(help) My Red planet has stop growing.

[pusanpa]

<a href="http://s288.photobucket.com/albums/ll190/pusanpa78/?action=view&current=IMG_9843cv.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll190/pusanpa78/IMG_9843cv.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

My red planet stop growing for more than 6months now.
It is near very high flow + high lighting(t5x6).

I have low nutrient system. 6 small to medium size fishes.
I dose MB7+bio fuel + few zeovit addtives including zeospur2 everyweek.
I run GFO, carbon and oversized skimmer 24/7.

Lighting period 10hr a day.

 

[*reefermadness*]

I'm no expert, but it may be getting too much light and flow, I have mine in medium flow, and medium light and it is growing like a weed. Great polyp extention, and a nice green base too it. If its not too much trouble, you may try moving it a bit lower in the tank and in a slightly less high flow area.

 

[acroholicreefer]

The Red Planet looks starved to me.

 

[fishguy597]

What type of lighting do you have? It seems to high in the tank. mine is sittingpretty low in the tank and has a great green base to it. they are notorious for waiting. to get a nicesolid base before starting to grow. another thing you can try is break off a small piece and thatmight triggering to grow. do some research about gfo . it strips the water column of nutrients and corals get starved. I only run gfo. when my po4 rises. good luck.

 

[pusanpa]

Thanks for your comment guys. I lowered the gfo flow rate and going to move it to lower area+try trimming.

 

[pusanpa]

Guys i just found out that my photoperiod is too long. Now i am cuttIng back daylight photoperiod from10hr to 8hrs. A lot of my corals are pale.

 

[OneReef]

Sometimes pale corals mean not enough food. Try oyster feast and amino acids. Don't let phosphates get too high, but SPS do need food. Some people don't feed at all, but I think best coloration and growth come with broadcast SPS feeding a couple of times a week or so.

 

[*reefermadness*]

And a tip for feeding SPS, I like to feed my SPS about 3-4 hours after lights go out if possible. You can also feed right before lights come on if that is more convenient. The corals have been in the darkness long enough to fully extend the polyps responsible for catching food particles at this point in time. Hope the cut in photoperiod and supplimental feedings improve your SPS colonies. Keep us posted!

 

[pusanpa]

<a href="http://s166.photobucket.com/albums/u113/pusanpa/?action=view&current=cecf2b86.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u113/pusanpa/cecf2b86.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket Pictures, Images and Photos" /></a>

Here is photo today(nov27, 2011). I cut a big branch to promote growth.

 

[jsousa]

I do agree with the starving comment.

But I would also like to ask about your params, in particlular your Alk, Cal and Mg. What are they and are they stable? This is extremely important.

 

[pusanpa]

I dose brs 2 part with drew doser on digital timer.
My alk is around 9-10 ca 450 mag 1400
I check alk couple of times a week using api testkit.

I had mysterious alk drop from 10 to 7 one month ago but everything is pretty stable now.

 

[Neoferdina]

I don't think your photoperiod is too long, it's bang on. I agree with the previous comments: they're starved. Try feeding aminos. The problem with ULNS is the fact they you are effectible starving them. This makes them very prone to fluctuations in parameters and recession events. Gotta feed to keep them healthy!

 

[Logzor]

It's definitely no mystery why your corals are pale. I think a few small changes may make all the difference.

Pull the GFO and Carbon unless you have a specific reason for running them. For example, if you have high phosphates, or the case of carbon, if you are worried about a particular contaminant.

Discontinue Zeospur 2, that stuff is really only necessary if you have excessively browned out corals. Zeospur 2 is incredibly powerful, I used the "recommended" dose and many of my SPS became extremely pale overnight. Takes about 15 days for them to recover back to normal.

So to re-cap, discontinue GFO, Carbon, and Zeospur 2. An alternative would be to dramatically increase feeding.

As for your light cycle, I think 10 hours is fine but lowering it to 8 isn't a bad idea.

Give it two weeks of increased feeding, no gfo, no carbon, no zeospur.

I wouldn't throw money towards aminos just yet, use that as a last resort if the above solutions don't help.

I can't stress enough to discontinue Zeospur 2.

 

[Logzor]

double post

 

[pusanpa]

Logzor looks like you are correct.
On top of the bacteria additives and oversized skimmer, I use gfo more than i need. I also have little remote deep sandbed and siporax chamber wih filter sock.
As result lots of corals are pale.

I will keep you guys updated.

 

[pusanpa]

Here is the update on the red planet in my 50g.
I moved it to new place. It is in the corner couple of inches high from the bottom with moderate flow. I shorten the photoperiod from 10hr daylight to 7hr + more feeding + AA at night + stopped zeospur2.
Red planet looks still struggling but many other sps are coloring up better everyday.

<a href="http://s288.photobucket.com/albums/ll190/pusanpa78/?action=view&current=c769b2d7.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll190/pusanpa78/c769b2d7.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket Pictures, Images and Photos" /></a>

 

[pusanpa]

Sorry the picture is taken with my iphone 4.... Birdsnest looks more saturated than it is.

 

[pusanpa]

Just took photo of my red planet today. Color is darker and it has more polyp extension.
<a href="http://s288.photobucket.com/albums/ll190/pusanpa78/?action=view&current=efa1e872.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll190/pusanpa78/efa1e872.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket Pictures, Images and Photos" /></a>

 

[M88A2]

following along. Im more or less on the same boat but i'd rather not have to move mine as it is already encrusted onto a rock

 

[pusanpa]

following along. Im more or less on the same boat but i'd rather not have to move mine as it is already encrusted onto a rock

What kind of lighting do you have and how long?
I think my biggest problem was too long photo period.
My open brain, green birdsnest, pruple digi were almost completely bleached by 10hrs of full light on. (TEK t5x6).