SPS will not color up

[parkavenuereef]

Ok so i am completly stupmed... My sps frags will not color up at all... this is a new tank, parameters are great:

1300MG
1.025 Salt
0-po4
Nitrates undetectable...
alk- 10
calcium 460
temps 78-80


So I also started dosing vodka, and I am going to stop that now it helped somewhat however my sump smells like a bar now.. skimmer pulls out skimmate, but has slowed down lately... I really have no traces of algae anywhere and coraline is pretty much not present... I use a calcium reactor Korallin 1502S... It is a 150G tank, plenty of flow... I am now thinking its a lighting issue.. I use 2 24inch VHO super actinics with icecap ballast as well as a 250W HQI pendant mounted 5 inches from the surface of the tank which also has 2 x 32 PC actinics inside. It is a m80 ballast with a phoenix 15K bulb... so my question is, is maybe my halide not good enough or not broad enough to allow proper lighting? tank is bright as can be with plenty of shimmer in the water.. any help would be great...

 

[mannyhernz]

maybe your lighting is to low???.....have you calculated how many watts you need to light that tank up?....i think theres a calculator somewhere...

 

[chris4869]

Your main source of lighting for your 150 cube is the one 250W MH? Wow. That's not alot. Are the faded corals directly under the light? If it is then IMO it might be a lack of nutrient or trace elements issue.

 

[Aqua Keepers]

Lack of nutrient or trace elements gets my vote.

 

[Boyman]

Where are your frags placed in the cube? I don't think that will be enough light for corals that are placed near the bottom of the tank.

What kind of salt do you use?

Do you add trace elements?

Do you feed your corals?

 

[cpage3]

I third the lack of nutrients + trace

 

[phodem]

can i tag along ,what is trace elements? and lack nutrients ?

 

[parkavenuereef]

the corals are under the light on a pillar rock scape... Watts per gallon right now are about 3.08 watts per gallon... With the calcium reactor i wasnt really adding many trace elements as I figured the ARM media would automatically introce trace elements... I do however have trace element additives... I use reef crystals for salt as well... I really didnt want to get to much lighting as I fount out with my 120 a few years ago that less is more.... I had 1100 Watts over a 120... that was rediculous.. Maybe however A pair of 175 Halides or 250's will do me better?

 

[snorvich]

Watts per gallon is meaningless. You want to look at depth of tank (watts) and spread of lights (number of lights) Your depth of 27 inches is marginally too deep for SPS and 250 watts. I have 30 inches and use multiple 400s but my tank is larger.

 

[nwrogers]

I guess the first question I would ask are your corals lite in color or are they brown?

 

[cwegescheide]

EDIT!!! Yeah are your corals pale or brown?? LOL. VERY important.. Did they have good color when you got them?

How many fish do you have? I don't see any mention of that, nor do I see how much you feed your tank. You say your tank is new and your already dosing vodka? Normally people dose vodka when they are having nitrate/po4 issues. If you don't have an issue there is no need to add vodka AND it could very well be exaserbating the problem.

Ya gotta feed your tank. Feeding your fish in turn feeds your corals. IMO its the balance of feeding and export, lighting and stable water params is what gives the best results. I'm still trying to work out that recipie myself.

 

[parkavenuereef]

ok, for my bio load there is only 2 clown fish, 1 yellow tang ( small ) and one hippo tang ( small )... snails and crabs also... I do not supplement feed the tank at all, I used microvert once in a while so far... The corals ate not browned out at all, they just are pale... Feeder extension is good...

that is the begining of my rock scape for now... The corals did have plenty of color once then lost it, then came back etc... So for lighting would a single 400W be best or dual 250's? Also Maybe I am over skimming and pulling to much out of the tank... I just dropped my skimming hieght, hopefully I can leave more nutrients on the tank...

 

[Aqua Keepers]

Add more fish or feed more

 

[johnny313]

so over feeding is good to a point?

 

[Aqua Keepers]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13891540#post13891540 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by phodem
can i tag along ,what is trace elements? and lack nutrients ?

Maybe someone else can explain it, but I'm no good at explaining these things. So, read these four articles and call me in the morning.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-03/rhf/index.php

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-04/rhf/index.php

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-05/rhf/index.php

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-09/rhf/index.php

 

[nwrogers]

OK your lighting looks fine. I think this may be a case of your tank being too sterile. Are you using any carbon or phosphate removers? How do you have these things setup on the system? I know it is common for people to think a tank can't be too clean but they can. Stopping the vodka is a good idea IMO.

 

[Aqua Keepers]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13893266#post13893266 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by johnny313
so over feeding is good to a point?

It's about balance. Feeding produces nutrients in the water. Corals need a certain amount of nutrients. If nutrient values aren't met, you see negative affects like bleaching. If nutrients values are excessive you see negative affects like algae.

 

[oscarsdad608]

It isn't over feeding it is feeding as much as you can get away with IMO.

 

[SunnyX]

Judging by the picture your corals are much too small to be judging them yet. I would wait until they are decent size min-colonies before making any drastic changes.

Although I do think that you need to add more fish to the tank. I would also steer clear of vodka dosing as you have a low bio-load as it is.

If the corals are directly under a 250W Phoenix you should be fine. If you do decide to get a new lighting setup I would go with a single 400W. Try out the XM20k's. I got great color and growth out of the 4ooW version.

 

[parkavenuereef]

Great Advice guys.... Thank you! Last nite I fed the tank with microvert, and I have been dosing the tank a bit more too... hopefully this will help a little.