Ultimate SPS Color Tricks
- Thread starter dtum
- Start date
Thanks =)
What bulb combo am I running?
All ATI bulbs,
Front to back
Blue +
Coral +
Actinic
Purple +
Blue +
Actinic
Coral +
Blue +
Chris Lakies
Active member
Wow looks really nice! I may try this combo! Have you tested par? What height do you keep your fixture off the water?
I haven't tested par but I have no problem growling and coloring any acro on the sandbed of my 19" tall tank.
I run the fixture 8" above the water.
markalot
...
JB NY
Active member
Good coloration is a symptom of a good tank, get your tank in good shape and the colors will follow.
Stable water parameters, good flow, good lighting. That's it, if you can keep that going the colors will follow. I think that many reefers are impatient and expect to see jaw dropping changes overnight, it doesn't work like that.
I have seen LED tanks with good colors as well as T5 and MH, the one piece of the puzzle that is the same, regardless of lighting used, is that the other two components, water flow and stability were right in line as well. I have always used MH but have had great coloration with almost all the lamps that I have tried.
I agree that a little N and P help with coloration. I have lots of fish and everyone that comes over always comments how fat they all are.
Also, keep your hands out of the tank, stop moving your SPS, commit to a spot, glue the coral down and let it be.
Stable water parameters, good flow, good lighting. That's it, if you can keep that going the colors will follow. I think that many reefers are impatient and expect to see jaw dropping changes overnight, it doesn't work like that.
I have seen LED tanks with good colors as well as T5 and MH, the one piece of the puzzle that is the same, regardless of lighting used, is that the other two components, water flow and stability were right in line as well. I have always used MH but have had great coloration with almost all the lamps that I have tried.
I agree that a little N and P help with coloration. I have lots of fish and everyone that comes over always comments how fat they all are.
Also, keep your hands out of the tank, stop moving your SPS, commit to a spot, glue the coral down and let it be.
doctorwhoreefer
In Memoriam
Both of these points helped my tank more than the lights really.
Had amazing colors with a 14k pheonix mh. But I actually have a glow now with led's. But I did not achieve the glow with the led's until I raised nitrate to 1-5 and phosphates .05-.15ish.
Definitely think there needs to be more emphasis for newcomer's and slowly acclimating to the lights, then place it and don't move it. I would designate moving the coral can be a stress-event.
Can you please share what is your lighting schedule?
trueblackpercula
New member
Stability and good lighting.
My lighting schedule is as follows. I also should of mentioned it's a dimmable Sunpower I'm running.
CH1
8:00 ON
8:20 100%
20:00 100%
21:30 OFF
CH2
8:20 50%
10:00 100%
19:00 100%
20:30 OFF
reeflover62
New member
The ultimate trick is ?? The best colored corals that I have ever seen was a friend of mine that ran 2 400watt XM over a 90gal. with 2 vho super actinics.That's 1020 watts!! He had lots of fish a small deltec skimmer and lots of nuisance algae. He could take any coral from my tank or the store and turn it into a jewel in a few weeks.
OrionN
Moved on
Mine and a lot of other reefer the coral grow great under LED for a long time, years. None of these success for 3 months and crash. I used to keep coral under MH also and they grow great and have great color also. Minimal heat and no chiller, great color and growth, plus a lower e bill, cause me to switch over. The cost right now for LED is 10 time the start up cost for MH. However maintenance and operating cost is a fraction of MH.
markalot
...
2 Years later and my opinions haven't changed much.
I'm using PhosphateRx (lanthanum chloride) to help me keep PO4 steady since I was unable to handle GFO and constant replacement.
My colors look best when KH is around 6.7 and PO4 is around .05 with some detectable nitrates.
I've fallen into the trace dosing trap and as Peter alluded to very early in the thread I have no idea if it's needed or not. Dosing traces does increase my Alk usage ... maybe.
I still have the coral mentioned in my earlier post and it's a LOT bigger.
As is this one.
Unfortunately I would not call my colors at their peak, or what is needed for TOTM type color. On the left side of the photo above you can see the rather drab looking Red Robin. When things are perfect it starts to get some knockout reds on it.
In my latest attempt to hold good color I have increased PO4 reduction even though my tests show the same level of PO4. I am seeing improvements over the last few weeks but need another month or so to really judge.
I'm using PhosphateRx (lanthanum chloride) to help me keep PO4 steady since I was unable to handle GFO and constant replacement.
My colors look best when KH is around 6.7 and PO4 is around .05 with some detectable nitrates.
I've fallen into the trace dosing trap and as Peter alluded to very early in the thread I have no idea if it's needed or not. Dosing traces does increase my Alk usage ... maybe.
I still have the coral mentioned in my earlier post and it's a LOT bigger.
As is this one.
Unfortunately I would not call my colors at their peak, or what is needed for TOTM type color. On the left side of the photo above you can see the rather drab looking Red Robin. When things are perfect it starts to get some knockout reds on it.
In my latest attempt to hold good color I have increased PO4 reduction even though my tests show the same level of PO4. I am seeing improvements over the last few weeks but need another month or so to really judge.
Piper27
I love bengals
I have found some metals have a good impact on color with low po4, providing a nice metallic sheen to the corals flesh. Manganese and zinc are two that I like to make sure are in the bottles I use. This combined with low nutrients and heavy feeding with a lot of fish and high light and flow really makes some nice corals. Even some copper sulphate additives are a nice if used correctly. Using bulbs with a lower kelvin rating and using a lot of blue led suppliment also will bring out some colors you won't see on a 20k tank. It takes a bit of time for the corals to adjust and grow to show better colors but 10k bulbs are my favorite if supplimented correctly. Dosing flourine and iodine together can provide nice colors on acroporas branches, although I have not experimented with it for as long as I would like to in order to give advice on using it. Not sure how much results you will see in higher nutrient tanks as opposed to low nutrients.
But the main thing I tell people is feed as much as you can feed your fish while keeping nutrients very low and you will see great colors providing everything else is in order. The more fish in the system the healthier the corals. The better and more diverse your filtration is the easier it is to feed more. I don't like to rely on just one filtration method. Some methods can benifit the tank in ways others can't. With large tanks, diversity in filtration and tank inhabitants makes for a nice easier to maintain tank. That's my experience at least.
This is a good topic, especially if experienced reefers all chip in we could learn some stuff.
But the main thing I tell people is feed as much as you can feed your fish while keeping nutrients very low and you will see great colors providing everything else is in order. The more fish in the system the healthier the corals. The better and more diverse your filtration is the easier it is to feed more. I don't like to rely on just one filtration method. Some methods can benifit the tank in ways others can't. With large tanks, diversity in filtration and tank inhabitants makes for a nice easier to maintain tank. That's my experience at least.
This is a good topic, especially if experienced reefers all chip in we could learn some stuff.
Posts #2 and #3 are still pretty much right on the money. ...and would have been ten or twenty years ago.
My only thing to add is that frags and colonies are whole different animals. The equipment and experience level to get a frag to encrust a frag plug is a totally different skillset than the one needed to keep colonies the size of softballs or much larger - especially the equipment. If you want to excel at colonies, then do what people with colonies do.
My only thing to add is that frags and colonies are whole different animals. The equipment and experience level to get a frag to encrust a frag plug is a totally different skillset than the one needed to keep colonies the size of softballs or much larger - especially the equipment. If you want to excel at colonies, then do what people with colonies do.
gdemos
New member
most all here i'd agree with most particularly with High Nutrient Import : High Nutrient Export as a principal. so far as additives go and speaking from my experience, my systems growing and keeping large/robust Acro colonies, the most important factor i'd suggest is experiment safely (i.e. 1/4 dose to 1/2 dose for starters, observe observe observe).
Here's a big question for you guys. Does anyone get good growth and collaboration dosing to part? Or do you guys have better luck using calcium reactor?
I have been dosing to part for the last year and get decent growth and color, but have just switched to a calcium reactor and in the last two weeks I'm seeing great results.
I would love to hear your opinion on two part dosing versus calcium Reactors
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I have been dosing to part for the last year and get decent growth and color, but have just switched to a calcium reactor and in the last two weeks I'm seeing great results.
I would love to hear your opinion on two part dosing versus calcium Reactors
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
