SPS colors in general seem pale....??

[SPSEMPIRE]

If I remember correctly, I noticed more PE after about a week of turning off the biopellets but I did a good water change as soon as I took it offline. It took 4 - 6 weeks before I would say that they were fully recovered but of course they were looking better as time went on.

 

[110galreef]

Ok, lets hope they look better. I really haven't noticed any improvement thus far.

Any other ideas if not the biopellets??

 

[clowndude]

Any luck with this? Seems like my issue is exactly the same as yours. I'm running the biopellets also. I may have missed it, but how are you dosing for cal/alk/mag?

 

[batt600]

The problem with pellets is it strips all elements from the water that corals need to bring out there color. Yes its good for removing n03 and p04 but its removes the good things that are needed. Like iron trace elements and potassiuma. That's why doseing trace elements daily and weekly water changes with good salt and weekly dosing of potassiuma and iron help keep the color. Wet skimming does the same but doesn't remove the elements that fast like pellets.

 

[redbaron]

The combination of T5s and MH might be to much light to on at the same time. How many T5 bulbs and what kind of ballast are your using. Over driven T5 bulbs could put out alot of PARs.

 

[110galreef]

Well, all.....

I seem to be having success on the colors. The BP have been pulled now for....wow almost 7 weeks.

Params are holding near perfect!
Nitrates: 0
PO4: .0183 to a highest of .0337....Usually under .025 HI 736 ultra low checker
CAL: 410-420 salifert
Alk: 8.5- 9.0 hanna's new Alk checker

I have been going back to the basics and not overkill!. Simple 2 week WC's of about 10-15%, gravel vaccumming at every other WC, & a slight wet skimming! All I have been dosing thus far is 2 part from BRS via a doser.

I started BP from early tank setup, but soon realized that my sytem was too sterile & I really didn't even need them. Thus the last 8 mos have confirmed this so far. Also I didn't like the idea of throwing extra food or supps (plus the cost) just to try & bring colors because the BP were stripping so much. If the basics kept pristine water then why add BP. Also with BP, i had to lower ALK to prevent color loss & burning ( so seems to be the norm), this really lead to slower growth. I was running Alk about 7.5 dKh

Also BP seem to mostly help Nitrates, so if you have PO4 only & no nitrates, BP's maynot be the best route.

 

[110galreef]

The combination of T5s and MH might be to much light to on at the same time. How many T5 bulbs and what kind of ballast are your using. Over driven T5 bulbs could put out alot of PARs.

Definitly not that.

2 250w MH's & 2 54w T-5's over a 250g tank! I wish too much light. Plus this is an aquamedic fixture, so nowhere near ideal for this setup.

In the market for something along the lines of 2 lumenmax reflectors & 2 -250w SE & like 2 110w VHO's for that acctinic pop!

 

[110galreef]

Oh & activated carbon seems to be another debated topic here as well, especially if running BP's. I have cut my amount of ROX.08 to about 2 cups and change it every 3 weeks or so. I may even try to go to more like 1 cupof the ROX.08 or go to lignite/bituminous carbon as it's less aggressive.

 

[clowndude]

Do you have any updated pictures of what the tank looks like now? Curious to see before and after colors.

 

[Chyendra]

ditto

 

[110galreef]

not really, plus the previous pics I took are really bad quality pics, but in general, the one's that had good color still have it and maybe a tad better, but growth has increased for sure.

And most that were browned a tad have started to lighten from brown & color up....same as the pale one's. Not all have come full swing yet, but the majority.

 

[clowndude]

Sounds like the changes you made a difference. I'm considering stopping the biopellets for a month and seeing how my tank reacts. If positive I'll keep the biopellets offline. I'm also considering dosing lugols. Thoughts?

 

[allsps40]

I have the same problem. Some corals look great other are pale and loose color.