Losing Color or Color Bleaching

[mixedreeftank]

I'm having a hard time with a few of my corals. At first I thought they were starting to bleach out. I have tried three things, moved them lower, lowered the intensity of my lights, and feed more in my tank. After a month, the color hasn't made any improvements.

I'm wondering if I'm going the wrong direction and maybe they aren't getting enough light? As my acropora and montiporas seem to be doing fine.

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated.

3 Years Old Tank

Reef Breeders 48" LED Light
7 Hours ramp to max 20% blue 10% white
2 Hours actinic light

Parameters
Temp: 78
Calcium: 460
Alkalinity: 8.4
Magnesium: 1280
PH: 8.1
Salinity: 1.025
Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Phosphate: Undetectable

 

[jstack]

they are slowly but surely starving to death. LPS need nutrient .and more blue light

 

[SouthFla]

Nitrate, Phosphate: Undetectable

Agreed, would think this is your problem. Boost those nutrient levels a bit and see how the tank responds. You can either feed more (never works for me tho) or research NO3 & PO4 dosing. Pretty straightforward ;-)

 

[mixedreeftank]

Thank you, to both of you, for the input. I'll check out how to increase those levels.

Sent from my XT907 using Tapatalk

 

[SouthFla]

FYI I was facing a similar problem as my LPS and SPS corals were growing noticeably with good PE, but EVERYTHING was washed out. I had NEVER registered NO3 or PO4 using Salifert, Red Sea and Hanna ULR test kits.

So I started dosing KNO3 and KH2PO4, purchased from Green Leaf Aquariums. It's taken about 3months, but my torch, frogs, hammers, Favia, pocillopora and Monti's have absolutely gained color.

[/QUOTE]

I've been able to keep my PO4 ~ 0.02-0.5ppm, but am having trouble getting my NO3 stable above 1ppm (I'm targeting 2-5). I generally check levels every weekend and dose accordingly.

This fertilizer is so cheap so it's a VERY easy thing to try.

Good luck!

 

[mixedreeftank]

FYI I was facing a similar problem as my LPS and SPS corals were growing noticeably with good PE, but EVERYTHING was washed out. I had NEVER registered NO3 or PO4 using Salifert, Red Sea and Hanna ULR test kits.

So I started dosing KNO3 and KH2PO4, purchased from Green Leaf Aquariums. It's taken about 3months, but my torch, frogs, hammers, Favia, pocillopora and Monti's have absolutely gained color.

Good stuff and thank you for dropping the link. I've been looking into dosing NO3 and PO4 but didn't know what to get, this really helps.

Do you know a general rule of thumb to follow when dosing this? (x amount per gallon)

Sent from my XT907 using Tapatalk

 

[SouthFla]

THIS calculator is great! It'll help you make a certain concentrated nutrient solution and then help you calculate how much of the solution will be needed to raise your volume of water XXppm of the selected nutrient.

 

[mixedreeftank]

Great! Thanks again.