Next to no SPS growth

[TwoLittleTangs]

Hi everyone, im brand new to RC and have a question...

My SPS frags have not grown at all. They've been in there for months without any noticeable growth. Hoping someone has some suggestions.
My Parameters:

Ammonia- 0ppm alkalinity- 7.5ppm
nitrite- 0ppm calcium- 490ppm (yes its high, but im bringing it down)
nitrate- 10ppm mag.- 1410ppm
Phos.- 0ppm pH- 8.0
temp.- 78.8F

My Gear:

125gal 6 foot tank with 30 gal sump and refugium w/ chaeto
MP40 and MP10 both running 70% on Reef Crest (seems like TONS of flow)
Reef Octopus INT150
phosban reactor
Evergrow IT5012 Aquaocean LED's (2 hours blues and 10 hours full spectrum daily, simulating sunrise to sunset)

Inhabitants:

sailfin tang
dragonface pipefish
starry blenny
bartletts anthias x2
blue gundgeon goby
chalk basslet
skunk cleaner shrimp
peppermint shrimp x2
emerald crab x2
tuxedo urchin
snails for CUC
(All fed once daily with a blend of mysis, NLS Pellets, Calanus, crushed clam and nori for my tang; the tank is being vodka dosed)

Coral:

green birdsnest
two acro frags (dont know names)
two monti frags (dont know names)
branching monti
GSP
green eye zoas (ill be removing them soon as i dont want them in my tank)
Trachyphillia Brain

I figured you guys would want tank specs so here's everything i could think of. Thanks in advance. Hopefully someone knows why my corals have no growth at all

 

[jml1149]

What are your LED's set to? Photo inhibition seems to be the most common problem with those lights.

 

[TwoLittleTangs]

Here's a link with a picture of my lighting schedule. originally when i bought them (my first LED's), i had them cranked up way too high and killed my beautiful frogspawn and bleached a couple other corals. Since then I've lowered my settings. The factory defaults show,

Red green Blue White Indigo Purple

moonlight- 4 4 4 0 0 0

Cloudy 10 10 10 10 10 10

Sunny 50 50 50 50 50 50

I felt like Sunny at 50% each was just way too bright. My actinics come on at 7am and 7pm with the peak of the day at 2pm.

Thanks for the response, i appreciate it!

 

[TwoLittleTangs]

Anyone?

 

[bshow24]

Either the flow isn't high enough or the lights arent strong enough. I would figure it's the lights, best thing to do would be to test with a par meter.

 

[Dragon1979]

Following

 

[MrFantasy]

leds don't grow corals, they make them look good imo

leds don't grow corals, they make them look good imo

yea you may get lucky and see some growth over a few months but if you are like me, I want to sell or trade what grows so I can keep change the variety in my tank. Get a High output T5 and watch your corals grow. You can get a cheap one and just add saltwater bulbs to it. I had Mars Aqua's on my frag tank and a 8 bulb T5 on my DT. I bought 2 german blue birdnest corals and both were the same size when I purchased them. I put one in the DT and one in the frag tank. the one in the frag tank after 8 months showed almost no growth, the one in the DT grew like it was on steroids. Both tanks share the same sump so the parameters are the same.

 

[MrFantasy]

pics

pics

 

[TwoLittleTangs]

What is it about LED's that dont grow corals? I've heard of success with LED's and ive also heard of people that switch back to T5's. Maybe i'll have to start looking for some T5's again

 

[TwoLittleTangs]

Wow, that thing's growing like a weed. I finally noticed the beginning of some growth on my birdsnest today. Maybe something's changed

 

[jda]

Most LEDs that are strong enough can grow some coral. The best can get to 70-80% of what metal halide or T5 will, but still good enough. There are a few problems - not all LEDs are powerful enough, they oftentimes won't grow some of the "harder" acropora and they also will only color about 70-80% of what a metal halide or T5 will. Most people switch back when they get hardcore into acropora for one of these reasons. In any case, they should grow things. How old is your tank. Unless it is like under a year, then they lights probably are not powerful enough - birdsnest is VERY easy to grow. If it is under a year, then just chill out and wait.

I know that Evergrow can grow stuff in a mixed tank - there are plenty of folks on here. I have no idea if they are powerful enough to grow SPS very well, but I would think that they should have some growth especially on some montis or birdsnest, but this is just speculation.

 

[Scorpius]

All forms of lighting grow all types of coral. The trick is in implementation of the lighting and the scheduling. LED's are very easy to fiddle with. T5's and MH are not. It's best to start with lower par and work one's way up then to start with high par and bleach everything. Been there, done that. Better yet, get a par meter.

I see you have zero phosphates? Any nuisance algae growth skewing the 0 reading? You need some phosphates/nitrates. Any pests?


I have some Acropora that grow like weeds and some that hardly do anything. As long as I have decent color and polyp extension I don't worry.

 

[TwoLittleTangs]

Well as the lighting schedule i have posted shows, my Evergrows arent even running at 30%. the blues reach about 25% at their max and whites reach about 10% at their max in the day, and the rest of the spectrum falls in between. When i first installed them, i ran them up to about 50% without acclimating my corals properly (LED rookie mistake) and ended up bleaching some corals. I cranked my Evergrows right down since then and havent progressed up yet. Just this weekend I have slowly started to increase my blues and whites. I think ill bring them up by 5% a week and see if i notice a difference, keeping a 3:1 ratio with blue to white.

 

[TwoLittleTangs]

I wish i had access to a PAR meter.... and i have no nuisance algae currently. a few different types in the refuge but nothing in the DT. My phosphates are currently at 0 but usually sit around .01 to .02ppm. Nitrates today were tested at 5ppm but usually sit anywhere between 5- 10ppm. Rarely are they at 0ppm

 

[DaveRaz]

I went from maxspect razors, to kessils to t5/led set up. No looking back as I've found the solution to my lackluster coral coloration and growth. I've seen both sps dominate maxspect and kessill reefs but I just couldn't dial them it correctly. Be careful when making a change to your lighting as I killed a lot of acros early on due to poor lighting change acclimation. Good luck.

 

[mgreenough]

Your schedule looks very underpowered, i have an it5012 and these are my settings with the lights 10" above the tank.

Old pic of the lighrs above tank, i have since lowered the light by 3"

 

[jusn317]

Yes, less can and do grow coral, but I have to admit that once I added four t5 bulbs to my scotch radians the spa just exploded in growth. As has been said there are so many different led fixtures out there and they are much more difficult to dial in unlike MHs and T5s. For me the best possible setup is a led/t5 hybrid.

 

[swk]

I have that equipment for flow, plus a large maxspect gyre in my 4' 75 gal tank.

Try adding more flow for starters

 

[justy]

How many diodes does that unit run and what is the total stated watts stated?

 

[TwoLittleTangs]

Wow... that's quite the discrepancy between our lighting schedules. Would you say that bringing them up by 5% a week would be okay? Which would be the best best or better brands to go to for T5/LED hybrid? If I upgrade lighting again, I'll just get the best I can afford. My tank seems to have tons of flow, and circulation, I can't get my Mp40 to 100% without blowing everything off the rocks. But I could try a different powerhead off the back glass.