SPS Colors?

[cpllongjk]

So my tank has been set up for 6 months now and everything has been doing great until a few weeks ago. Parameters are rock solid however starting two weeks ago I noticed the flesh on my SPS starting to lighten up in color. I didn't read too much into it at the time because I still had good polyp extension compared to before. However, now I have little to no polyp extension compared to a few weeks ago.

Crazy thing is that my frag tank, which is hooked up to the same system, has great polyp extension and no reduction in color among the corals.

I've gone through all my parameters just to make sure and indeed they are rock solid, nothing has changed for months.

The only thing I can think is going on is the corals in the display were getting too much light. The lighting schedule was 10 hours of t5s (2 actinic and 2 blue+) and 8 hours of 250w radium on m80 ballast. The center of the bulb was mounted 8" above the water line.

Anyone else ever have the same issue? Will an over-exposure of light reduce polyp extension?

I raised the lights to 12" above the water line and also reduced the MH lighting schedule by 2 hours for a total of 6 hours of metal halide and 10 hours of t5 supplement.

Could anything else be making my sps pale and reduce polyp extension? Parameters are spot on and from what I can tell there aren't any red bugs or AEFWs. I am really confused because the frag tank is doing so good.

Thanks,

Jared

 

[twon8]

SPS Colors?

What fish are in the display? I'd bet you have a nipper

Any blennies or Pygmy Angels?

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[cpllongjk]

Thanks for replying,

3 chromis, 1 tailspot blenny, 1 mandarin goby, 1 helfrichi firefish


I've had the same stock of fish for the past 3-4 months.

Corals were all doing good and coloring up. The corals only in my display are pale across the board, every coral is pale in color. But when I go to the connected frag tank every coral is vibrant and looking great with amazing polyp extension.

 

[stems]

Could be too little nitrates and phosphates reducing zooxanthallae ability to photosynthesize in corals paired with high light output in DT compared to frag tank may be causing the bleaching. You could either dose amino acids, potassium or sodium nitrate at risk of increasing algae growth. You could also bring the corals down/ farther away from light, move the light higher or reduce intensity/duration of light like you did.

 

[carrots]

My guess is too much light. Raise the MH higher and lower corrals if possible.

 

[mfaso24]

I agree with the low phosphates, but I'm not sure that would cause lack of polyp extension so it very well could be too much light. As mentioned, try raising the lights a bit or deducing peak intensity duration.


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[ReefBum]

You may want to do a closer inspection for AEFW. Not sure the light would all of sudden be the issue unless you did change the schedule about the time you noticed some problems.

 

[twon8]

What size tank is this? What lights are on the frag tank?


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[jbvdhp]

SPS Colors?

I used to run T5s no more than 8 hours, so your lighting schedule coupled with the MH I feel may be the culprit. Have you thought of decreasing your lighting schedule? I know plenty of people who ended up decreasing their schedule to no more than 8 hours and running halides for only about 4-5 hours tops.

Like stated above, could be lack of nutrients too.


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[cpllongjk]

You may want to do a closer inspection for AEFW. Not sure the light would all of sudden be the issue unless you did change the schedule about the time you noticed some problems.

Thanks Reefbum for the tips, I looked very closely tonight and even took some close up photos with the macro lens and nothing so at least I'm covered there.

Things didn't start to get pale until 2-3 weeks after I made my last lighting adjustment to the full 8 hours of metal halide. I really do think its the lights because I'm already noticing colors coming back and polyps coming out more.

 

[cpllongjk]

What size tank is this? What lights are on the frag tank?


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Red Sea Reefer 170 (24x20x20)

My frag tank has a 6 bulb ati sunpower with Blue+,Coral+,Blue+, Purple+,Blue+, Blue+

 

[cpllongjk]

I used to run T5s no more than 8 hours, so your lighting schedule coupled with the MH I feel may be the culprit. Have you thought of decreasing your lighting schedule? I know plenty of people who ended up decreasing their schedule to no more than 8 hours and running halides for only about 4-5 hours tops.

Like stated above, could be lack of nutrients too.


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I ran a full gambit of tests tonight and nitrates are undetectable and phosphates are at 0.04ppm. I agree I really think it was the lighting. After just reducing the mh to 6 hours a day from 8 hours and even leaving the t5s the same I am already noticing colors starting to come back on all corals. I guess I will have to play with the timing a bit to find the best range for growth and color.

 

[Piper27]

I would say that lighting would not pale your corals if you didn't have such low nutrients. I have a 3' cube. And I run a modded halide reflector with two 400w se 12k bulbs with four t5s and 60 blue leds. If my nutrients went that low things would most likely look a little paler. And you say a few weeks ago your corals looked fine, what were your nitrates back then? And when you first added the corals? Also pictures would be nice. I think a coral gets the most in 6 hours of light and any more is not doing much. I would not see how a radium would pale a coral unless it was in low nutrients. How much are you feeding? If your truely at 0 nitrates I think you could benefit from some nitrate dosing for a few days, it won't hurt and even people with a little nitrates have seen positive results.
I agree with reef bum, aefw are hard to detect if you haven't dealt with them before. Keep your eyes open if you didn't qt for them. They can pop up very unexpectedly.

 

[twon8]

Feed your fish more


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