra "stuff" makes my sps happy.

I like a packed tank. I just finally got some fish back in mine. Sps was looking pale. Now. It's rocking and encrusting maniac style.
 
Make sure you wait a few weeks before you make any major changes. I was running the same light but it was a 250w radium instead of your 150w. I had the same issue as you, the corals were bleaching due to lack of nutrients in the tank and too much light. I was running the 250w radium for 8 hours and all 4 t5s for 10 hours. The corals were doing fine at 6-7 hours of MH but once I bumped it to 8 hours that's when things took a turn for the worse.

Another thing I've done to get the colors back is increase feedings and increased fish load. I am up to 10 fish now and I am feeding 2-3 times a day now where I was only feeding once. The colors are coming back, slowly, and everything is looking better than ever.

Give it time with your reduced lighting schedule and things will return.
 
from your live rock looks like tank is still young?

How many cycle you main pump provided? If you can't keep food longer in main tank, then feeding period off skimmer is a good alternative. KZ Pohl's Coral Vitalizer is definitely good stuff and my main food source for coral, and I feed almost three times of it recommended volume
 
Last edited:
I'm running full ZEOvit. I recently had poor coral color. It just wasn't looking good and a lot of colors faded. I bought a bottle of ME Amino Acids and started dosing 2ml a day for two weeks and my colors quickly came back.
 
Reel North said:
Turn your skimmer off for a couple of days. I do that now and then and the extra "stuff" makes my sps happy.

I like a packed tank. I just finally got some fish back in mine. Sps was looking pale. Now. It's rocking and encrusting maniac style.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I've been stocking my tank to capacity. Hopefully I will see the benefits shortly.

cpllongjk said:
Make sure you wait a few weeks before you make any major changes. I was running the same light but it was a 250w radium instead of your 150w. I had the same issue as you, the corals were bleaching due to lack of nutrients in the tank and too much light. I was running the 250w radium for 8 hours and all 4 t5s for 10 hours. The corals were doing fine at 6-7 hours of MH but once I bumped it to 8 hours that's when things took a turn for the worse.

Another thing I've done to get the colors back is increase feedings and increased fish load. I am up to 10 fish now and I am feeding 2-3 times a day now where I was only feeding once. The colors are coming back, slowly, and everything is looking better than ever.

Give it time with your reduced lighting schedule and things will return.
Click to expand...

Yep, I've done all of that too over the past 5-6 weeks with little to no improvement. I figured I would see a hint of improvement by now.

shih87 said:
from your live rock looks like tank is still young?

How many cycle you main pump provided? If you can't keep food longer in main tank, then feeding period off skimmer is a good alternative. KZ Pohl's Coral Vitalizer is definitely good stuff and my main food source for coral, and I feed almost three times of it recommended volume
Click to expand...

Yes and no. This tank is 4 months old, but it was a transfer from a 9 month old 120 gallon tank, which was a transfer from a 1 year old tank 55 gallon tank, which was a transfer from a 2 year old 20 gallon tank. Basically, the live rock is about half a decade old, as are many coral (or at least frags of those older coral). Growth has come in spurts, but the polyp extension is pretty phenomenal.

The pump is a 700 gph pump, with head loss, lets assume 10x turnover per hour.

I'll probably give the CV a try.


Hentz said:
I'm running full ZEOvit. I recently had poor coral color. It just wasn't looking good and a lot of colors faded. I bought a bottle of ME Amino Acids and started dosing 2ml a day for two weeks and my colors quickly came back.
Click to expand...

How does that compare to Zeofood7? It is an amino supplement too.
 
IMHO.....
For a ULNS system, I will keep tank close loop cycle under 10, so coral food has chance to stay in main tank longer. But I also have 4 Tunze pumps to generate enough turbulence and currents in main tank (190 gallon).
Not sure this is the best practice, but due to personal schedule, I never stop skimmer during feeding time, and feed coral most only once at night.

My main tank rock also 3 years old from old tank when I started my new tank at Jan 2nd 2015, but I added about 10~20% new live rock to my refugium (around 20 gallon). I usually swap live rock every 12 to 18 months in refugium (to avoid restructure main tank view and coral damage). Saying that, I just did my refugium live rock swapping in June 2016. I do think this is one of many ways that I keep my tank healthy.

I also use full KZ, include salt. Folks interested can reference my tank at http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2470271&page=29

my 2 cents...
 
shih87 said:
IMHO.....
For a ULNS system, I will keep tank close loop cycle under 10, so coral food has chance to stay in main tank longer. But I also have 4 Tunze pumps to generate enough turbulence and currents in main tank (190 gallon).
Not sure this is the best practice, but due to personal schedule, I never stop skimmer during feeding time, and feed coral most only once at night.

My main tank rock also 3 years old from old tank when I started my new tank at Jan 2nd 2015, but I added about 10~20% new live rock to my refugium (around 20 gallon). I usually swap live rock every 12 to 18 months in refugium (to avoid restructure main tank view and coral damage). Saying that, I just did my refugium live rock swapping in June 2016. I do think this is one of many ways that I keep my tank healthy.

I also use full KZ, include salt. Folks interested can reference my tank at http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2470271&page=29

my 2 cents...
Click to expand...

I have 2 MP 10s in addition to the turnover. I skim 24/7 to, and have on other successful SPS tanks as well. Interesting about the live rock. That dorsnt effect your bacteria population?
 
Salifert is pretty spot on for me. Once you get used to the tint the chart normally reads at its easy to see even very low nitrates. I have been told of a few other kits are just as good. I would say testing nitrates is a huge necessity when starting a newer tank, even if rocks have been transferred from an existing tank. Definatly could help you figure out why colors are pale if you start testing.
 
Piper27 said:
Salifert is pretty spot on for me. Once you get used to the tint the chart normally reads at its easy to see even very low nitrates. I have been told of a few other kits are just as good. I would say testing nitrates is a huge necessity when starting a newer tank, even if rocks have been transferred from an existing tank. Definatly could help you figure out why colors are pale if you start testing.
Click to expand...
Right, I know why they are pale, it's because of the low nutrient system. My question was mainly what the best way (specifically if KZ products would achieve it) is to increase my organic load.

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Gotcha, I hear from a lot of people their Amino's increase nitrates but I have not had that happen even with 4 times recommended dosage. Maybe what Shih recommended will be best, he is very good at getting his stuff colored from paleness.

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Get more fish..........I'v had the same problem for months in my frag tank. Two clowns is all I have in there...60g total volume

I've used coral food, amino, nitrate dosing....... even though the corals have responded slowly the algae and cyano run rampant.

Fish are the best dosers
 
Hi,

KZ products can make the water too clean for sure. Putting a few more fish in there and feeding more will help in the long run. Also, check your potassium level. Zeo tanks seem to become deficient in potassium over time. Your tank looks pretty good and you are very close to getting those colors to pop....................Jim
 
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