Monti losing colour please help

[tramsden]

Hi
Anyone like to have a guess on why this montipora has lost its colour and offer advice on regaining it.

570L sump system with Nac7 skimmer and Biopearls & Rowaphos
pH is 7.95 - 8.06
SG 1.025
Ca 410
mg 1320
Alk 7.5 in process of raising to 8 and will keep it there with balling lite
No3 1- 2
Po4 0.04

Lighting is Ai Sol Blues 70w 75B 85RB 7hrs/day. Unit is 9.5" above water level, Monti is 14" below water level.

2x Tunze 6095 1x Tunze 6055 provide current.

other corals
x1 small birds nest
x1 small milipora
x1 smal trachy
x2 scan frags
x1 7 head frog spawn

x1 RBTA ( other end of tank )

Fish
x1 purple tang
x1 fox face
x1 flame angel
x1 clown
x4 chalk basslet.

1st picture 25 dec 2012, second 20 jan 2013, difficult to get the colour balance exactly right but its close enough to see the dramatic



Any ideas welcome
Tony

 

[megadeth72]

fix your ph & alk, you already know what's wrong

 

[tramsden]

Will it be so sensitive to .5 dkh. Balling website says to run at 6.5-8. Should I target my dkh higher?
I've always struggled to get pH above 8.1 especially this time of year with all the windows closed. I do have the skimmer air inlet tube drawing air from outside but that doesn't seem to do too much to raise the pH.
T

 

[megadeth72]

8 is minimum, I shoot for 10, alk is repeatedly linked to sps color

 

[rbp 4 135]

You could raise your alk, but NSW runs lower than 7.5.

 

[tramsden]

I've seen the flame angel in the coral tonight do you think it's caused the problem or is it just in there because the coral is in decline and no connection.

 

[megadeth72]

you have low alk, that's why, why is that a hard concept to grasp, there's countless threads on alk and sps color, get it to 10 and report back

if you think it's the angel somehow changing a corals color, put some eggcrate around it so he cant touch it

 

[Bugger]

where is it placed. If its on the bottom it might be a light issue. I've had the same problem

 

[Justdrew]

8 alk is perfectly fine. Especially with the lower nutrients you report for PO4 and NO3. Getting up in the 10+ range can cause issues such as burnt tips with ULNS.

 

[megadeth72]

10 is not high, 8-12 is normal imo

 

[Justdrew]

I agree 10 is not too high, but it is high when you look at an ULNS, which the OP's reported numbers suggest. Look at TM Pro salt, it mixes at 6.5 dkh for those that wish to run their alk closer to NSW. Only needs a slight bump.