Brown SPS - looking for comments

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FlyboySMB

Member
Fairly new to SPS keeping. Have kept sofites & inverts for years.

I bought a 10 frag SPS pack & their 5 pack from Live Aquaria about 1 1/2 months ago & all my corals appear brown. My softies, polyps & xenia are happy & growing. I have a 20 gal display with a 16 gal sump. Am running a JBJ Viper Deluxe 150W HQI. Tank has been up for about 3-4 months now.

AquaC EV-120 skimmer
Phosban reactor
chetto in the fuge
ATO with Kalk (light load, only 7 tsp of 2 little fishes kalk mix to 10 gal RO/DI has been keeping my Cal/Alk stable) I test ~ 3 time/week
Carbon in a filter bag stuffed in the bubble trap

2 clown fish

feed mysis every other day (soaked in selcon)
phytoplankton 1-2 per week (1ml each)
Selcon ~1ml/wk

Ph 8.05-8.15
SG 1.026
Cal ~420
Alk ~9.7
Temp ~79.5

Photoperiod
LED Moon light 0500-0700
50/50 12W (x2) 10K/actinic 0700-0800
0800 - 2000 MH (just increased from 0900-1700 -8hrs)
2000-2100 50/50
2100-2200 LEDs

Wondering if I have enough light.

I get some brown algae on the glass that needs attention daily or at least every other day (which is annoying)! I'm thinking the longer phot period will make this worse!

Pics can be seen here (sorry, not an expert on the forum yet!)

Thanks,
Steve
 
important question:

important question:

what's your water change schedule like?
based on what you've posted:
with algae on the glass that needs daily attention coupled with the fact that your Xenia and softies are happy and growing I'd say that you need to change the environment to favor Acropora.

JMO but I would completely change your following feeding schedule:
feed mysis every other day (soaked in selcon)
phytoplankton 1-2 per week (1ml each)
Selcon ~1ml/wk

to a pinch of small size Spectrum pellet every day.

you didn't mention it but make sure good water motion is happening :)
 
I agree, sps demand much more flow than other corals,
keep an eye on your phosphates, it can quickly give you problems with sps
give your corals some time to adapt to your tank too, youve only had them a month and a half.
 
looking at your pix

looking at your pix

that's one heckuva setup you got there.

It does appear rather sterile. Phyto isn't helping to feed your SPS. Try something else.


Using Kenya Tree as a sort of "canary in a coalmine"?
 
My wife like the clowns & thinks I am starving them if they swim & act hungry when you walk by!

I do not have a water change schedule as of yet. What would you suggest?

Phos & Nitrates are not detected, but that test kit is using expired reagents (need to get some new ones - especially with the algae on the glass).

I have some spectrum pellets, that's what I have been feeding them for may years, but I wanted to improve their diet to promote spawning.

So is the general opinion that 125W is enough light?

Thanks
 
.... as for the flow, I have an Eheim 1260 return pump (~36 inches of head - turns the system over ~ 12 times per hour) with split 1/2 in loc-line, each with a flare nozzle pointed from the top left down at the center of the tank (do SPS want the flow directed right at them). On the back right, I have a Hydor Koralia Nano 425 Aquarium Pump, 425 gph
 
mysids soaked in Selcon will definitely help condition the Clowns for spawning but it can also create a large amount of DOC's rather quickly. (Ever have cyano in that system?)

your lighting could be improved upon but (IMO) it's not the reason your SPS are brown.

I would change at least 20% monthly on that system and monitor Mg.
 
I would bet that aside from the light perhaps not being as plentyful as I would like, that phosphates are your problem. What brand of phosphate remover are you using?

If you can use Rowaphos, I owuld buy that and use it. Whilst i can see that you have cheato etc, imo its better at removing nitrates - some nitrates, say upto 7ppm is fine and actually helps colour.

But PHOSPHATES is the main culprit for colour loss. I speak from experiance. I am on my 3rd tank and phosphates have been my problem since I started that tank.

If you also have cyanno, get a large bag of Chemi pure elite as well and within 7 days you will see it disppear - siphone any out as well.

My SPS in my 28G tank with 150w halide and 16 LED's were brown until I used Rowaphos and chemi pure elite.

I am now going further as I want even better colouration and looking at Zeovit - but thats another story.

Also, you need to carry out at least 10% water changes using RO/DI water.

If you do what I precribe above and still dont get colour on those sps, PM me.

Also, what colour halide bulb are you using?
 
I am using two little fishes "Phosban" media. I think I may have gone a little light on the amount in the reactor, there is ~ 3.5 - 4" of media in the reactor. How often do you change your media?

The bulb is the 14K that cam with the light.

I will pick up a new Nitrate & Phosphate test kit today to get the "real story"
 
FlyboySMB said:
I am using two little fishes "Phosban" media. I think I may have gone a little light on the amount in the reactor, there is ~ 3.5 - 4" of media in the reactor. How often do you change your media?

The bulb is the 14K that cam with the light.

I will pick up a new Nitrate & Phosphate test kit today to get the "real story"
Click to expand...


Just be careful with increasing the amount and go slowly, GFO has been known to cause problems like STN/RTN when used suddenly in larger amounts.

Light seems fine.

You will not get the "real story" from hobby test kits as they are not designed for the low levels SPS reef keepers need them for.

See if you can get it tested by someone with a Hanna photometer. You need levels below 0.03ppm. No hobbyist test kit is able to accurate report that.

Keep us updated as to how you progress. Take some before and after photos as well. It will be useful for others but also for your self.
 
Got an API Phos test kit (before I read your post) & Phos reads ~.25. Nitrates also ~0 (next level is 5ppm, so not a low range kit, but my expired low range kit also read ~ 0ppm).

I will get the "right stuff" to monito phosphates.

Thanks,
Steve
 
FlyboySMB said:
Got an API Phos test kit (before I read your post) & Phos reads ~.25. Nitrates also ~0 (next level is 5ppm, so not a low range kit, but my expired low range kit also read ~ 0ppm).

I will get the "right stuff" to monito phosphates.

Thanks,
Steve
Click to expand...

I think its worth picking up the new Hanna Checker for phosphate, whilst its accuracy is 0.04+/-, if it says Zero or quite low then you are better off then with these tests kits. They are fairly inexpensive too.

Otherwise see if you can send a sample to a lab or a club person with a hanna photometer.
 
Gary Majchrzak said:
a common misconception.
I have beautifully colored SPS under halide bulbs that have been in constant use for 3 or more years.

The OP needs to go after PO4.
Click to expand...

I totally agree with that Gary. There are a few articles, one of them done by Sanjay I believe which shows that the Phoenix 14K bulb had a spectral shift and consequently par loss in the first 3-4 months. After that another 18 months or so goes by and it only loses like 12% over that time. Dont quote me on the exact figures, but I think I am close.

Although that was a study on one bulb, it will pretty much apply to other bulbs on a similar level.

Anyway, as I said earlier, the OP ought to have thier water tested properly to establish the amount of phosphate in thier system. It will be really good if they report back with the exact concentration of phosphate in thier tank.
 
Have not been able to find a Photometer at my LFS, so I have this on order

I did change my GFO & did a 5 gal water change (~38 gal system total) & stopped with the Selcone & Phyto feeding.

The daily cleaning of algae off the glass has decreased.

I am actually ordering this

I actually see some green coming in on one of my acros too.

Thanks
 
ok, just got my Hanna meter. Here are the test results for the night:

6/23/10;2000hrs
Ph 8.12
Alk 9.6
Calc 450
SG 1.026
Temp 80.1
Phos 0.02
Nitrate undetectable
Mg 1380

Too lazy to add the units above, sorry

All Sailfert test kits, less the Phos which was read with the Hanna meter.

This all looks good to me.

As I said, I changed the GFO & did a 5gal water change & the coarls are looking better..
Will take some "after" pics in a week or two for comparison.

Thanks,
Steve
 
Last edited:
FlyboySMB said:
ok, just got my Hanna meter. Here are the test results for the night:

6/23/10;2000hrs
Ph 8.12
Alk 9.6
Calc 450
SG 1.026
Temp 80.1
Phos 0.02
Nitrate undetectable
Mg 1380

Too lazy to add the units above, sorry

All Sailfert test kits, less the Phos which was read with the Hanna meter.

This all looks good to me.

As I said, I changed the GFO & did a 5gal water change & the coarls are looking better..
Will take some "after" pics in a week or two for comparison.

Thanks,
Steve
Click to expand...

Hi there Steve. All those parameters are good enough for good SPS colouration.

With regards to the phosphate, did you get the 0.02ppm PO4- after or before adding the GFO?

It would have been interesting to see results before and after adding the GFO.

In any case, I would measure every 3 days for the first couple of weeks of adding the GFO until you establish the suitable amount required to keep it below 0.03ppm. Also, at first the GFO may deplete at a faster rate.

Since adding GFO in my tank algae is non existant and coral colour has improved, though its taken many weeks. I still have some way to got yet, and so I am going the Zeovit route.
 
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