My sps turn brown

[marino420td]

It seems that every frag of sps I put into my tank turns a shade of brown. They are all growing well, polyp extension is good but the coloration sucks. I am using two Reeflux 10K 175 watt bulbs supplemented with two 95 watt VHO superactinics.

Here is a frag the day after I brought it home.

Here is that same frag a month later

Here is a full tank shot (shot with afternoon sunlight shining through window into tank)

I does two part B-Ionic every day and water quality is good.

Any suggestions?

 

[zoazoa]

Think because your light. 175W can be little bit not enough for SPS. Upgrade lamp around 250W should be goo for color of SPS.
And 10K can be cause of brwonish color. Change to 14K or 20K will be better.

 

[Don Berry]

I don't really think it's a lighting issue personally. I would be more willing to say that it has something to do with nutrient level in the tank. Phosphates are also a possibility. You might want to post water parameters if you have them.

 

[jer77]

The same thing happened to me. I solved the problem by cleaning more and doing more water changes. The tests said my phosphates were very low, but I believe they needed to be lower. It is definately a water quality issue. Just do a big water change and watch them color back up.

 

[zoazoa]

Well..I don't think so the color of sps depends on light. I have had 150W 10K and every sps turn to brown but now have 400W 20K and color is wonderful. Same skimer, water and same tank.

 

[undertai]

175's work just fine over a tank higher wattage bulbs are a waste of good money. I run 2 175's over a 55 gallon; you can check out my tank here.

http://saltwater.internetdepot.org/corals/

click on images for bigger pictures

 

[marine_freak]

I think you have to look at both.... tank parameters and lighting both contribute equally to coloration..... also wild caught corals tend to be more apt. to brown out on you.... I would keep my params in check and upgrade your light..... I bet within 6 wks your corals will begin to color up for you......

 

[meschaefer]

How long have you had the frag?

 

[chadfarmer]

i have a piece of the same coral

mine looks like the pic on the top


try to check your nutrients and is that new skimmer hooked up skimm wet for a while (and see if in a few month the color comes back) contact saltgills and ask him what he uses as light on his tank that is who it came from)

 

[javatech]

Looks like it was encrusting on the rock in photo #1 but in photo #2 looks like it died back and has lost some on the tip
so what ever is the problem it looks like it's fadeing away

 

[jay24k]

10K doesn't brown out corals. Nutrients/Phosphates do. I'd keep the bulb but would consider going up to 250 if you can. Check your phosphates because something nutrient wise is browning em up.

 

[MiddletonMark]

How long have you had the frag [or others]?
How long has the tank been running?

What does the water test out at, what kind of filtration/feeding/stocking do you have going on there?

IME, I was able to have colorful Acropora and Montipora with 175's ... that while I feel color improved by a bit with 250's [for some things, probably 50% of all of them didn't change a whit] - most of them colored the same 175's to 250's and it wasn't as dramatic as I expected.
I would easily say half my Acropora didn't show much a difference - where IMO every coral showed a positive reaction to when I upgraded skimmers.

The bluer the 175w bulb - often the lower the PAR. Careful not to `need' 250's by buying low PAR bulbs that are aesthetically appealing but functionally poor.
I'd also ask what reflectors/pendant you're using. IME, a good vs. mediocre reflector makes a giant difference in the light getting in the tank ... and thus what you'll get out of the tank.
In 175, I find it hard not to want to try the 14k Iwasaki, as the PAR #'s I saw for it were impressive IMO.
Had good luck with 10k's of a few varieties myself.

But IMO - there's a lot to do with nutrients, perhaps with flow that could influence this. And even with 250's, if you don't have the water quality spot on - you'll just have more washed out poor color.

Or so my opinion is. Lots of different opinions on this subject.

 

[smeese]

To reassure you brown is not all that bad.....be thankful they are not beaching. Good luck

 

[MACH5]

I agree 100% with MiddletonMark. Marino could you state your current water parameters?

 

[parothead22]

Need to take a look at different factors as stated above. All are valid . First lighting! I've had green Montipora Digitata that was green at the pet shop under 250watt mh's then brought them home to find them turn brown after a couple weeks. I later on sold some of the same kind back to the same pet shop beacuase it was growing and spreading fortunately and later on turned green again in the same tank I bought it from in the first place and under the same lighting. Now, I have a Aqua C skimmer which is a very good skimmer for my tank and I have no phosphates due to the fact I have a phosphate reactor.
Secondly, perform a water change to possibly correct some water parameter issues if they exist.
Also may be a result of chemical warefare from surrounding corals especially soft corals causing your coral to brown.
Usually when you talk about color though it is due to lesser light where as bleaching is usually due to too much light in a short period of time.

 

[marino420td]

65 Gal tank with 20 gal sump/refugium. Chaeto and CaribSea mud. Mag 9 return pump.

CPR Dual Bakpak skimmer (I know already but I bought it before doing my homework)

Two Seio 820's for flow

Two 175Watt Reeflux 10k bulbs running on coralvue electronic ballast. Bulbs about 5 months old. Cheap parabolic reflectors.
Two 95watt URI superactinic VHO's running on ARO ballast.

Tank has been running since Feb 2004.

Salinity- 1.025
Temp- 80.1
Nitrate- 0
Nitrite- 0
Ammonia- 0
Calcium- 450
Phosphate- 0

I previously had problems with polyps not extending until I captured my bicolor blenny. Once I removed him, polyp extension has been great.

I changed from 14k to 10 k bulbs and the growth has been good. Even the blue coral in the pictures is growing. It has just lost color.

I am not upgrading equipment or lighting on this tank because I'm in the middle of setting up a new 120 gal sps tank. I have lumenarc reflectors and an H&S skimmer already purchased for it.

I'll perform a large water change this weekend and see if that helps. Maybe the test kits I'm using are off (Seachem).

Thanks for all of the advice.

 

[Jeremy Blaze]

I'd do some water changes, put some phosban in there as well.

 

[Horace]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7532731#post7532731 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by zoazoa
Well..I don't think so the color of sps depends on light. I have had 150W 10K and every sps turn to brown but now have 400W 20K and color is wonderful. Same skimer, water and same tank.

Sorry boss but light is only one factor and not the biggest factor by a long shot. Water quality is 10x more important than light is.

Like has been said above, even the Salifert test kit is not sensative enough to really tell you. Essentially if your salifert test kit reads any phosphates at all, your phosphates are too high (above .05ppm). Nutrients is the #1 cause to brown corals. While adding light can help on tanks that have great water quality but low light, I dont think your tank falls into this category. 175w is plenty of light for a small tank like that, especially if your using 10ks. 10ks absolutly DO NOT brown corals, if anything they make them color very well and grow the best.

 

[DrBDC]

FWIW, saltgils uses vho actinic whites and actinic blues. No other light. The most awesome coloring in a frag tank I've ever seen. You could make the most colorful tank you've ever seen out of his frag tanks. And some say actinics don't give any light that is for growth. I've seen it.

 

[dots]

With 150's or 175's, we are closer to the edge of keeping acros and have less "wiggle-room" as far as bulb choices and depth of placement.

I have been running 150 DE's with 14K Phoenix bulbs and have had little problems with browning. I would say browning is a result of poor water quality with high nutrients with major focus on the nitrates and phosphates.

Recently, I had a nitrate problem and noticed mine brown up a little. Resolving that solved the browning.

In fact, I have been buying browned-out Acros lately and have had them color up quite nicely.

I agree, 250's would have been a better selection, but hindsight is 20/20, so until I upgrade myself I have been succesfull with the 150's and don't think they directly contribute to browning, just make it easier to happen.

How do we explain then all of the t-5's that have great coloration? IMO, 150DE MH's or 175SE are more intense than the t-5's on a watt per watt comparision.