pale and brown sps

kalan850

New member
hey there every one

system is a 1 year old biocube 29, 120w chinese led, mixed reef, aquaticlife 115 skimmer.

dkh 9
Ca 400
No3 0
weekly 25% water changes using seachem aquavitro salt

ok so a few of my sps have browned out or turned pale. a green millepora has turned brown(still has great very green polyp extension and growth), while a green montipora digi has turned pale almost white but not bleached(still has great very green polyp extension and showing growth). also a pink monti cap is still pink but has gone very pale. they have been that way for about a month or 2. when i purchased them they were all under led's and had great color. i'm stumped as to why the lost of color has occured!
also have a red monti digi that is flawlessly colored up.

my first thought was Ca my calcium being low but it was in range about 380 when i started testing.
second thought was No3 after testing for that and reading 0 (API test kit) i'm still not sure whats going on?
third thought is my lighting, 120w chinese led's may have been too powerful so i have turned my whites down to about 20% and blues at 45%. i've had them turned down for about a week now and still not the slightest of color gain.

could it be that the light was too bright? could it be that the spectrum is off?

this is realy driving me crazy lol thanks in advance for your response!
 
It would take more than a week to get its color back. I have gotten corals from lfs and under my ai nano. Takes about 3 weeks or more to start coloring back up. Depends on where I put corals in the tank.
 
First thing for me would be the accuracy in your tests… API is the latter, so invest $80 in Salifert Alk, Calcium, N03, & P04 test kits.

Next IMO is to obviously track your nutrient levels from the stability of your Alk & Ca to your true levels of N03 & P04…

Once those are discovered, approach the lighting situation… you're already making me nervous by saying Chinese LEDs… What are the colors and how many watts etc…. See if maybe you can borrow someone's PAR meter?
 
It would take more than a week to get its color back. I have gotten corals from lfs and under my ai nano. Takes about 3 weeks or more to start coloring back up. Depends on where I put corals in the tank.

Yeah i thought so i just needed to read it from someone like yourself lol
 
First thing for me would be the accuracy in your tests"¦ API is the latter, so invest $80 in Salifert Alk, Calcium, N03, & P04 test kits.

Next IMO is to obviously track your nutrient levels from the stability of your Alk & Ca to your true levels of N03 & P04"¦

Once those are discovered, approach the lighting situation"¦ you're already making me nervous by saying Chinese LEDs"¦ What are the colors and how many watts etc"¦. See if maybe you can borrow someone's PAR meter?

The only thing i test with api is the No3 everything else is by red sea. The light has 25 whites and 30 actinic blues, each led are 3 watt. it is growing all my corals well just not getting the color that i seen when i first bought them. my zoas do grow pretty slow under it tho.
 
Check your PO4 and TDS if you're using an RO/DI unit for your top off water.

Then I would check the lighting situation. Where do they compare in distance from the lights from the LFS to your tank?
 
Check your PO4 and TDS if you're using an RO/DI unit for your top off water.

Then I would check the lighting situation. Where do they compare in distance from the lights from the LFS to your tank?

I should def check po4 just don't have a way to test that right now. I've also heard that i shouldn't trust my api no3 test kit? Havnt checked tds of rodi either i buy it from my lfs. i do have a kind of mermaids cup macro algae invasion goin on tho.
the lfs is using diy old school 2w leds blue and white while my fixture is 3 w leds blue and white.
 
I should def check po4 just don't have a way to test that right now. I've also heard that i shouldn't trust my api no3 test kit? Havnt checked tds of rodi either i buy it from my lfs. i do have a kind of mermaids cup macro algae invasion goin on tho.
the lfs is using diy old school 2w leds blue and white while my fixture is 3 w leds blue and white.

API isn't the best, but it'll give you an idea of where your levels are at.
You should definitely look into your PO4 and the TDS.
TDS could also be a source of PO4.
 
API isn't the best, but it'll give you an idea of where your levels are at.
You should definitely look into your PO4 and the TDS.
TDS could also be a source of PO4.

thank you for your input. i will definately look into testing for those. what would you recomend getting to test for p04?
 
The lights are very bright even at 30 for blue. I have mine 12 inches off the tank and fun it at 32 blues and it takes a month or so to show true colors.
 
If your running a scrappy spectrum but I know the light has a great spectrum for keeping sps.

good to know. i'm thinking it must be my water quality. you have the same light and are getting better results then thats what it must be right?
 
good to know. i'm thinking it must be my water quality. you have the same light and are getting better results then thats what it must be right?

I think testing for phosphates should be your first step. There's a few reasons SPS brown. Ultimately, it's excess zooxanthele in the coral. High phosphates and light spectrum can both impact this.
 
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