proper nutrient levels for SPS

[jlinzmaier]

reefsahoy

Very much appreciate your thoughts. I agree with you on some aspects.

I do belive the true po4 level of my tank is masked a bit by the algae growing in the tank and the 40 gal algae scrubber which is filled with chaeto and 20 mangrove sprouts. I think I have enough available po4 in the water column to continue to feed the algae and in turn the algae, chaeto, and zooanthellae keep the water column at relatively low levels (0.04). After the readings I've gotten with my photometer, po4 isn't my primary concern but I do beleive it is still a problem that requires attention. I agree with you that if I increased my clean up crew, the nuisance algea in the tank wouldn't be as much of a problem, however, the nuisance algae isn't my primary concern at the moment.

I think there are multiple factors affecting the coloration of my corals (as one would expect). I agree with you that the lack of coloration (loss of color and/or bland coloration) is likely due to a lack of amino acids and other essential nutrients. Whether this is due to over filtration or lack of introduction of these components from the food I'm feeding, I'm not sure.

In addition to a few colors having generally poor coloration and almost bleached look, far more colors have an overall browning color. This is clearly an abundance of zooanthellae. There could be multiple reasons for this, however the most likely and most common is excess nutrients. Interestingly enough, at the time I posted this thread (12 days ago) I began an extremely limited feeding regimen and some corals have brightened up. I feed my fish only a few pellets each once a day or every other day and I've stopped supplementing all other foods. Since that time a few corals have shown better coloration, a decrease in zooanthellae, and I've seen no negative effects on any other corals. I do believe if I continue this practice some corals (especially SPS) may begin to show poor health since there will be even fewer available amino acids (which is what I believe they are lacking at this point). With the comments I've made about the coloration of my corals, I also want to point out that I have some corals which are extremely healthy and have beautiful bold coloration. I have a birdsnest (and multiple frags from that colony) which are bright pink and look better than most I've seen. I have an elegance coral which shows incredible polyp extension and has beautiful colors. There are many others that are looking great, but I think there are also many corals in my tank that could use some form of TLC (whether that be nutrient reduction, addition of amino acids, or something else)

I think in general, my tank is out of balance when it comes to various nutrient levels and essential elements. My only thought to cure this to wipe the system clean of all nutrients and add only the highest quality nutrients at appropriate levels and judge the dosing primarily on the reaction and coloration of the corals. This is why I've chosen to take on the zeovit method of nutrient management. The zeovit method isn't a silver bullet by any means, but I believe proper husbandry in combination with zeo concepts, and careful manipulation of a tanks nutrients can significantly improve my tank.

Thank you to everyone for all your input.

Jeremy

 

[stony_corals]

Jeremy,

There are brown sps Many sps ARE brown. The paling in sps is a general sign of a lack of N, not amino acids, they uptake aminos as a source of N. (Who knows how long the aminos stay aminos in our tanks). Regardless of nutrient levels, you'll never make a brown any other color than brown (ok, may be tan-ish if N starved).

Actually the problem with measuring phosphates is that organic phosphates, which most photometers and test kits do NOT test for, can hide the symptom, and due to the phosphate cycle (inorganic <-> inorganic), it's REALLY hard to identify if phosphates are an issue. IMHO, if you have a phosphate issue, your sps will not grow. If you have too much N, then your corals may "brown out" as zoox can absorb N from the water column as NH3/4 or NO3.

 

[jlinzmaier]

Regardless of nutrient levels, you'll never make a brown any other color than brown

Stoneycorals

As I said before. I'm not trying to make naturally brown colored corals any other color. I have corals that are brownish in my tank now, however when I purchased them they were brightly and deeply colored. After a few months in my tank they took on a brownish color (overgrowth of zoox). Fruthermore, these aren't only SPS, I have some LPS which have exhibited the same symptoms. Regardless of what my tests read, (nitrates read 0-0.5, and po4 reads 0.04) I'm certain I have excess nutrients (likely po4) as evidenced by the algae growth, excess zoox within the corals, and lack of overall growth (growth is likely limited due to excess po4).

The paling in sps is a general sign of a lack of N

If you have too much N, then your corals may "brown out" as zoox can absorb N from the water column as NH3/4 or NO3.

With your explanation of how corals react to excess N and too little enough N, how do you diagnose my situation. I have several corals showing signs of excess zoox (elevated N per your explanation) and I have other corals that are paling in color (limited N per your explanation). Per my brand new salifert kit my N reads 0-0.5.

Jeremy

 

[stony_corals]

How long ago were they purchased? Could simply be adaptation to your system? I don't put much faith in the majority of hobbyist test kits for NO3 (nor PO4).... You have LPS that paled out, or browned out too?

 

[jlinzmaier]

All corals in my tank have been there for at least 6 months. The corals specifically in question have been there 6mo to 1yr.

One LPS has browned out slightly (hammer) and another LPS has simply lost color but not entirely bleached - no browning though(frogspawn). There are three SPS that have lost color and lightened significantly (not entirely bleached but no browning at all). I also have 4-5 SPS that have browned out.

As I said before, I also have several corals that look great and are doing outstanding (elegance, birdsnest, hydnophora, montipora nodusa, chalice, etc... (and several anemones are doing great).

Jeremy

 

[stony_corals]

Did you get the 'brown' corals from an lfs or individual? How were their respective tanks different from your in terms or light, flow etc? For those corals that are doing well, how is their growth?

 

[jlinzmaier]

90% of the livestock I buy is from Liveaquaria. There is no correlation to certain corals coming from one souce having problems. Of the corals I'm concerned about, they've come from various sources (liveaquaria, trades with local reefers, and some from the LFS). I'm not able to match the lighting and water conditions of all of these different sources because they all vary considerably. Instead I've tried to provide the proper water params, adequate lighting, proper flow, and foods that the corals typically thrive on. I've tried adjusting lighting levels, adjusting tank location for various flow rates and light penetration, tried feeding various types of foods at various times during the photoperiod, tried target feeding, tried increasing filtration, tried decreasing filtration, and here I am on this thread trying to get a handle on the proper nutrient levels to rule that out as a possible problem. I've also tried several drips on the corals to rule out any parasites.

For those corals that are doing well, how is their growth?

The corals that have good coloration are thriving well and IMO have good growth rates.

Jeremy

 

[stony_corals]

I think the fact that you have certain colonies that are doing well colorwise, and growing leads me to believe this is either a) an adaptation symptom, or b) they aren't happy with their placement (I guess kinda adaptation related). If you had nutrient issues, specifically phosphate, you wouldn't have good growth, it interferes with calcification. The fact that you have growth happening means that your tank is doing well. I've seen some corals that don't look like they are growing and are drab, but take 6+ months to do something...

 

[cook]

I have had problems likr this caused by phosphates. I also used to use GFE which is great for management. if you want to drop po4 fast try seachems phosban. I changed the color of all my sps in one month. I only ran the posguard for 1 week. All of my nusiance alge has died and my macro stopped growing. All sps are light now and I will start feeding more and dosing AA's. We will see if they brighten now.