slow to get color.

[TMNZ]

I just can't seem to get any of the great colors i see with some of your tanks. The corals i have show potential, but main'ly brown.
They seem to be going quite well and those tips and branches seem to keep there color.

Any ideas on how to get better color.

What sort of time frame sould it take to get sweet color.

My tank is a 200g cube.

About 60x water turn over (tunze, sequence dart and laguna pumps)

Water
Ca 410
KH 8.6
PH ? about 8 i think
Mg 1160
No3 very low
Po4 0.02 (deltec and color metre)
Salinity 1.025
Temp 26.4
Strontium low
Silicate quit high about 5 i think.

2x 10k 250w xm bulbs 6 hours a day
4x 39w t5 2 blue 2 atinic 10 hours day

TM

 

[JB NY]

Make sure you tank is very stable. Also get your mg up to around 1400.

 

[Ti]

How does Mg affect color>?

 

[bskiba]

stability is definetly the trick to good color. you have the setup but stability takes time. also I would add a 20k 400 inbetween the 10k 250's. better spectrum for the coral that way

 

[TMNZ]

Ok i will take mg up a bit.

No room for putting a 20k bulb in.



What bulb would you suggest if i was to take out the XM 10ks, they are about due for a change
Will this make a big difference to the color development.

T

 

[Horace]

Check out Zeovit

 

[fishypets]

I had the same problem and my nutrients were about the same as yours. I started feeding the tank more and the color came quickly after that.

 

[Wiskey]

I have seen some spectacular colored tanks with XM 10K bulbs, and they pack a tun of par for the power they use, I would leave them alone (and I use them myself).

Could you post a few pics of your coral, perhaps that would help us help you.

I will see if I can't find the 10K thread,
Whiskey

 

[Wiskey]

Check out the tanks like Copps, Travis, SunnyX, JbNY, all spectacular color, under XM 10K bulbs.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=824916

Whiskey

 

[jiggy]

sorry to hijack the thread a little. but does nitrate level effect the coloring up of sps?

 

[TMNZ]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7204482#post7204482 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Wiskey
I have seen some spectacular colored tanks with XM 10K bulbs, and they pack a tun of par for the power they use, I would leave them alone (and I use them myself).

Could you post a few pics of your coral, perhaps that would help us help you.

I will see if I can't find the 10K thread,
Whiskey

Ok here are some pics.
Some other things to note is there is a bit of cynao in some of the lower light areas. I have a good skimmer that takes out heaps, about 1 cup per day (wet skim).
I have been dosing vodka for a few months with probio (biodigest). i have stopped the vodka now, no reason just ran out.
There are 19 fish, 10 chromis, 2 cardinals, a rabbitfish, mandarin,sailfin tang, 2 anthais, 1 marine betta and a sixline wrasse.
I have good color in other corals, monti caps, blasto, candy cane etc.

now the photos, first the good ones

Tm

 

[TMNZ]

.

 

[G-money]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7204505#post7204505 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jiggy
sorry to hijack the thread a little. but does nitrate level effect the coloring up of sps?

It could. It's "zoox food" and the more zoox you have, the browner the coral can appear. I think it's only one variable, but nitrate is a potential factor.

 

[jiggy]

zoox?

 

[Wiskey]

Jiggy,
I think that SPS color is more related to Phospate than nitrate, but phospate is difficult to test accuratilly so most people use nitrate as an indacator because they ususally come together.

Whiskey

 

[Wiskey]

TMNZ
I would love to have something to add, but it looks like you are doing everything right. The only thing I can think is try raising your MH photo period very slowly (15 min per week or so) and see if that makes a positive difference. The reasion I think this is that monti caps, blastos, candycanes all require less light in general than Acro speices so maybe the acros just arn't getting the light they need to color.

Perhaps someone who knowes more than me can chime in.

Whiskey

 

[kirstenk]

jmo...but I think this might be part of your problem. I have know others that have removed this particular coral from their tank and noticed an improvement.

 

[Ti]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7204708#post7204708 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by TMNZ
.

 

[G-money]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7207129#post7207129 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Wiskey
Jiggy,
I think that SPS color is more related to Phospate than nitrate, but phospate is difficult to test accuratilly so most people use nitrate as an indacator because they ususally come together.

Whiskey

How does phosphate affect color "more"? Granted, both are plant nutrients, and zoox are "plants", but I'm curious as to how phosphate affects it more. Phosphate inhibits calcification, but most papers I've read on the subject focus on nitrate's stimulation of zoox growth. Phosphate is mentioned, but not the focus. try to Google "zooxanthellae phosphate nitrate" and see what you can find.

This article is a good start.

IF phosphate is the "bigger factor", I need to know why!
You can't drop bombs like that without giving us something.

 

[blide]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7207369#post7207369 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kirstenk
jmo...but I think this might be part of your problem. I have know others that have removed this particular coral from their tank and noticed an improvement.

I agree... That sinularia is not helping your SPS.:spin2: