Alex T.
Active member
I've been debating as to whether starting a thread regarding high nutrient SPS tanks was viable, however a lot has changed in the first year of my current system that I wanted to make note of and see if anyone else was (a) interested, or (b) experiencing the same thing. I've discussed this at length with a couple members here on RC, and have heard similar findings in their tanks as well.
In May of 2012 I started my current 195 gallon SPS system. My first SPS were ok for a couple of months and then just slowly faded and polyp extension was less evident. I was running 2 400 Watt Radiums in Lumenmax Elite reflectors, keeping alkalinity stable from 8.3 to 8.6, calcium from 410 - 430 and magnesium from 1200 to 1350. In the beginning, I was barely registering any PO4, some measurable nitrate but just couldn't figure out what was causing my sticks to stagnate over time. Flow was plentiful, with 4 Vortech MP40's and a Tunze 6105, and the tank never got above 80.5 degrees. After a break from the tank in June and July this year, I started rebooting things a little bit because of the hair algae starting to grow. It's slowly receding and I've beefed up the cleanup crew. I've since replaced the 2 400 watt Radiums with 3 250 watt bulbs with a longer run time and started feeding even more...not less as most would assume.
With the recent purchase of many new SPS corals, I'm noticing better color, polyp extension and overall health. At one point in September, my PO4 spiked at .08 with nitrates between 5 and 10. Everything looked great with dark pigmentation and the best polyp extension I've ever seen in any of my tanks. Now, I'm keeping the color and polyp extension, have raised the halide photoperiod to 7 hours, actinic VHO's for 12 hours and 2 Kessil a150's for 9 hours. My calcium and alkalinity demands have increased more than ever with these higher nutrient levels.
I'm observing a few things. First, increasing the lighting duration has allowed me to feed the fish more, even though nuisance algae grows at a steady, manageable pace. My PO4 stays around .05, and nitrates are around 5 ppm at the moment. If I leave for work a few days earlier than when the lights come on, I don't get to feed the fish until I get home, and sometimes don't feed them the 3 times per day I normally do. If this happens for a few days in succession, my colors begin to fade. I'm starting to believe that if nutrients are not available with intense lighting and elevated alkalinity, your corals will fade significantly and may not extend polyps as much as they could. Conversely, there is the modern trend of those that keep nsw alkalinity, have a shorter and less intense photoperiod, and measure 0 on all available nitrate and phosphate test kits. These systems seem to be tweaked with additive dosages to achieve the same results, but still closer to the pastel look.
While nobody enjoys nuisance algae, I'm just adding more cleanup crew members and letting them keep it in check with higher than recommended nutrient levels, alkalinity (almost 9.5 right now) and blasting my SPS with a lot of light. I realize there are those that will chime in that every tank is different, but science doesn't view things like that or it would be virtually impossible to diagnose different people. I believe that higher nutrient levels and alkalinity, accompanied with high intensity lighting can produce some of the best, non-pastel SPS. If I begin to see more algae than my cleanup crew can handle, I'll simply add more crew without ramping up GFO change outs, water change schedules or other things I can't quantify.
I think in the wake of the low nutrient craze, some terminology got mixed up, and because it may have been poorly defined, many people are left wondering why their SPS go pale and slowly whither away. Like I've written in other threads, natural reefs are nutrient rich and dissolved organic poor. We can't possibly simulate the abundant planktonic life available to corals in the wild in our aquariums. However, keeping some dirt in the water appears to reap the same benefits. If the corals go pale, everyone says to lower your photoperiod or ramp up feedings. Simply ramping up feedings has always given me more nuisance algae and brown SPS. Raising the photoperiod and the feedings seem to work synergistically by providing the energy for the corals to feed, color up and extend their polyps.
I understand that this must be done within reason, but I'm wondering if others could share their experiences of when they stopped listening to the masses that told them to do more water changes, get their nitrate and phosphate to undetectable levels and feed the fish only what they can eat in a couple minutes. Did you see better results? Are you secretly part of the Dirty SPS Tank Club?
I'd love to hear your thoughts and possibly discuss your own experiences. All zeo users are welcome as well...especially those that have come off zeovit and gone 100% in the opposite direction. What were your findings? Have you gone back to Zeovit?
Thanks in advance everybody.
In May of 2012 I started my current 195 gallon SPS system. My first SPS were ok for a couple of months and then just slowly faded and polyp extension was less evident. I was running 2 400 Watt Radiums in Lumenmax Elite reflectors, keeping alkalinity stable from 8.3 to 8.6, calcium from 410 - 430 and magnesium from 1200 to 1350. In the beginning, I was barely registering any PO4, some measurable nitrate but just couldn't figure out what was causing my sticks to stagnate over time. Flow was plentiful, with 4 Vortech MP40's and a Tunze 6105, and the tank never got above 80.5 degrees. After a break from the tank in June and July this year, I started rebooting things a little bit because of the hair algae starting to grow. It's slowly receding and I've beefed up the cleanup crew. I've since replaced the 2 400 watt Radiums with 3 250 watt bulbs with a longer run time and started feeding even more...not less as most would assume.
With the recent purchase of many new SPS corals, I'm noticing better color, polyp extension and overall health. At one point in September, my PO4 spiked at .08 with nitrates between 5 and 10. Everything looked great with dark pigmentation and the best polyp extension I've ever seen in any of my tanks. Now, I'm keeping the color and polyp extension, have raised the halide photoperiod to 7 hours, actinic VHO's for 12 hours and 2 Kessil a150's for 9 hours. My calcium and alkalinity demands have increased more than ever with these higher nutrient levels.
I'm observing a few things. First, increasing the lighting duration has allowed me to feed the fish more, even though nuisance algae grows at a steady, manageable pace. My PO4 stays around .05, and nitrates are around 5 ppm at the moment. If I leave for work a few days earlier than when the lights come on, I don't get to feed the fish until I get home, and sometimes don't feed them the 3 times per day I normally do. If this happens for a few days in succession, my colors begin to fade. I'm starting to believe that if nutrients are not available with intense lighting and elevated alkalinity, your corals will fade significantly and may not extend polyps as much as they could. Conversely, there is the modern trend of those that keep nsw alkalinity, have a shorter and less intense photoperiod, and measure 0 on all available nitrate and phosphate test kits. These systems seem to be tweaked with additive dosages to achieve the same results, but still closer to the pastel look.
While nobody enjoys nuisance algae, I'm just adding more cleanup crew members and letting them keep it in check with higher than recommended nutrient levels, alkalinity (almost 9.5 right now) and blasting my SPS with a lot of light. I realize there are those that will chime in that every tank is different, but science doesn't view things like that or it would be virtually impossible to diagnose different people. I believe that higher nutrient levels and alkalinity, accompanied with high intensity lighting can produce some of the best, non-pastel SPS. If I begin to see more algae than my cleanup crew can handle, I'll simply add more crew without ramping up GFO change outs, water change schedules or other things I can't quantify.
I think in the wake of the low nutrient craze, some terminology got mixed up, and because it may have been poorly defined, many people are left wondering why their SPS go pale and slowly whither away. Like I've written in other threads, natural reefs are nutrient rich and dissolved organic poor. We can't possibly simulate the abundant planktonic life available to corals in the wild in our aquariums. However, keeping some dirt in the water appears to reap the same benefits. If the corals go pale, everyone says to lower your photoperiod or ramp up feedings. Simply ramping up feedings has always given me more nuisance algae and brown SPS. Raising the photoperiod and the feedings seem to work synergistically by providing the energy for the corals to feed, color up and extend their polyps.
I understand that this must be done within reason, but I'm wondering if others could share their experiences of when they stopped listening to the masses that told them to do more water changes, get their nitrate and phosphate to undetectable levels and feed the fish only what they can eat in a couple minutes. Did you see better results? Are you secretly part of the Dirty SPS Tank Club?
I'd love to hear your thoughts and possibly discuss your own experiences. All zeo users are welcome as well...especially those that have come off zeovit and gone 100% in the opposite direction. What were your findings? Have you gone back to Zeovit?
Thanks in advance everybody.
