SPS coloration question

[reef_dude76]

I have recently decided to try my luck with sps again after three prior failed attempts. This try was sparked by a complete redesign of my tank plumbing and sump (this was due to job relocation).

I have two different species of acrapora and one montipora. All three are not only surviving, but growing as well. My question is, how do you get the sps to display a color other than brown? One of my sps of more of a blue green when I first bought it. Now it is more brown with faint greenish growth tips.

My lighting is one 175W 10K MH bulb and two 55W actinic 03 PCs. Any advice on how to "color up" my acropora?

 

[reef_dude76]

Also the two acropora sp. are located near the bottom of my tank, probably about 2.5 feet from the MH.

 

[fishdoc11]

How long have the corals been in their present location and what are your params, particularly your phosphate and nitrate readings?

 

[reef_dude76]

They have been there about a month, maybe a little more. As for parameters nitrate is 0, phosphate is 0 - 0.2, ammonia is 0, SG 1.023 +/- .002, temp 81-82 degrees without much swing.

 

[fishdoc11]

Phosphate 0 - 0.2 is a pretty big range. 0.2 is not good at all for Acropora and most likely harmfull, 0.1 will cause brown corals, under 0.03 - 0 is best.
Also if corals have browned out they can take from a couple of weeks to several months to color back up given the proper conditions. It sounds like phophate is your problem to me. Be wary of phosphate removers, they can be very harmfull to Acropora and other "sps". What type of skimmer do you have and are you using RO/DI for topup and water changes?
Chris

 

[reef_dude76]

RO/DI - yes
top off is RO/DI without salt to prevent sloute and SG increases or kalkwasser made from RO/DI.
skimmer is a CPR SR4
As for phosphate, I am using a SeaTest kit for low range phosphate. The lowest reading on the color chip is 0.2 but the water being tested does not darken to the full color that corresponds to 0.2, thus I would take it that my levels are lower than 0.2. Actually, it is rather difficult to detect any color change at all.

 

[Horace]

Phosphates (nutrients) and low light are normally the cause for brown SPS. It sounds like you have enough light, so my guess is nutrients as well....You need to start feeding less, skimming harder, add some Cheato, etc etc. You gotta get nutrients as low as possible.

 

[marine_freak]

175 watt halides sound a little weak to me especially at the distance from the light you are talking about. 2.5 feet from a 175.... hope it is a deep water acro colony???

 

[masterswimmer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7036737#post7036737 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by marine_freak
175 watt halides sound a little weak to me especially at the distance from the light you are talking about. 2.5 feet from a 175.... hope it is a deep water acro colony???

Ditto. 175w is definitely on the weak side. And, your tank is 4' long I believe? Only one on a tank that size is inadequate as well. The rule of thumb is one MH for each 2' of tank.

 

[sasa311]

Hello!
Here are some picts:
03.12.

03.25.

This is some kinda seriotopora, maybe a histrix...
Is it a good change in coloration?:rolleye1:

 

[Mariner]

Sasa,
Looks a little bleached to me. Probably too much light too quick. BTW, you probably should have started your own thread, explaining your problem, tank params, etc. instead of posting in the middle of someone else's thread with a different set of issues.

Reefdude,
Your lighting is definitely weak to color up most acros, especially at the depth you have them. I'd move the acros up higher in the tank to begin with, and then look into getting another 175w metal halide.
HTH,
Mariner

 

[fishdoc11]

IMO 175 watt halides are plenty to color up corals with good water quality(assuming quality bulbs that aren't old etc.... Here is an example:
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-02/totm/index.php
That being said having them in the top half of the tank is best with that lighting as has been mentioned. Do you have any pics?
If you are going to keep the 58 for a while I would recommend getting another 175 to increases your spread(it is a 36" tank correct?) and getting a larger skimmer. It looks like you have a 180 in the works and in that case planning for 250's and a skimmer rated for at least twice your tank volume is a good idea IMO. If your sandbed is old and you have a bunch of fish that could also be part of the problem also.
hth, Chris

 

[Justin/TiV]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7035714#post7035714 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by fishdoc11
Phosphate 0 - 0.2 is a pretty big range. 0.2 is not good at all for Acropora and most likely harmfull, 0.1 will cause brown corals, under 0.03 - 0 is best.
Also if corals have browned out they can take from a couple of weeks to several months to color back up given the proper conditions. It sounds like phophate is your problem to me. Be wary of phosphate removers, they can be very harmfull to Acropora and other "sps". What type of skimmer do you have and are you using RO/DI for topup and water changes?
Chris

what phosphate removers are harmfull. I been running phobban for similar problem...seems to do nothing ??

Not trying to hijack thread...

 

[reef_dude76]

Thaks for all the input so far, here are some answers to the above questions.

Well, as for a fuge I've got one that is growing cheato like crazy.

Second, my tank is 36" x 18" x 22" and the acros are sitting more like 24 inches away from the light. I measured for you.

Third, I feed a total of two fish (yellow tang and flame hawk) about once to twice a week.

Fourth, what is "skimming harder"? The skimmer runs 24/7 and is putting out foam. I admit this isn't a great skimmer but I hate to buy a new one with my 180 close to being up and running. The acros will likely get moved to that setup in the future as I have designed it to be an sps tank. Lighting will be 3 250W MH one 14K and two 10K with two 140W VHO actinics. Skimmer is an ASM G4X with the recirculation and gate valve mods. Sump will be 65 gallon with a 30 gallon refugium that will house cheato and mangroves.

Fifth, should I move the acros up higher in the tank? They were placed where they are now to prevent burning them with the MH as the tank I bought them out of was not as bright as mine is.

Sixth, How do you get phosphates down. I'm already growing cheato, doing water changes with RO/DI, and feeding once to twice a week. What's left? Other than the skimmer issue?

 

[reef_dude76]

some pics

some pics

This is a whole tank shot for placement illustration.

Here is the first Acro. This one started out about this color brown, but it had some neon green highlights around the polyps that have disappeared. I apologize for the picture quality this was the best I could get.

This is the one that started out pale blue-green. It still has the pale-blue green under the actinics, but only at the growth tips.

Here is one of a montipora that I have.

As for the sand bed, it is three months old. And I forgot to mention that I go have a third fish, a goby about half the size of your little finger. I forgot him cause he doesn't come out often.

 

[Horace]

I hate to say this but you dont seem to have even close to the standard amount of live rock. You should have atleast 1-2lbs / gallon and your tank seems lucky to have 15-20lbs of rock in there. You need to bump your rock up to about 65lbs or so IMO. That will help with your nutrient processing. I also agree that you need to move your acros up higher. I wasnt aware you had them at the bottom of your tank. Even in my 6x54w T5 tank I have most of my stuff in the upper half of the tank. None of my stuff is brown, but then again, most were colored when I bought them. Though I did buy one totally brown digi that is now nice and purple. So dont buy the crap that some folks are telling you that you cant get the color back out. You just need to have the right conditions for the color to come out is all. Good luck!

 

[reef_dude76]

Believe it or not, but I have 32 pounds of rock in the tank at the moment. It looks like less because the tank was put together from two nano tanks, so most of the rock is smaller pieces and are stacked to make the larger rock formation next to the overflow box.

Ok, I will get somemore rock and set the acros up higher in the tank. Given ideal water conditions, how long does it normally take for acros to "color up". And yes I now you can't give an exact time, but can someone give me a ballpark estimate from their past experience?

 

[PITSTOP]

Your tank looks pretty good to me - good polyp extension, decent coloration on many of the corals. My own SPS started to really glow with bright colors after 1 1/2 years in operation, so no worries, it takes time to tweak the system...

For my sitiuation, I followed some recommendations from 'Bobmer', and others. Brief list: bare-bottom, high flow in all areas of display (especially bottom), no algae in system (no chaeto), intense skimming with ozone, phosban, regular water changes (Tropic Marin salt), 1-3 gallons evaporation/day, no coral feeding of any sort...

good luck, your system looks pretty awesome! I think your rock amount and placement is well done!

 

[glassbox-design]

Everything you have is fine..no need to upgrade only to upgrade again for your new tank. Keep the tank as stable as possible.

I would run carbon to help clean the water and allow better light penetration. You may want to try moving them higher in the tank, but do this slowly...you dont want to shock them.

Also you may want to look into a phosphate remover such as rowaphos. Just be careful...you dont want to strip the water too quickly. Do some searches on here, it's been beaten to death.

Because you're skimmer is not the best, I would recomend skimming wet and frequent water changes ~ 5% once a week.


What are you doing for calcium addition?

eric&flint

 

[reef_dude76]

At the moment, I am adding calcium by lime water topoff and by liquid calcium dosing. My ultimate plan is to move all the sps into my new 180 when it is finished since it is geared more toward keeping sps. I did not mention it in the above posts but the 180 will eventually have a calcium reactor added to it as the sps population increases.

The plan for the 58 is to make it an lps and softy tank eventually. I have been wanting to add more LR to the 58. Mostly because the present amount hasn't allowed me to create enough stable placement options in order to place the sps higher in the tank. I went out and bought 16 pounds of rock today and did some re-aquascaping so I could move the acros higher up in the tank. Here are some pics with just the actinics. I am still letting some of the sand settle.

As you can see, the sps are up higher in the tank now.