Very pale colors....lost blues, greens

[t4zalews]

My SPS are starting to loose their colors pretty bad. I had a purple acro that is now a beige, a blue that is now a beige and greens that are now beiges. Its terrible. I've been recently fighting dinos in my tank, could this be the reason behind the color changes? I've read before that Iron contributes to greens and blues...I could be totally off on this. I want my colors to come back like they used to be. Any suggestions.

Alk - 8
CA - 420-460
Po4 - .03 (hanna)

 

[InsaneClownFish]

Well, if you've been fighting dinos, which most often appear during cycling, or with a new tank, I would say your nutrient levels are too high. Other possible causes would be changes in your feedings or new additions(over the limit) that are inducing mini-cycles.

Is your tank new? I'm guessing your Nitrates are too high and your PO4, which is most likely higher than your test(uptake), is browning out your SPS.

What's your Ph? I would bump up your Alk a bit and keep your Calc at the 460 range...ie don't let it dip to 420.

 

[t4zalews]

the tank is over 3 years old...I'm battling Dino's not diatoms. None of my other SPS corals are having an issue, just a blue tort and a valida. My nitrates are undetectable. My Ph swings from 8.2 - 7.9 (day - night).

 

[InsaneClownFish]

How old are your bulbs, and what ballast are you using?

 

[t4zalews]

bulbs are about a 2 months old, I use a dual galaxy ballast

 

[InsaneClownFish]

Have you considered light shock from the new bulbs?

 

[Logzor]

Check your salinity with a calibrated refractometer. I notice that color plummets when salinity is too high.

 

[29reef]

It is possible your nutrient levels are too low. I'd also look into iron and iodine levels, magnesium if growth has been affected.

 

[buy_baff]

Are you runing a ulns system? If so then you are not feeding the tank enough.

 

[t4zalews]

I have skimmer and run gfo and carbon. I was thinking it was a nutrient problem. How do I go about fixing this? Does feeding fish more = more nutrients for corals? I'm not quite sure how to raise this

 

[mayjong]

MG level?

 

[t4zalews]

I'd have to check my Mag...I have a salifert kit at home. but woudl lower mag drain colors. My growth seems normal. the pale corals do not seem to be growing though. I'll try to provide pictures after work.

 

[Logzor]

Stop running GFO for now. That should help in the short term.

I concur on feeding more, low nutrient being the issue. That combined with GFO can be devastating, even more so if the salinity is off.

 

[LifeAquatic]

Have you checked for AEFW? Or other pests?

 

[t4zalews]

Yes..I did an inteceptor treatment just in case..I did not see any, but a few months ago I did have a problem. But the coral was still purple when I had bugs. I have been limiting feeding and running pretty strong GFO to bring my p04 down to 0. I also removed my hippo tang because he was getting to big for the tank (5-6 inches). That right there is a big bioload drop.

I'm currently battling some dino's so I dont want to pull my GFO completely, unless you think it wouldnt effect the situation. My dino problem is almost clear, I only run my lights 3 hours a day, but the corals were dull before the lighting decrease.

 

[t4zalews]

So here is where I'm at...some have before and afters

Used to be a flourescent green

Used to be blue with green center

Im going to run a mag test real quick

 

[t4zalews]

Mag is at 1110

 

[29reef]

Sense I see so much turf algea in your tank, I think you might be po4 bound so to speak, and that is effecting growth and the color. Getting your mag, cal, and alk levels at a proper place and stable. Then I suggest you look into using bacteria to help with consuming the extra nutrients in the aquarium. This might be hard due to the tanks age.

 

[t4zalews]

how would I got about adding bacteria to my tank? I already use GFO for phosphates..what else could I do? I dont have room for a refugium.

 

[zangmann]

dose with VSV or use a bac suppliment to add bacteria