I cant keep blue corals blue

2dawghouse

New member
So I have been battling this issue of ALL my blue corals (SPS, LPS, Zoas) turning grey for long enough and I cant figure it out. Can anyone tell me why my blue corals have all turned grey?

All other colors seem to be good, not great, but better than decent. Purple is decent. I have tried Lugols thinking I was lacking Potassium iodide but after dosing 2-6 drops daily for months on end no change. When I dosed X amount of drops I would maintain that dosage for 2 weeks, currently dosing 2 drops daily. And even through dosing I never noticed any change. But I do not test for Iodide.

I also assumed that maybe it was a nutrient issue cause I dose vinegar but my N&P say otherwise. And I feed heavily enough to cure the world hunger issues.

Growth on corals has been really good, just the color blue eludes me.

My system setup:
100 gallon mixed reef with a ritteri anemone
2 X250 20K MH (lamps 3 months old) w/ 120watts of blue led 420nm-475nm
S.G. 1.026
Ca-420
Alk 8.0
Nitrate 3
Phosphate .05

Whats everyones thoughts
 
be careful on the Lugols...that's potent stuff....I'd be testing your iodine... iodine concentration is supposed to be .06 ppm...just a trace !
 
I havent tested my potassium nor iodine levels. Im certian its not my lighting as sps, lps, zoas are all dull grey not blue. And my lighting is more than adequate for anything I want to keep.

Whats everyones thought on this theory: My ritteri is approx 14"-18" across depending on how hungry it is. Could it be depleteing my potassium or iodine levels faster than I can dose?

I also thought maybe it was the salt I was using Red Sea Pro coral. But have since switched to reef crystals and seen no difference in coral coloration.
 
I am also dosing AA's (acro power) at 5ml daily in the form of acro power. I was using the red sea reef energy (at recommended doses daily) and that didnt provide any change to the blue coloration of corals either.

Also I have a 20 gallon refugium that is overflowing with chaeto. I know macroalgae will consume iron at a rapid rate, but wasnt sure about potassium iodine.

My husbandry is usually 3 X 5 gallon water changes weekly. I change water right after I target feed all my corals.

Also has anyone used brightwell coralamino?
 
This may not be "THE" problem with your colors, though it is certainly "A" problem. I am surprised that no one else has mentioned this yet, but your Calcium is only 420? I hope this is a typo. If not, I would work on figuring that out, 420 is very low for calcium. Also, have you checked your Magnesium levels?
 
This may not be "THE" problem with your colors, though it is certainly "A" problem. I am surprised that no one else has mentioned this yet, but your Calcium is only 420? I hope this is a typo. If not, I would work on figuring that out, 420 is very low for calcium. Also, have you checked your Magnesium levels?

What do you think it should be? 380-450 is the recommended calcium levels. 420 is fine.
 
What do you think it should be? 380-450 is the recommended calcium levels. 420 is fine.

I am sooooo sorry, you are right. My brain is clearly not working right today. :sleep: For some reason I was picturing an ideal number more in line with Mg (1200-1500). I apologize for the confusion!
 
I am sooooo sorry, you are right. My brain is clearly not working right today. :sleep: For some reason I was picturing an ideal number more in line with Mg (1200-1500). I apologize for the confusion!

I was beginning to wonder lol. But my mag is right at 1400. Can mag have any effect on coral coloration? All other colors seem to be good but can be better.

Also another clue, just noticed today at lunch when feeding my nem that his base is actually fading from a light blue to more a purple color. Not sure if that has anything to do with my blue issue.
 
I am also dosing AA's (acro power) at 5ml daily in the form of acro power. I was using the red sea reef energy (at recommended doses daily) and that didnt provide any change to the blue coloration of corals either.

You're dosing a lot of supplements. Acropower has all the aminos and contains potassium iodine so you're duplicating the use of the lugols and the RS reef energy.

IF you've been doing this for months and only doing the minimal water changes of 3X5 a week I'd try doing a large water change and stop dosing anything for a week or more. Then if you see any colors fading or any other response that suggests you should dose AAs I'd stick to AP or RE alone, not both.

Overdosing can easily through things out of balance. If the AA's are not all being consumed it can inhibit zooalanthe or cause certain Zs to out compete other Zs.
 
Do you have pics of your tank? You are dosing 2-4x more then me and i have no coloration problems. I am thinking you have more corals then me but without a picture i can not say yes or no to that.
 
You're dosing a lot of supplements. Acropower has all the aminos and contains potassium iodine so you're duplicating the use of the lugols and the RS reef energy.

IF you've been doing this for months and only doing the minimal water changes of 3X5 a week I'd try doing a large water change and stop dosing anything for a week or more. Then if you see any colors fading or any other response that suggests you should dose AAs I'd stick to AP or RE alone, not both.

Overdosing can easily through things out of balance. If the AA's are not all being consumed it can inhibit zooalanthe or cause certain Zs to out compete other Zs.

I first started dosing reef energy but saw no changes to blue coloration. After I went through the kit I switched AA over to AP. Now Im dosing AP and still not seeing any changes to blue coloration. Im not dosing both at the same time though. I began dosing AA's cause as I am vinegar dosing all my colors were fading fast. But blue coral colors never came back/or bagan really...all other colors are doing good though.

As far as 3 X 5gallon water changes that equals 15 gallons a week or 60 a month on a 100 gallon system. Thats over 50% of volume water a month for water changes.
 
Do you have pics of your tank? You are dosing 2-4x more then me and i have no coloration problems. I am thinking you have more corals then me but without a picture i can not say yes or no to that.

Ill post some pics if I can. My cell phone doesnt capture pics very well with the leds running so Ill turn them off and see what I can do for pics.
 
I first started dosing reef energy but saw no changes to blue coloration. After I went through the kit I switched AA over to AP. Now Im dosing AP and still not seeing any changes to blue coloration. Im not dosing both at the same time though. I began dosing AA's cause as I am vinegar dosing all my colors were fading fast. But blue coral colors never came back/or bagan really...all other colors are doing good though.

OK, that's a much different situation that dosing both at the same time.

If you saw the color depletion when you began the carbon dosing that could indicate that your nitrates dropped. Did you measured nitrates before and after carbon dosing ?

As far as 3 X 5gallon water changes that equals 15 gallons a week or 60 a month on a 100 gallon system. Thats over 50% of volume water a month for water changes.

A single 50% water change and multiple water changes that are cumulatively 50% are not effectively the same. Multiple smaller water changes have a smaller effect of change on the ionic balance of the tank and also have a reduced effect on any over saturation of AAs or other organics.
 
OK, that's a much different situation that dosing both at the same time.

If you saw the color depletion when you began the carbon dosing that could indicate that your nitrates dropped. Did you measured nitrates before and after carbon dosing ?


A single 50% water change and multiple water changes that are cumulatively 50% are not effectively the same. Multiple smaller water changes have a smaller effect of change on the ionic balance of the tank and also have a reduced effect on any over saturation of AAs or other organics.

-Before I first started vinegar dosing (over a year ago) my Nitrates were around 15-20ppm. Now my Nitrates are around 3. All my parameters have remained stable (as mentioned above) for a year now.

-I fully agree with you there. So you think there is an oversaturation of AA's, or maybe a reduced amount of a certain key element?

What I also want to ask is even when I have purchased new blue colors that exibit good coloration soon lose their blue coloring and turn dull grey once I put them in my tank. Within 2-3 days they turn grey. Would you recommend doing a large water change 30%+ and quit vinegar dosing? Or continue my regulary scheduled water changes and quit vinegar dosing?

Do you think my nem could be consuming potassium iodine faster than the rate I am dosing? I measured him yesterday before his feeding and he was 18"-20" across!!
 
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If you are not testing for iodine, then how can you know how much to dose or even if you need to? I'd get a good test kit and start figuring out if you even need to dose. If you do, testing will help you figure out the rate at which it is being used.
 
If you are not testing for iodine, then how can you know how much to dose or even if you need to? I'd get a good test kit and start figuring out if you even need to dose. If you do, testing will help you figure out the rate at which it is being used.

Thats what I am looking to purchase today and Ill see were my iodine sits.
 
A commercial coral farm (I don't remember which one) grew their corals in a greenhouse with only natural sunlight. The blues lost their color in the winter when the daylight was shorter. They added lights for the reduced daylight of winter and the corals maintained their color year-round.

I have a blue acro that occasionally loses its color and I just increase the light intensity and duration and it gains the blue back. Of course, then I have algae problems until I dial back the light.
 
I would post this in the SPS forum for more action. However....to much AA will brown out corals. My blues seem to be the first to show when anything is out of wack. If it were my tank, I would stop dosing anything other than ALK/CA/MG and do several good sized water changes. Let things settle. If your like me, thats really hard to do! IMO, you may be sorta killing them with kindness, if you catch my meaning.

Mark

p.s. My blue sps like light... the lower the light the darker they become.
 
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