Brutally honest

[Ejb]

So I got a 16g mixed reef, no fish. Params are sg 1.025, am0, nitrite0, nitrate 2, cal475. I do not have a mag test or alk test kit. Main reason for this post is a red monti is starting to go brown and im thinking it may be my lighting. But he is the only one so far to lose color. Currently running the a80 on a biocube 16g, im thinking about switching to a more powerful kessil light. I have another monti that I got at the same time that still has his color around the same height of the tank (placement). The red monti is in a higher flow area than the other, could flow be an issue with color or is it the lighting? Normally I use tropic marin pro salt mix but have been using IO to get rid of the bag I set the tank up with.
Please share your thoughts

 

[mcgyvr]

How old is the tank?
phosphate level?

The a80 is a fairly weak light but thats a small tank too.. I'm personally not sure if thats sufficient or not.. I kind of doubt it too...

 

[Ejb]

I did forget to add phosphates, it is at 0. Light is about 4 to 5'' inches above the water

 

[Ejb]

A little over 2 months old.

 

[Ejb]

Im open to buying a new light but am also curious if thats why. If I were to get a new light I would want a kessil, if you have any suggestions on which one for this tank please let me know

 

[Ejb]

Here are some pics of the 2 montis and 1 stylo to compare the color change. Ill try to find a pic of when I first got the red monti

 

[Ejb]

Kind of a bad pic and not to mention a difference between night and day lights. It might seem that he was always this color? Or is it just me

 

[JustinM]

If your phosphates are at 0, nitrates are at a good number for color, it could be your light.

Other things to consider though, you need to test your alk and see how stable it is. Test it and then test again in a few days and see how much alk your corals consumed and try to replenish what you're using in small increments. With it being summer, how do you maintain your temp? Does that swing at all? So many variables can effect color on corals.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Guys, the OP isn't testing for alkalinity!!! And although less critical, Mg either. Now water changes may keep these levels up, but alk is probably THE MOST IMPORTANT thing you need to test for in a tank with stony corals.

OP, you never said what light fixture you are using now? Is it led or t5? And how deep is your tank? With a shallow tank (10" to 16"), it doesn't take a killer light. Even a Current Orbit or Marineland 0.5 watt led fixture can work over a shallow tank.

If it's led, how many blue leds and how many white leds are there? Can you control both channels separately? Do you have dimmers? Are you aware that corals need blue spectrum way more than they need white?

 

[JustinM]

Ron, he is using the Kessil A80 light. IMO it should be strong enough to support sps in a 16 gallon biocube. Alk is very very important!

 

[Ejb]

My tank temp is always in the 78-79 range. I love using my AC during summer. So I should buy an alk test kit for best results on this. What kit would you suggest? I do have the kessil a80 on a kessil controller for day and night, I run it on a 12 hour light schedule.

 

[JustinM]

Salifert makes good kits, I use the Red Sea kit, but you could always fork over the 50$ for a Hannah which has less margin of error IMO. Alk with the Red Sea is very simple and hard to mess up though.

Buy a kit and post back with your results. That is a good starting point.

 

[Paul n]

If your monti is looking colour it would suggest to me that the light and or food levels are too low. Too much light will cause bleaching and ultimately polyp bailout, too little light and the zooxanthellae will increase in order to feed the coral, zooxanthellae are brown in colour therefore giving the coral a brown appearance. Nutrients can also cause Browning due to excessive food ie fish poo in the water column but going on your information I would lean towards insufficient lighting

 

[Paul n]

A bit of auto correct happened there, how can I edit my post?

 

[Ejb]

Im not too sure how to edit a post but I will get a alk test kit and post my results, if the alk seems ok ill look into an upgrade on the light.

 

[mcgyvr]

A one time alk test is pretty much useless at this point.. We would need to know what its been over the last few weeks,etc.. to see the range and how stable you have been maintaining it.. But I don't think browning is really related to alk issues..

Corals, specifically SPS corals like you have need "stable" parameters and a mature tank..
IMO its not a good idea to try SPS on a tank thats only 2 months old..
Its just too immature for more difficult corals like that..

So I'd say its probably a combination of things.. one being light/spectrum and then just over all lacking tank maturity..

SPS corals are not easy.. I wouldn't recommend anyone try them till at least the 8+ month mark

 

[Ejb]

Wait I do have a api test kit for carbonate hardness. Is that the same as alkalinity?

 

[Paul n]

Ok well just to clear up any confusion my post should have said
"If your monti is loosing colour" and " it would suggest to me that the light is too low or the food levels are too high"
With sps, light feeds the zooxanthellae and the zoox feed the coral. The available light controls the amount of zoox in a coral, higher light means less zoox are needed to feed their host too little light and the zoox multiplies to keep up with food demand. Zoox is brown in colour which is why corals brown out.

 

[Paul n]

Wait I do have a api test kit for carbonate hardness. Is that the same as alkalinity?

Yes but they aren't the best or most accurate tests

 

[mcgyvr]

API test kits are sufficient..