SnapperSlapper
New member
I have had my 54G corner tank up for almost two years, and it was originally moved and upgraded from another tank that was about three years old. Currently it has 2 MH, 1 @150w w/ 10,000k bulb, and 1 @70w w/ 20,000k bulb. as well as some led nightlights. Lights are on for 12 hours a day, and placed about 3" above the water. My flow is really good, with two tunze recirc. pumps plus the return from the tiny sump. I also plumbed in a refugium with a deep sand bed, chaeto, more live rock, and mangroves with lights on 24/7. In the sump I run a 100 micron pad, phosphate removing pad and a tunze doc skimmer (9015 i think). Only other filtration would be two reactors one with carbon and one with GFO always running. On to parameters: My water quality is really good. Nitrates always 0, same on phosphate, and have very little to no algae outbreaks. Only have three fish and feed them 3-5 times per week.
Maintenance: I change about 10 gallons of water three times per month. I usually miss one water change, every month. The only parameter I have to keep in check outside of the water changes is alk. My CA is always about 430, ph stays between 8.0-8.2, and mag rarely drops below 1350. My alk will drop as the week goes on, and I usually add 2-3 tsp of kent buffer/rodi water three times per week.
All of the SPS corals I added over the last year lost their color. Originally it was when I had an algea outbreak, so I thought it was a nutrient problem, even though nothing (Nitrates/Phosphates) ever showed on the salifert test kits. Now that the water is clean and has been I added a new millipora bright green, and in just a few days it is starting to look dull. Other sps all growing exceptionally fast, but very brown. I just ordered a new 150w 20,000k bulb to replace the 10,000k, and have been feeding more. Is there anything else I could try, or could it be that the colors just wont come back?
Thanks for reading my long winded post... Rob Carpenter
Maintenance: I change about 10 gallons of water three times per month. I usually miss one water change, every month. The only parameter I have to keep in check outside of the water changes is alk. My CA is always about 430, ph stays between 8.0-8.2, and mag rarely drops below 1350. My alk will drop as the week goes on, and I usually add 2-3 tsp of kent buffer/rodi water three times per week.
All of the SPS corals I added over the last year lost their color. Originally it was when I had an algea outbreak, so I thought it was a nutrient problem, even though nothing (Nitrates/Phosphates) ever showed on the salifert test kits. Now that the water is clean and has been I added a new millipora bright green, and in just a few days it is starting to look dull. Other sps all growing exceptionally fast, but very brown. I just ordered a new 150w 20,000k bulb to replace the 10,000k, and have been feeding more. Is there anything else I could try, or could it be that the colors just wont come back?
Thanks for reading my long winded post... Rob Carpenter
