Ultimate SPS Color Tricks
- Thread starter dtum
- Start date
dtum
New member
Actually he used Zeo in the past, but now he is not running them. He uses all-in-one bio-pellets and some additives by Fauna Marin (trace elements and amino).
My 2 cents = having been in the acro game for 3 years. I have learned that a tank can be Too Clean!!
i misinterpreted "clean water" requirements for acropora as meaning something close to sterile. I have since discovered that my acros love things to chew on. When the sand gets disturbed the polyp extension is fantastic.
My "over sized skimmer" gets turned off overnight once a week when I feed heavy to allow the "Stuff" to remain in suspension. I also only use a filter sock on occasion when i notice an abundance of suspended solids.
My lighting is a DIY T5/LED hybrid. I just copied what another successful reefer had done. Thank JRoovers! My experience has taught me that lighting is just 1 part of the equation.
I have increased my fish load greatly over time and feed as heavily as my fish can consume. I try to keep em fat as much as my schedule will allow.
My increased success with acro growth and color has come from:
1) High nutrient inport with strong export.
- I have an indicator coral (green cap) that pales when the tank is too clean
2) Parameter stability.
3) crazy high, random flow.
I have been tempted to chase the latest fads and additives but the most successful tanks I have seen all prescribe to the above. I just try to replicate what the successful reefers are doing!
i misinterpreted "clean water" requirements for acropora as meaning something close to sterile. I have since discovered that my acros love things to chew on. When the sand gets disturbed the polyp extension is fantastic.
My "over sized skimmer" gets turned off overnight once a week when I feed heavy to allow the "Stuff" to remain in suspension. I also only use a filter sock on occasion when i notice an abundance of suspended solids.
My lighting is a DIY T5/LED hybrid. I just copied what another successful reefer had done. Thank JRoovers! My experience has taught me that lighting is just 1 part of the equation.
I have increased my fish load greatly over time and feed as heavily as my fish can consume. I try to keep em fat as much as my schedule will allow.
My increased success with acro growth and color has come from:
1) High nutrient inport with strong export.
- I have an indicator coral (green cap) that pales when the tank is too clean
2) Parameter stability.
3) crazy high, random flow.
I have been tempted to chase the latest fads and additives but the most successful tanks I have seen all prescribe to the above. I just try to replicate what the successful reefers are doing!
doctorwhoreefer
In Memoriam
Agreed. Check out some of my recent posts concerning my overfeeding blunder and running .07-.14 po4. I fed A LOT of food. Luckily my tank didn't crash, yet now having found out what's been going on, I've found feeding 1000g worth of plankton to my 75g quite beneficial. Though I've cut it back a bit for cost-saving purposes. (I'm sure a lot is skimmed out; I've reduced it to timed feedings instead)
Odd thing though, I've never seen colors like the top tanks in the hobby. Now I do. :dance:
Now I just need a darn camera that will 'see' the colors since my cell doesn't. :|
SteelerMike
New member
I am by no means an sps expert but I just wanted to share my recent experience with the impact of good flow in my tank. I was using the Jeabo WP25's in my tank and didn't realize they were slowing down over time (had them for about a year and a half) and so replaced them with a pair of RW15's and have been running them using the mode that alternatively turns them on and off creating some random currents. The effect on the few sps I have has been remarkable. In about a month a frag of strawberry shortcake that had been alive but brown for close to a year has almost completely colored up and my other sps that I thought were doing fairly well have gained colors I didn't know they had. Again I'm a bit of an SPS noob, but the stronger, random flow made a significant difference.
markalot
...
I am experiencing the same thing with the same coral. I have two MP40's as the main pumps on my 150 but when I added two RW-15's to the back of the tank and greatly increased flow I'm suddenly seeing bright red tips on the SSC and green on the base. I thought it was just a coincidence but perhaps not.
PaleHorse
New member
completely agree just don't count on them growing.....
fishguy597
Member
Ha! What a ridiculous statement! And the war begins on another thread. My experience having run mh and led's is it all boils down to consistent water quality.
markalot
...
I was able to grow and color SPS, including acros, under LED just fine but I was unhappy that the direct light created too many shadows and the corals did not look good from the front of the tank. I do not agree that LED has issues growing acros.
Maxspect Razor 16K, 100% blue, 80% white.
Top
front
Both the above included a BML strip on the front of the tank angled back to try and reduce the shadowing.
Here it was when i first got it 4 months earlier.
It was doing great until I had phosphate issues and a resulting Alk spike due to slowed growth.
So for this thread my comment would be parameters and stability are MOST important. That and heavy feeding plus good export. I failed the export test. I was not running anything for phosphate removal and skimming too dry. My skimmer was sitting too low in the sump and kept overflowing so I had it set for a very dry skim. I've since raised the skimmer to the proper level, I try to skim so the cup fills up in no more than 2 days, and I'm running GFO to help control phosphates.
I've also switched to T5 due to the shadowing issues but I have yet to achieve the same color or growth I had under the Maxspect Razors ... which I still own just in case.
In my opinion, for what it's worth, if you're running LED, have a look at the coral from the top to see how the colors are doing. If you find the corals look fantastic from the top but are so shadowed in the front so you can't enjoy the colors then think about supplemental lighting, like an LED strip light angled back, or consider one of the other light sources. MH with a tank wide reflector or T5 with a good fixture wide enough to cover the tank front to back.
If you're running LED and having issues with bleaching and no growth then you probably have the whites turned up too high. My other issue with LED is perceived brightness. Because of the nature of LED and the frequency curve you have to turn the whites up too bright for the tank to look bright to the eye. There are plenty of other threads for LED discussions if the color problem is thought to be the lighting. Again, just in my opinion. :beer:
Maxspect Razor 16K, 100% blue, 80% white.
Top
front
Both the above included a BML strip on the front of the tank angled back to try and reduce the shadowing.
Here it was when i first got it 4 months earlier.
It was doing great until I had phosphate issues and a resulting Alk spike due to slowed growth.
So for this thread my comment would be parameters and stability are MOST important. That and heavy feeding plus good export. I failed the export test. I was not running anything for phosphate removal and skimming too dry. My skimmer was sitting too low in the sump and kept overflowing so I had it set for a very dry skim. I've since raised the skimmer to the proper level, I try to skim so the cup fills up in no more than 2 days, and I'm running GFO to help control phosphates.
I've also switched to T5 due to the shadowing issues but I have yet to achieve the same color or growth I had under the Maxspect Razors ... which I still own just in case.
In my opinion, for what it's worth, if you're running LED, have a look at the coral from the top to see how the colors are doing. If you find the corals look fantastic from the top but are so shadowed in the front so you can't enjoy the colors then think about supplemental lighting, like an LED strip light angled back, or consider one of the other light sources. MH with a tank wide reflector or T5 with a good fixture wide enough to cover the tank front to back.
If you're running LED and having issues with bleaching and no growth then you probably have the whites turned up too high. My other issue with LED is perceived brightness. Because of the nature of LED and the frequency curve you have to turn the whites up too bright for the tank to look bright to the eye. There are plenty of other threads for LED discussions if the color problem is thought to be the lighting. Again, just in my opinion. :beer:
markalot
...
I bought it from a reefer in the NY area. She thinks it's from a piece originally purchased off of Divers Den. So I guess the answer is no?
Piper27
I love bengals
Its nice I would love to find that coral in my tank.
On another note I don't think the led debate will help this thread., there are many people having success with LEDs. But what people call success is Dependant on how someone views a tank, which is personal opinion. I saw a poster in this thread take a 300 gallon tank and grow huge colonies to fill it, with some d120s, in a very reasonable timeframe.
On another note I don't think the led debate will help this thread., there are many people having success with LEDs. But what people call success is Dependant on how someone views a tank, which is personal opinion. I saw a poster in this thread take a 300 gallon tank and grow huge colonies to fill it, with some d120s, in a very reasonable timeframe.
doctorwhoreefer
In Memoriam
+1
I've experienced the above as well.
I would really like to see a tank-length led fixture come out that is turned upside down and uses a reflector. Pretty sure that would be the end of mh/t5's as it seems the only advantage they have is the ambient light increases because of the reflector versus the hard-directionality of led's.
I mean if the ambient light that creeps around in the tank and prevents a lot of the shadowing increases, that means the light source has increased. But we're talking about a spotlight as compared to round bulb with a reflector. I think the comment about the whites is probably the biggest truth needing to be addressed by the manufacturers.
SPS_Addiction
New member
nah. don't think that will happen. they make too much money making you buy a bunch of LED fixtures to cover tank. I will have to buy 6-8 Radions to adequately cover my tank being lit by 2 halides. I can grow SPS anywhere with the halides, but can't say that with 2 Radions. I actually just switched to Radiums halide (never used them before), after 4 years of trying out LED's and T5's and I have to say, colors are the best with Radium halide.
Peter Eichler
New member
I'm sorry I brought up the LED thing... My only point was that if you want the best possible color you should probably just run Radiums and call it a day. If you're willing to compromise a little color, then go out and get yourself some LED's or another MH bulb to run. I have yet to see any light combo match the colors that a Radium can produce. ATI T5's produce a different color set and can be spectacular as well.
1MP3R1AL
New member
Here's my little advice for what it's worth. I'm switching my kessils out to a custom T5/13UP hybrid due to the kessils not spreading the light out enough. The underside of almost every piece of sps I have is white, or receding. I fell victim of trying to get my water as clean as possible as most have said, almost to the point it was sterile. Lost a ton of color, but gained extreme PE. I'm guessing the corals were so staved for nutrients due to the crazy PE. Around a year ago I started dosing aminos and nutrients and saw an immediate color change and growth. Now I overfeed my tank, and remove with only mechanical filtration and skim heavily. 10% Water changes every 2 weeks. I am seeing much better color and growth than ever before. I'm almost certain when I complete the lighting I'll be set.
dtum
New member
Ahem... there are quite a few threads on LED vs MH and I would prefer this one not to turn into one (but thank you for sharing your thoughts). I want to refocus this thread on tips and tricks for bringing out the best colors in our acros.
Judging by the feedback so far the main advice is:
- pick decent water parameters and reef setup and stick with it (ensure stability)
- feed a lot and make sure that you are exporting accordingly
Judging by the feedback so far the main advice is:
- pick decent water parameters and reef setup and stick with it (ensure stability)
- feed a lot and make sure that you are exporting accordingly
phenom5
Member
I think that is the key...IME anyway. Heavy feeding with heavy export. But there are some that prefer stripping the nutrients way down with carbon or some other thing method, and adding nutrients back in.
I also think that flow easily plays as big of a role as lighting...if not a bigger role. But people love to argue about lighting tech.
I was a hard core Radium guy for years, I eventually started supplementing with T5's then switching to T5's completely then I thought LEDs were the way to go and was that a big mistake!
Now I'm back to my ATI T5 fixture and I couldn't be happier!
I keep my po4 between .05 - .08 to keep my color and growth. My husbandry hasn't changed one bit, feed heavy skim heavy corals are fed nothing more than fish poop and acro power.
The only thing I test for is Cal, Alk and Mag every other week just to make sure things are in check.
I like to think my colors are pretty good.
Now I'm back to my ATI T5 fixture and I couldn't be happier!
I keep my po4 between .05 - .08 to keep my color and growth. My husbandry hasn't changed one bit, feed heavy skim heavy corals are fed nothing more than fish poop and acro power.
The only thing I test for is Cal, Alk and Mag every other week just to make sure things are in check.
I like to think my colors are pretty good.
