skinnyjoe1976
New member
just to chime in i love flow and plumbing so if you need anything let me know
Corals Browning
- Thread starter Bacchus_fl
- Start date
just to chime in i love flow and plumbing so if you need anything let me know
Bacchus_fl
New member
Alright, you guys are great!
I switched my fuge light to run at night. It seemed to keep my Ph about .5 higher over night but more importantly it reduced my temp by a full degree.
I also added a phosphate reactor and phosban media. Hopefully this will solve my PO4 problem and in turn bring the color back to my corals.
I will let you guys know once I have a chance to test my ALK and MAG, as well as, retest my PO4 levels.
Also skinnyjoe I am currently running a blueline 40 HD-X which is rated at 1270 GPH. It does a good job but I would like to to increase my flow, turn over rate, and with my new control I could use the wave maker and nightmode features.
What would you suggest?
I switched my fuge light to run at night. It seemed to keep my Ph about .5 higher over night but more importantly it reduced my temp by a full degree.
I also added a phosphate reactor and phosban media. Hopefully this will solve my PO4 problem and in turn bring the color back to my corals.
I will let you guys know once I have a chance to test my ALK and MAG, as well as, retest my PO4 levels.
Also skinnyjoe I am currently running a blueline 40 HD-X which is rated at 1270 GPH. It does a good job but I would like to to increase my flow, turn over rate, and with my new control I could use the wave maker and nightmode features.
What would you suggest?
jay24k
Active member
Phosphate media will help but imo you shouldn't have phosphates that high in the first place. It's a great tool to keep them extremely low but when they are that high in the first place, something in your tank is causing it. It might be worthwhile to figure it out now before you bandaid it.
Bacchus_fl
New member
I agree jay, I have tested my RO fresh water supply which reads 0 as well as my salt water supply for water changes and it also read 0. The good news is my display is getting there with PO4 of somewhere between .05-.1, hopefully in a couple more days it will be 0 as well. I haven't really noticed much change in my corals but I assume that will take a month or two, right?
As for the route cause, the only thing I can think of is just simple phosphate neglect. I know it sounds silly for some one who has had reef tanks as long as I have but I never really paid much attention to phosphates unless I was having an algae problem and then I would just use a phosphate sponge and beef up my cleaner crew. This tank has only been set up for about 6 months and all the rock and corals came from a 75G that was neglected for about 6 months (only because the transfer kept getting delayed) and it had a serious hair algae problem by the time it was broken down. Not sure if it is possible but the phosphates might be residual from the old tank where it has been leaching out of the rocks.
I never knew phosphates could cause browning or stun coral growth. Then again I never tried to grow SPS which I am quickly learning is a whole other ball game, a much more advanced one at that. Softies live through anything but sps need near perfect conditions which is helping me learn allot more about the chemistry of these tanks.
I really do appreciate every bodies input. Feel free to keep sharing I am all about making this hobby the least frustrating possible and the only way to do that is to learn.
As for the route cause, the only thing I can think of is just simple phosphate neglect. I know it sounds silly for some one who has had reef tanks as long as I have but I never really paid much attention to phosphates unless I was having an algae problem and then I would just use a phosphate sponge and beef up my cleaner crew. This tank has only been set up for about 6 months and all the rock and corals came from a 75G that was neglected for about 6 months (only because the transfer kept getting delayed) and it had a serious hair algae problem by the time it was broken down. Not sure if it is possible but the phosphates might be residual from the old tank where it has been leaching out of the rocks.
I never knew phosphates could cause browning or stun coral growth. Then again I never tried to grow SPS which I am quickly learning is a whole other ball game, a much more advanced one at that. Softies live through anything but sps need near perfect conditions which is helping me learn allot more about the chemistry of these tanks.
I really do appreciate every bodies input. Feel free to keep sharing I am all about making this hobby the least frustrating possible and the only way to do that is to learn.
Bacchus_fl
New member
Alright, so I finally got my test kits in and have some additional parameters for you guys.
PO4 - .03 (WAY better than 1.5 I had a couple weeks ago)
Calcium - 410
Nitrates - 0
SG - 1.024
PH - 7.9 (Night) - 8.1 (Day) I am working on buffering this a little but it has been hard to move.
Now for the newer test you guys asked for:
Mag - 1300 (I have been adding more Mag to try to bring this up to around 1400-1500)
KH - 16+ it is off the charts. Not sure what this means is it bad and if so how do I bring it down?
ALK - 5.71 Not sure what this means either
Iodine - This also tested off the chart. Not sure why since I haven't added Iodine in several weeks.
My corals are starting to look a little better since I lowered my PO4 but they still don't look great. I assume it will take some time for them to regain thier colors but I want to make sure the rest of my water chemistry is in line so that I can start keeping a well balanced and healthy tank.
I have stopped using Essiental Elements and Iodine but have added some Mag, as well as, started using the Oceans Blend 2 Part. I seemed to have a better tank when I was using the 2 part and not relying on the Mud and Kalk alone.
Please help me better understand my water chemistry and what actions I can take to have the healthiest possible tank!
PO4 - .03 (WAY better than 1.5 I had a couple weeks ago)
Calcium - 410
Nitrates - 0
SG - 1.024
PH - 7.9 (Night) - 8.1 (Day) I am working on buffering this a little but it has been hard to move.
Now for the newer test you guys asked for:
Mag - 1300 (I have been adding more Mag to try to bring this up to around 1400-1500)
KH - 16+ it is off the charts. Not sure what this means is it bad and if so how do I bring it down?
ALK - 5.71 Not sure what this means either
Iodine - This also tested off the chart. Not sure why since I haven't added Iodine in several weeks.
My corals are starting to look a little better since I lowered my PO4 but they still don't look great. I assume it will take some time for them to regain thier colors but I want to make sure the rest of my water chemistry is in line so that I can start keeping a well balanced and healthy tank.
I have stopped using Essiental Elements and Iodine but have added some Mag, as well as, started using the Oceans Blend 2 Part. I seemed to have a better tank when I was using the 2 part and not relying on the Mud and Kalk alone.
Please help me better understand my water chemistry and what actions I can take to have the healthiest possible tank!
waterfaller1
New member
Slowly bring up your Ca to 450 and it will drop the Alk back to 4.00 or a DKH of 11.2. That's where I keep mine, with Mg at 1350-1400.
I would'nt worry about trying to use a buffer for your PH, it typically will raise it then drop it lower than it was. Keep your home air fresh and free of carbon dioxide occasionally.{it drives down PH} and just balance your alk & Ca with two part or whatever you use. The PH is'nt as important unless it plunges to less than 7.8, which most likely won't happen. Care should be taken when adding Mg also, as it will raise SG. and should be adjusted accordingly. GL
I would'nt worry about trying to use a buffer for your PH, it typically will raise it then drop it lower than it was. Keep your home air fresh and free of carbon dioxide occasionally.{it drives down PH} and just balance your alk & Ca with two part or whatever you use. The PH is'nt as important unless it plunges to less than 7.8, which most likely won't happen. Care should be taken when adding Mg also, as it will raise SG. and should be adjusted accordingly. GL
Bacchus_fl
New member
Pretty much the same lights the only difference is I replaced 4 65W PCs with 2 160W VHOs.
Thanks for the advice Waterfaller. I have been increasing my calcium and Mag but I can't seem to get my PH up without using a buffer and even it only seems to work for a couple days if that. Right now my tank is at 7.88. I am not sure how else to increase the ph. I can definitely air out the house more if you think that will help but I can't even do that everyday.
Thanks for the advice Waterfaller. I have been increasing my calcium and Mag but I can't seem to get my PH up without using a buffer and even it only seems to work for a couple days if that. Right now my tank is at 7.88. I am not sure how else to increase the ph. I can definitely air out the house more if you think that will help but I can't even do that everyday.
Acro-Phobia
New member
Hey guys
A friend sent me this thread because he knew I was dealing with the same thing. Tank was pretty much right on with parameters and corals wanted to be brown. Temp was running high as Summer came on. I put a chiller on the system and within 5 days the SPSs all started to return to there good colors.
Also, look at the August Tank of the Month and read what he says about heat and feeding. Pretty good insight.
A friend sent me this thread because he knew I was dealing with the same thing. Tank was pretty much right on with parameters and corals wanted to be brown. Temp was running high as Summer came on. I put a chiller on the system and within 5 days the SPSs all started to return to there good colors.
Also, look at the August Tank of the Month and read what he says about heat and feeding. Pretty good insight.
markandkristen
Active member
i agree on the temp thing if you can keep it around 77-78 your better off. i used to run seios and quit using them for that reason. i rund 7 tunze modded nanos and my tank stays around 76day and77 night.
i have also found that if i blow off my rocks regularly change the filter socks as often as i can
skim wetter my tank always looks better.
Acro-Phobia
New member
Probably want to clarify something here. The heat was causing the corals to take on a much lighter coral. But, there was a dual whammy. Because the heat kept going up, I had to move my lights farther away from the water. Result of this is less light for the coral so they pull in more Zooxanthalea which in turn gives them a browner color. It kinda all works together in the wrong direction. The chiller dropped the temp and allowed me to bring the lights back down to a good level. The results were pretty dramatic.
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