Mag Alk Cal Help

[prospectclmt]

So i have been getting decent growth but a little loss of color in some of my sps. i do weekly water changes using tropic marin bio actif and ro/di water, and dose b-ionic 2 part and seachem adv mag.

one thing i have noticed is i may have dosed too much mag and for the past 2 months the mag has been over 1500. i use the red sea test kit and it barely even changes color when i use the whole syringe.

parameters

cal - 500
alk - 9.8dkh
mag - over 1500...!!!!
phos - 0ppm
nitrate - 0ppm

lighting 6 x 54w T5's light cycle is 8hours per day, approx 8months old
Ati b+
Ati aquablue
Ati b+
KZ fiji
Ati b+
Ati procolor

CPR HOB fuge with miracle mud and chaeto

quick pic for reference. had nice purple tips coming in and after i started to dose and maybe over dose on the mag it lost the purple tips. The bellina on the left also lost a little of its purple base. The one on the right is a ORA verde i got for free from a friend who had it brown out on him.

3 months later

 

[allsps40]

Bring your alk up to around 8. Low alk is part of what causes browning. But there are so many things that can cause it so you to research and find you your tank needs. Are you using just Tropic Marin or the Pro Reef. Pro Reef is the best salt I have used, got the best colors with it. RC sucks for color imo, going to switch again soon to maybe DD or back to HW Reefer.

 

[prospectclmt]

i use tropic marin bio actif, supposed to be just like pro reef. my alk is already past 8. it usually hovers around 9.5-9.8. could lighting be the issue? my bulbs are aroung 8months old

 

[iap]

His alk is almost at 10.. So should he bring it down to 8? Or did you misread his post?

 

[prospectclmt]

oh forgot skimmer is a euro-reef cs-6 with a sedra 3500, and a phosban running carbon

 

[iap]

I would do a bulb change and get another reactor to run some rowaphos in

 

[allsps40]

I cant speak for the new stuff as I has never used it but I would use Pro Reef in a heart beat again. I may get some from Marine Depot when I run out of RC. I had really great success with Pro Reef in the past and feel it is the best salt for a sps reef tank.

 

[bmiller1234]

You don't need a bulb change and you have no phosphate so you don't need rowaphos....

Anyway your a touch bleached and tips might be a little burnt. How are you dosing? if your just dumping alk and Cal parts in you might be spiking your alk and causing stress. also depends in time you dose. Before doing to a dual channel dose pump I would dose 2/3 in morning and 1/3 at night. Would only give me about a .2 alk swing which kept tank super stable.

Our local club had Anthony Calfo speak last month and he went over a lot of color growth issues on sps. I found my problem with color was starving corals. I had an extremely low nutrient system and my corals were not getting nearly enough food . In the last month I started feeding my fish double what I used to. Dropped my water change to 10 percent bi weekly and I am now feeding a crazy amount of reef chili and h20 frozen cyclops 3-4 nights a week and my colors have come back incredible. A little nitrate and phosphate are ok and actually beneficial to sps growth and color.

My recommendations would be skip a water change or drop amount. ramp up your feeding a bit and get some "dirt" in the water for the corals to feed on.

 

[Akrite]

I found my problem with color was starving corals. I had an extremely low nutrient system and my corals were not getting nearly enough food.

I also had this problem. My corals were starving I chose to get more fish and keep them nice and fat without overfeeding. What size tank do you have and how many and what kind of fish do you have? Coral food works too but I find that adding fish is easier and more exciting.

Also your Alk should be in the 8 to 9 range and Mag between 1300-1350. Remember stability is key.

 

[chefzif]

Very interesting! on how everyone thinks low nutrients is the way to go, I feed my fish well also and have a low amount of nitrates and all color is well and I am getting ready to switch over to tropic marin pro also! I am presently using reef crystles and a friend switched over and what a difference with his polyp extension and color. I also have my alk around 9-9.5 and dose two part.

 

[prospectclmt]

intresting....i recently broke down my 80G (not for this reason) just a time issure. but i went down to a 34 solana with a 150w mh sunpod. thanks for all the info. i think ill drop the percentage of water changes and feed the fish a little more that normal. My corals are a little ****ed from the transfer but here are some pics. i am currently working on getting some dosing pumps. that may have also been my problem, consistency of dosing.

 

[bmiller1234]

Heres a 3 month difference in my tank since I started feeding my tank heavily and feeding corals REEF CHILI and Cyclops regularly. I dropped from 15% a week to 5% twice a week on water changes. I also added a kangaroo dual channel doser dosing BRS 2 part. This combination has made a huge difference in my tank.

The ORA spongodes is the main one but the lower left you will see a huge difference in color to the silver tip pocillipora.

July 19

Oct 6