How can I tell, if the frag's are getting paler because of light or food issues

[acropora213]

I have had a few different frags of Montipora and Poccilipora growing now for about six months.

Nothing in the tank has changed except possibly a slight drop in Calcium for a couple weeks while I ran out, but other than that nothing.

What im noticing is some color fading in all of these newer aquisitions. Like the red Monti cap, is now a light pink, and my dark green Monti Cap is now lime.

Basically im concerned of the lightening of these frags and there tissues becoming thinner from the params, or is this just their way of settling into my system.

My thought on this cause could be the possibility in my lack of feeding, as the only source would be detritus, and no fish !!

Don;t get me wrong, there growing like weeds, just curious about this transition.

Thanx for the inout folks ~ Tony

 

[acropora213]

come on guys, a little feedback would be great !!

 

[TCU Reefer]

What are you water parameters?

Some have argued that a higher bioload has helped improved their SPS color. Are you opposed to fish completely?

 

[acropora213]

not opposed to fish at all. I just have none in the tank, and there has'nt been any in the last year.

As far as the params go, they are all normal.
Only flucuations would be the calcium & alk dip , that lasted about a month. For example the calcium dropped to 350 briefly.

No changes though, thats why it odd.
Temps the same, lightings the same, params the same ???

Maybe a fish could help the added load I agree, or would I have the same affect if using a food of some type, like cyclopeeze or oyster eggs.

As I've never tried foods, so I dont know

 

[PUGroyale]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7662183#post7662183 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by acropora213
alk dip

that's it IMO. get it back up and stable, maybe cut the lights back a little while they darken back up hth

 

[acropora213]

I will try that photoperiod cut, but im suprised, because the lights 14K's are only on for six hours as it is right now. Maybe I'll drop down to five for a month, and see if there's changes.

 

[DaddyJax]

While I do think that the alk should be up, I don't believe that it is the reason for the loss of color. Nor do I think you should cut the lights back. I am a firm believer of bioload in+bioload out=Great color and growth! With out any bioload there isn't' any food for the corals other than light. A good removal filtration is a must as well. Do a search on this subject and you will see this discussed in great lengths.

My personal recommendation is buy a few fish.

 

[david8956]

acropora213 - been there, done that.

I fought the same battle as you for quite a while and finally achieved the deep rich colors I was trying for. The advice from Daddyjax pretty much nailed it.

 

[Froggy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7663257#post7663257 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by DaddyJax
While I do think that the alk should be up, I don't believe that it is the reason for the loss of color. Nor do I think you should cut the lights back. I am a firm believer of bioload in+bioload out=Great color and growth! With out any bioload there isn't' any food for the corals other than light. A good removal filtration is a must as well. Do a search on this subject and you will see this discussed in great lengths.

My personal recommendation is buy a few fish.

I also think this is right on track and good advice. IMO the key to getting deep colors in acros is heavy feeding and fish waste is a great food for SPS. A high level of nutrient export is a must to keep water quality high. This can be achieved with a high level of water circulation keeping detritus etc. in suspension so it can be removed by a high quality efficient skimmer. High nutrient input matched by an equal high nutrient export seems to be the key IMO. If you can do that, just provide them with ADEQUATE lighting and the coral colors should improve. Of course, keeping all other water parameters STABLE is also important and keeping temp, salinity, and alkalinity as stable as possible is the target.

 

[clkwrk]

I agree with both Jax and Froggy.

 

[dots]

what was the alkalinity doing while the ca dropped, were you buffering that as well during the time that you ran out of CA

The reason I ask is a few weeks ago I spiked my alk slightly and some of mine faded, so since your Ca was depressed, could your alk increased causing the fade? Mine did.

 

[PUGroyale]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7663257#post7663257 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by DaddyJax
While I do think that the alk should be up, I don't believe that it is the reason for the loss of color. Nor do I think you should cut the lights back. I am a firm believer of bioload in+bioload out=Great color and growth! With out any bioload there isn't' any food for the corals other than light. A good removal filtration is a must as well. Do a search on this subject and you will see this discussed in great lengths.

My personal recommendation is buy a few fish.

I agree with you and Froggy 100% and subscribe to those same methods myself with terrific results. I did forget to refill my Kalk dripper for 2 days though and my ALK dropped to 5.5 :eek1: ... feeding and lighting remained the same during this time. I had two corals, the ones that get the most direct light, lighten significantly overnight. So if you have a pretty stable system and see rapid lightening odds are IMO it's the ALK has dropped. I didn't adjust my lights but I did move them lower while I adjusted the ALK back up to 8... no sense keeping already stressed corals in that intense of lighting. hth

 

[acropora213]

I appreciate the advice guys, I agree in the fact of planning to get a couple fish going in their for some nutrients.
The tank is so nutrient poor, it'll give something for the system to do !! lol

As far as the Cal. drops goes.... I had stopped the alk. as well, and they both dropped until I restocked on my solutions.
At any rate, the levels had dropped to 350ppm & like 8.5 dkh for about a month !!

This may very well be a downward spiral of effects, along with the lack of a food source when needed at its most.