So my tank has been up and running for 13 months now. For the most part it is pretty stable. My PH has changes somewhat since going off the biopellets. Not sure why but it is stable at 7.8 where before it was 8.5 (Calibrates apex probe and test kits). Once I got my dosing pupls timed righ (many months ago) my alk and calc are stable as well (8dkh and 450). Nitrates are consistantly zero as measured by my hanna and Nitrates are zero as measured by my RS test kit and other test kits. Salinity is stable at 35 and temp is at 78 (chiller/heater).
So on Black friday 2011 I purchased a single head of frog spawn, some gsp and some eagle eye. A month later a large galaxia colony, agent orange zoa colony and large green button polyp colony 3 months later I purchased a green birdsnest frag and a purple monti frag. I also bought a nice branch of some purple acro.
A month later the monti bleached and the birdsnest growth took off. The purple acro browned However I noticed the button polyps lightening and my coraline bleached. The birdnest lost its color but was growing very fast. about the size now of a ping pong ball... Suspecting my LED's were too bright I borrowed the clibs light meter. Wow I was cooking them. 700 PAR at the top of the rocks. I dropped them down to 25 percent and the slow increase weekly ever since.
Around April of 2012, I bought some SPS frags. Copps blue hokie, Reefready Grape Juice, ORA Purple Stylo and several other frags. A month later 4 of them died from RTN (alk went over 9) and the grape juice lost all color.
By June my PAR was about 350 at the top of the reef. The bridsnest slowed down, the purple acor colored back up. The blue Hokie colored back and encrusted. The monti never recovered. The birdsnest continued to grow.
During the summer I bought some more frags but this time I light aclimated them in 2 weeks and had ness browning.... All kept their color except the purple stag. It is a light brown now and the bright green polyps have no color. My Purple bonsai was brown when I got it and in two weeks was nice and purple.
So I looked to me that the faster acclimation kept some of the frags from browning... But today my PAR at the top is 500. some frags have not recoverd in color. The Grape juice is growing and in full color. My birdnest growth has slowed down now and most corals have not increased in size at all. just some minor encrusting. My frog spawn now has 2 heads. The Purple stylo is growing well.
I am seeking advise with regard to color and growth. It has taken many many months for the ones that I acclimated over 4 weeks to color back up and like I said, some have not come back. My PO4 and NO4 are zero as measured by many test kits. In am running GFO and my Cheato does not grow are all so I am tending to beleave the zero NO4 reading. I have two frags of my purple stag. One at 350 PAR and one at 250. Both look the same. light brown...
So on Black friday 2011 I purchased a single head of frog spawn, some gsp and some eagle eye. A month later a large galaxia colony, agent orange zoa colony and large green button polyp colony 3 months later I purchased a green birdsnest frag and a purple monti frag. I also bought a nice branch of some purple acro.
A month later the monti bleached and the birdsnest growth took off. The purple acro browned However I noticed the button polyps lightening and my coraline bleached. The birdnest lost its color but was growing very fast. about the size now of a ping pong ball... Suspecting my LED's were too bright I borrowed the clibs light meter. Wow I was cooking them. 700 PAR at the top of the rocks. I dropped them down to 25 percent and the slow increase weekly ever since.
Around April of 2012, I bought some SPS frags. Copps blue hokie, Reefready Grape Juice, ORA Purple Stylo and several other frags. A month later 4 of them died from RTN (alk went over 9) and the grape juice lost all color.
By June my PAR was about 350 at the top of the reef. The bridsnest slowed down, the purple acor colored back up. The blue Hokie colored back and encrusted. The monti never recovered. The birdsnest continued to grow.
During the summer I bought some more frags but this time I light aclimated them in 2 weeks and had ness browning.... All kept their color except the purple stag. It is a light brown now and the bright green polyps have no color. My Purple bonsai was brown when I got it and in two weeks was nice and purple.
So I looked to me that the faster acclimation kept some of the frags from browning... But today my PAR at the top is 500. some frags have not recoverd in color. The Grape juice is growing and in full color. My birdnest growth has slowed down now and most corals have not increased in size at all. just some minor encrusting. My frog spawn now has 2 heads. The Purple stylo is growing well.
I am seeking advise with regard to color and growth. It has taken many many months for the ones that I acclimated over 4 weeks to color back up and like I said, some have not come back. My PO4 and NO4 are zero as measured by many test kits. In am running GFO and my Cheato does not grow are all so I am tending to beleave the zero NO4 reading. I have two frags of my purple stag. One at 350 PAR and one at 250. Both look the same. light brown...
