Phosban and SPS coloration

[dvanacker]

Hey guys,

I have recently notice some of my acro's getting lighter in coloration. I am looking for a reason for this. I have an oversized skimmer and I run Giessman T5HO. Growth is great and color is still good. But for some reason lighter. For example one of my acros I bought as an olive green has turned lime green.

Anyway I have been feeding a big more to see if this helps. I do see small patches of red slime on the SSB. Does this mean I have phosphates?? I notice alot of SPS reefers use phosban reactors is this a good idea or is my system nutrient deprived and I should dose amino acids and vitamins......

Im lost please help.

 

[samsfishnchips]

dvanacker,

what you describe usually is associated with nutrient poor setups, so phosban there won't help

phosban would help color up corals that are brown,

some have reporter richer colors with a bit more feeding

about additives, thats personal opinion, many like it, others believe is a wasted

I'm experimenting with some additives, and see better coraline growth, and "think" better color, but need more time

check this guy's tank
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=700454&perpage=25&pagenumber=10

his opinion, does makes sense to me, good luck,

sam

 

[jackson6745]

What was your phosphate level before using phosban? Just remove the phosban and the colors will deepen.

 

[dvanacker]

I have never used a phosphate remover. That is the thing.

Here is some more info..... I feed exclusively New Life Spectrum Marine pellet to fish. All fish look healthy and the creator of this food claims he has kept all types of fish and feed them exclusively on this food so I havent had to feed anything else. ( I have a yellow tang, coral beauty, sixline wrasse, and 3 chromis)

I think since its in pellet form and pretty close to 100% of it gets eaten, this may be keepin my tank water even cleaner.

So should I try dosing amino acids and vitamins or should I start feeding my tank something else with the pellets.

 

[jackson6745]

Judging from your gallery pics it looks like you have a light bioload. How many fish? What skimmer are your running?

IME adding more fish and feeding all kinds of flakes and frozen will deepen the colors better than AA.

Most of the guys having problems with phosban never needed it in the first place

 

[dvanacker]

I have a small yellow tang, full size coral beauty (they are about the same size), a sixline and 2 chromis.

this is 55g tank. My skimmer is an ASM G3 that is probalby good for up to a 180g.

 

[shelburn61]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7154810#post7154810 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jackson6745
What was your phosphate level before using phosban? Just remove the phosban and the colors will deepen.

The zoothanthelae are most likely N limited rather than PO4 limited so I doubt it. I do agree feed more and add some fish.

 

[FSOL]

I use phosban on my 180 and haven't noticed any discoloration. I used to feed light before. I started feeding more cyclopeeze and bio/marine/phytoplankton as well as some prodibio products and my corals are looking better.
I was scared that raising the nutrition may raise my PO4 and nitrate levels, but so far they are both zero, and the corals have deeper colors.

 

[Cody Ray]

I would use a phosphate remover if you plan on feeding more. You can't always know what will happen, so it would be a good idea to have something to fall back on. There is always the possibility that you could overfeed and get a spike in phosphates. JMHO