sps colouration and growth issues

[Jethr0]

Ive had a a dozen bits of sps in my 3 month old tank for 2 months.. a few bits (mainly the greens) are doing well, but blues are slowly going pale..a red millipora had some bleaching when I first got it but is slowly regaining colour. most pieces are showing very slow growth or encrusting onto rocks atm but its no where near the growth I read others having.
I use nsw that has quite low mag of 1200 which I bring up using mag sulfate..and atm I am manually dosing randys recipe 1. my water tests are done with salifert and atm are:
SG - 1.026 - refractometer
nitrate - 0.02
phosphate - 0-0.03 need a low range hanna, hard to read salifert
cal - 420
alk - 8.3-8.6
mag - 1320
6 weeks ago I noticed something was off (I hadn't been testing alk,cal,mag) everything had been depleted down to
cal- 370
alk - 6.1dkh
mag- 1170
I'm using reefbreeder photon48s and I tested them with an apogee meter in the beginning, I have a low scape, all coral is sitting along the top of rock work and gets between 200-280par
I assume my problem is the alk swing? how long can I expect to wait until everything bounces back from this? as they don't seem to be and are just fading in colour.
any suggestions on how I can get better colouration and growth from my corals?
:beer:

 

[xtlosx]

That swing down is likely your culprit. From what I have read, swings downward are much worse than upward.

I recently took in a long of colonies for a friend, and had a huge swing down, from 8.3 -> 6.3. Over the course of... a month, almost every single frag and or colony systematically receded from the base. Some went completely bleached dead, some just a bit of skin lost. Keep it stable, and about three weeks after the swing, everything is growing again and scabbing back over that recession area.

Prepare yourself for a rough patch... just sayin' since I just went through it. Just keep it stable.

 

[djkms]

Interesting, I always thought the swing up was much worse. Whatever you do just bring it up to normal levels very slowly.

 

[xtlosx]

Interesting, I always like the swing up was much worse. Whatever you do just bring it up to normal levels very slowly.

+1 on bringing things back slowly. If colonies begin to recede very quickly and you get RTN, frag a branch that isn't dying, and hope for the best. This worked for me on a few pieces. Some colonies I didn't get to in time, and lost them all.

Almost a month after things stopped receding and everything is growing like a weed again... As much as it sucks to go through this, I love this hobby it's a supreme challenge.

 

[PaleHorse]

.
any suggestions on how I can get better colouration and growth from my corals?
:beer:

14k phoenix/T5 Combo. :beer:

 

[lafayettereefer]

14k phoenix/T5 Combo. :beer:

His lighting isn't necessarily the problem here.

 

[fragbox]

Interesting, I always thought the swing up was much worse. Whatever you do just bring it up to normal levels very slowly.

+1 I feel the same way if I had to choose would much rather prefer a drop than an increase. I'm currently in the middle of bringing alk down from 11 hoping to get it back down to 8.

 

[theaquareef]

14k phoenix/T5 Combo. :beer:

Hahaha sorry but I'd have to agree.

 

[kevin_e]

It sounds like you have frags. They will slowly lay a base down before you find the growth that others are having. Once they lay down their base, they will take off like a rocket and grow faster and faster th ebigger they get.

 

[xtlosx]

It sounds like you have frags. They will slowly lay a base down before you find the growth that others are having. Once they lay down their base, they will take off like a rocket and grow faster and faster th ebigger they get.

That's true of the majority of coral out there.. I have some, specifically my A. Plana that branched first, then is now starting to base, which I find interesting. I have found that once they are happy, lay down a strong base, they do take off very very quickly (given proper parameters and stability).

 

[Voodoo Corals]

14k phoenix/T5 Combo. :beer:

+2 Also going to agree,

along with needing to keep stable parameters.

 

[brad65ford]

Any up dates?