My pearlberry looks terrible

[Paulca916]

Im going far out on a limb with this , but imo/ime those api test kits are junk...salifert or elos for sps's

+1 I Use ELOS for PO3/Mag./Calcium and ALK But and Hanna colormeter for PO4

and some of those softies, ie devils hand, toadstools/ imt(in my tank) played hell with some sps' thru chemical warfare. It wasnt till i cleared out all the softies till my acros perked up.

I just got rid of all my softies and my SPS are liking it already even thou I ran carbon befor it helped but not enough.

mine gets very limited flow (almost a dead zone) growth and color have been great

it's under T5s with reflectors PAR is around 280 but the reading wasn't the best
the T5s are URI's (sits below a White Atinic & 454) and it's probably about 12" below the surface with about 4" between the water level and T5

here is a recent picture -I've had it just under 4 months and got it as a frag that had branches that were about 1/2" long

1/3/11

9/18/10

WoW Awesome growth and color share what you feed your SPS please and what you dose if you wouldnt mind TIA

I tried 2 times with Pearl Berry no luck.
But with Garf bonsia I'm on my 3 rd try this one is doing much better.
Some SPS are just finicky

 

[psteeleb]

Psteele, that is quite the fantastic growth you have had there in 4 months

thanks Flyyguy

all my SPS are doing very well, I picked up the pearberry with 8 other SPS from another local DFWMAS reefer, all doing awesome.

I posted a video a while back on the growth of all 9 but don't want to steal this thread with another post of it.

WoW Awesome growth and color share what you feed your SPS please and what you dose if you wouldnt mind TIA

The tank gets fed pellets and cyclopeze daily, and I alternate every other day with phytoplanton and mysis. So the tank is nutrient rich but I have lots of very well established live rock with loads of beneficial critters, keeping my trates undetectable. I have been getting some algea blooms lately and combating it with more CuC and increasing the Mg levels.

I use a middle of the road sklimmer and my sump/refugium has more live rock and macro algeas.

I do a ~15% water change every two weeks (sometimes 3). I run carbon 24/7 and change it about once every 4-6 weeks.

I always use kalc but it doesnt meet all demand. Plus I limit how much I use. I just find the corals seem to do so much better with even a little kalc then with none.

Was using 2 part till Dec but now use a Ca reactor, but still tweeking it.

I dose an ounce or two of some additives once or twice a month (it's way way less then they recommend) so I don't even know if they do much but it's not much of a cost or hassle.
they include:
Aminos
Coral Vite
Essential Elements
Coral Accel

HTH

 

[Acrotrdco]

I've got a colony as well, it's been one of the easier SPS I've been keeping, put it under moderate flow and bright lights and it'll glow really fast.

 

[SPSEMPIRE]

Pearlberry is sensitive to an increase in organic build up. I would think that it is your nutrient level over anything.

 

[Fish4Me2]

pearlbeery is one coral I have always had issues with for some reason

I feel better reading this. I've lost both frags of pearlberry I've had. Other things grow and look great in my tank, but not that coral. I agree that it's very sensitive to low alk.

 

[cfgenesis]

I feel better reading this. I've lost both frags of pearlberry I've had. Other things grow and look great in my tank, but not that coral. I agree that it's very sensitive to low alk.

I've had my alk up to 11-12 for a month so maybe that is helping it rally.

 

[dixiedog]

I have the opposite problem; mine has always been bleached and colorless. This pic is from July 1; it hasn't grown 1/8" since then.

 

[apt220]

For the OP:

I think it's related to excess N & P. I may be wrong, but it looks like you have cyano on the back wall. Also, I agree with the other posters that those API nitrate and phosphate tests are junk.

 

[SPSEMPIRE]

For the OP:

I think it's related to excess N & P. I may be wrong, but it looks like you have cyano on the back wall. Also, I agree with the other posters that those API nitrate and phosphate tests are junk.

Ditto, the first post looks like excess nutrients.

Dixiedog - I can tell your phosphates are too low since your pearlberry has lost color.

 

[cfgenesis]

For the OP:

I think it's related to excess N & P. I may be wrong, but it looks like you have cyano on the back wall. Also, I agree with the other posters that those API nitrate and phosphate tests are junk.

I think that has improved as well, as I cleaned the back glass since that pic was taken and no cyano has returned. I asked my wife for a Hanna checker for my birthday (which is next week) so hopefully I can start getting better readings on Phos. The API test IS garbage - the color chart for 0 and for .5 is so similar I can't tell what the reading is.

 

[cfgenesis]

Ditto, the first post looks like excess nutrients.

Dixiedog - I can tell your phosphates are too low since your pearlberry has lost color.

Phosphates are too low? So you get brown-out when they are too high and bleaching when they are too low? What is the sweet spot for phosphates and how can can you maintain it?

 

[DustinB]

Bleaching from phosphates being too low? You mean nitrates being too low? Phosphate inhibits the calcification of corals. You want this as low as possible.

Typically you only get minor bleaching in vodka dosed systems where nitrate is at 0 and the water column is devoid of any nutrients. This can be compensated for with more fish, heavier feeding, and possibly the addition of amino acids.

 

[SPSEMPIRE]

Yes, there is a fine line in reefing. One side of the line is providing a food source for the acros. The other side is keeping algae low and not an "eye sore"

If the corals are starved from the food source, they can easily loose color and look faded. A higher nutrient level (organic build up) and / or instability of parameters will cause the tissue to turn brown.

Keep in mind that there is a symbiotic relationship between the poly and the tissue (algae). Polyp eats off of the plankton and larva in the water column. The waste from the polyp provides a food source for the tissue, which also makes its own food via photosynthesis. And then the circle of life continues......

 

[SPSEMPIRE]

Bleaching from phosphates being too low? You mean nitrates being too low? Phosphate inhibits the calcification of corals. You want this as low as possible.

Typically you only get minor bleaching in vodka dosed systems where nitrate is at 0 and the water column is devoid of any nutrients. This can be compensated for with more fish, heavier feeding, and possibly the addition of amino acids.

Our systems consist of a constant battle for real estate. Phosphates are a food source. However, excess phosphates and nitrates will create competition for surface area. The tissue (algae) is competing with the phosphates so they can use the skeleton or rock to grow onto and encrust.