Tri color Browned out :(

theronsta

theronsta

New member
Ive had this Tri-color Valida for about 3 months now and when I got it it looked absolutely amazing. Started it at the bottom and worked its way up to acclimate to the light. I have it under 4x39w T5HO and one 36" reefbrite super actinic strip. The polyps are still super bright but the greenish iridescence and purple tips are gone :(
Oh and it came with an acro crab. could he be stressing it?
Before:
IMG_1392.jpg


and Now(sorry its in the top left of the pic)
IMG_1557.jpg


and I know I will get asked..tested them today
pH: 8.3
dKH: 10
Calcium: 460
Mag: store is out :(
Nitrate, Ammonia, and Nitrate: 0 ppm
Salinity: 1.025

TIA
 
Dude I am dosing Iodide lol
(not iodine, Ive been told only to use that to dip corals)
I am also dosing for mag, calcium, strontium and molybdenim
I have a sunset monti and Some ORA Acro that are both super bright and growing great..its just that colony :(
heres the monti and acro
Sunsetmonti7-26.jpg
 
If your other SPS are growing well and have good colour and all your paramters are on target for SPS then just give the coral time. It will colour up again in time. Some SPS are just like that.

Have you checked for pests such as AEFW's etc just in case?
 
No Phospahtes.
and whats a good potassium supplement?


sahin said:
If your other SPS are growing well and have good colour and all your paramters are on target for SPS then just give the coral time. It will colour up again in time. Some SPS are just like that.

Have you checked for pests such as AEFW's etc just in case?
Click to expand...

Cool. Thats what I've heard, especially about WC colonies(and this one was, the others are not)

I dip all my corals in Revive before they go in the tank but I looked anyways.. and no :) If there were any would the acro crab take care of them?
 
i would post a pic of the crab it my be an acro eating crab i had one, i bought two of the same corals one had a crab on it that coral was white at the bottom i removed the crab and now its turning brown and eventually will color up.
 
theronsta said:
No Phospahtes.
and whats a good potassium supplement?




Cool. Thats what I've heard, especially about WC colonies(and this one was, the others are not)

I dip all my corals in Revive before they go in the tank but I looked anyways.. and no :) If there were any would the acro crab take care of them?
Click to expand...

In my last tank the acro crabs happily lived together with the flatworms...:headwally:

As for the coral itself, if by WC you mean Wild Collected, then yes, I have the same experiance. All my frags that came from fellow reefkeepers are very colourful. eg my blue tort looks awesome with its blue colour, but my wild collected hyacinthus is poo brown. At the first sign of elevated phosphates or some other issueit browns up.

Hence why I resist buying wild collected specimens...no matter how awesome they look at the LFS. :spin2:
 
lol well I work at one and the price from the supplier was great so i bought it when it came in lol.. and Its definitely an acro crab. he is white with a band across his eyes.
 
Dont do anything just give it time. Very common for new corals to brown out for a few months before they color back up. Keep water quality good and parameters stable and it will color back up. What are you testing PO4 with? If its not a Hanna or at least Elos low range PO4 then you are not testing at true 0. What is your mag at?
 
Usually I test with API, thats all we have at work. And my mag is usually around 1440 but the salifert test kit we use we cant seem to get another of at work..but as far as phosphate goes I am going to start using Dr.G's phosphate and silica remover.
 
The API phosphate test kit is useless for measuring phosphate at the concentrations needed to be measured for SPS keeping.

I have the API...but now use the Hanna ULR Phosphorus, which is excellent and very consistant. I reccommend anyone with a tank full of SPS to purchase one.
 
How high in your tank is it? Mine browned out and moving it up 3-4" made a HUGE difference and it colored back up in a matter of 2-3 weeks....
 
Its about 10 inches from 4 39w t5HO and one Reefbrite LED super actinic 36"

and part of it (on the side next to the chalice) was dead when I got home from work..I think the chalice stung it..o well..im tired of it so..
 
It's not growing so it won't be colorful. The coral isn't happy and it won't show any other color other than brown until it's happy. This is the issue with wild corals they have grown to the conditions in the ocean. Your tank is totally different. If it were me I'd select to cut it into 3-4 decent sized frags and place them in different spots in the tank. The one that does the best I would keep, and I'd give the rest away to someone who wants a challenge. Water quality is paramount to keeping sps happy and thriving. If you haven't already read into the sticky at the top of the forum on calcium, alk, and mag. There's also some great articles in AA online and RK. GL
 
Thanks, I fully understand the chemisty aspect of it. I just wanted some reassurance that since it was wild collected that was most likely the reason it browned out..

But as far as phosphate tests go which is better? Salifert or MERCK? I can get both through my supplier..the MERCK tests from 0.14 - 0.008 (P) which equates to 0.43 - 0.023 (PO 4 )

and the tropic marin tests from0.03 to 3 mg/l
 
I think for phosphate you better be with hanna checker. They have few types I use low level one and I think they have Ultra low level as well. Can say nothing about UL but low level works fine. I used other common tests with no success they always show you some shades of blue.. I cant distinguish.
 
dang.. reason I was wondering about those three is because I can get them at just above cost from work..Ill have to see if one of our suppliers carries them
 
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