How to think out arcos

NVfishman

NVfishman

Premium Member
How to thin out acros?

When I set up my 10 ft 400 gal display I figured i had a ton of space. I got a bunch of barely colored (ok brown) acros and also a bunch of ora, tyree, and highend frags. Over the last year alot of my corals have grown in. Only problem the colors are not as intense. I have xm 250 10k bulbs to grow out the stuff.

What or how should I thin out the not as colorful stuff and ad the 50 frags I got this month( holding in frag tank)? Rip out the colony and epoxy the rock or somthing? Frag a piece just in case it colors and try to sell the colony?

Why are the corals still brown? (I know the lights are not best for color.)
My alk some is low at 7 right now trying to bring it up
calcium 500
mag 1450
salinity 1.026
nitrates 0
phosphates 0
tep 76.5-79.5
 
Bad choice of bulbs is not helping. They will fade out the best of colors. Too nutrient poor system with few fish and not feeding the tank enough is a likely cause. Is your alkalinity fluctuating a lot? That will never get you color if your parms fluctuate too much.
 
I think i adujusted my calicum reactor to increase calcium level alk last month was 9. I have added a ton of seachem reef builder no effect (3 days recommended dose on contanier). increased mag from 1200 to 1450. everything is growing good, I got frags and a few rtned alk in other peoples tank was 9-10 and other guy 11-12

here is tank

IMG_9079.jpg

IMG_9072.jpg

IMG_9073.jpg

Should i dump chalices keep stinging eveything near them
Dump idaho grape monti? to put more acro frags in?
 
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actinic supplement in the purple to blue range, let your nitrates drift up a little bit, maybe to 10ish, alk will come up more easily if you lower the ca to like 450. Also feed those guys a bit. Hope some of this helps. P.s. with 500 on the ca your rockwork should have more coralline algae, possibly to white of a bulb 10kk is for growth only maybe change to 14 or 15kk for color and slightly slower growth. Ushio bulbs seem pretty true to me or Iwasaki 15 k's. GL Grant
 
10K bulbs are not going to get you the colour you want. 14-15K will help things along + the other ideas already suggested.
 
Agreed. I used to use 10K bulbs and they are way too white/yellow. I've since changed to DE Phoenix 14k 250s and love them;)
 
Thanks all for imput

I keep buyng everything out there to add the color

I just got Big quantitys
Brightwell katalyst
Reef color
mag (dolimite)
Alk
I went from 14k coralvue to xm 10ks
Was thinking about trying a 12k as I have no supplemental lights like the natural look there must be some acros that have good color under 10k
I Has becker tort, toxic tort, cali tort

I got a frag was bright blue in a matter of 24 hours body went brown and kept teal tips
 
Blue corals do better with bluer spectrums. Reds, oranges, pinks and yellows will do well under 10ks but most others will prefer a bit more blue in the spectrum of their lighting.
 
I'd like to have a combination of the two in a future tank. Possibly a mixture of 10ks and 14ks but not sure how that would look....
 
wow, I take a couple years off and suddenly 250w XM 10Ks are crap? Not sure I am convinced that SPS wont color up under them. I ran 10Ks with actinic supplementation, and I loved the colors and growth. I had some deep blue/purple mille that was insane, tri colors, pink and purple tips digi's.

Why is it that everyone says 10k are now bad bulbs?
 
mc-cro said:
wow, I take a couple years off and suddenly 250w XM 10Ks are crap? Not sure I am convinced that SPS wont color up under them. I ran 10Ks with actinic supplementation, and I loved the colors and growth. I had some deep blue/purple mille that was insane, tri colors, pink and purple tips digi's.

Why is it that everyone says 10k are now bad bulbs?
Click to expand...

10k bulbs are great for growth but without supplementation they are not pleasng to the eye. Most people prefer bulbs in higher spectrums now. I personally love my 20k radiums.
 
I run XM 10Ks and supplement with VHO actinics. I seem to get good growth and the colors are good.

I think your tank looks nice. Perhaps some actinics would help color your corals brighten up.

Changes to your parameters recommended above are sound. Just make changes to your chemistry slowly and be patient.
 
I would not mind to have a grow out tank with 10ks and have 14-15ks in the DT. The 10ks are still good for something;)
 
im trying to get a led or if I have to a vho or somthing to add blue to the tank i didnt think t5s had enough power to offset the halides.

(Zoeyo5) The 2nd light from the left was a coralvue 14k it was alittle blue for me. Hence one of the reasons for the 10 k the other the growth factor. and the president of the club has 10ks and at frag swaps He has 3-4 inch frags every month becker tort, ultra colored stags.
I have been trying to copy his set up, but he has only a limited variety of stuff.
 
Eugene u got radiums? I have to check some out in person I dont know if I can go that blue. Yep 10ft I have had to many 8ft tanks in the past.
I only have 2 10k 250 watt reflectors thinking of respacing and putting in a center one to add more coverage
 
Yea I.run a radium bulb and I love the look, its not too blue to me. Whenever you out this way give me a ring you have my number
 
I recently switched to Reeflux 12K with T5 supplement and am happy with the color. I also started feeding my fish more as my water was "too clean" ..lol

Made a noticeable difference in just two weeks.

best-o-luck

edit...nice tank btw
 
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