What causes SPS to lighten or pale?
- Thread starter rovster
- Start date
rovster
New member
Just came across this. Tank is doing much better! A few weeks ago I was out of town and had a bit of an alk spike, so some burnt tips. Growth has not been great but most of my stuff is still small frags. Color is what I would consider good to very good, not great. I have a few brown turds that are slowly coming back, and all of the bleaching is gone. Will try and get pics later.
rovster
New member
Here is a few pics....
Don't know what this is, but was pale as heck....before....
Getting color....
Phone pic, but looking nice and growing. Looks Lila a crayola plana...
Some more random shots....
This one was a colorless brown turd, and is starting to color. I thought this one was a gonner. Christmas mirabilis...crappy phone pic....
Recent pic with my phone, not great but can appreciate the full colors....
Don't know what this is, but was pale as heck....before....
Getting color....
Phone pic, but looking nice and growing. Looks Lila a crayola plana...
Some more random shots....
This one was a colorless brown turd, and is starting to color. I thought this one was a gonner. Christmas mirabilis...crappy phone pic....
Recent pic with my phone, not great but can appreciate the full colors....
sahin
Ultimate Reefer
Agree, looking much better!
rovster
New member
Yeah, every night I'm dumping something else in the tank. I mix reef roofs in my food, and usually dose fuel or cv or pohls or sp or oyster eggs or snow, lol. Even then, no algae and glass stays clean for a week. My colors are really nice, not excellent but nice. I do feel like the growth is somewhat stunted.
Koi Valley
New member
Sorry to Hi Jack, but I'm curious...
I'm just starting to get into SPS and have noticed they do look a little pale. I seem to have trouble keeping nitrates low though. So... how does one feed more to their SPS corals with out raising the nitrates in the tank? Below are my tank specs...
90 gal, Ammo & nitrite-0, nitrate- 30- 40 ppm, pH- 8, phos- .1, Alk- 9, Cal- 440, 8 fish, 5 hermit crabs and 2 shrimp
I added a reactor a few days ago full of Seachem de-nitrate to see if I could get the nitrates down. Too early to tell if it's helping. Have I done the right thing? What should I add to my system as I would really like to turn my tank into SPS only over the next year.
Thanks for any advice,
Andrew
I'm just starting to get into SPS and have noticed they do look a little pale. I seem to have trouble keeping nitrates low though. So... how does one feed more to their SPS corals with out raising the nitrates in the tank? Below are my tank specs...
90 gal, Ammo & nitrite-0, nitrate- 30- 40 ppm, pH- 8, phos- .1, Alk- 9, Cal- 440, 8 fish, 5 hermit crabs and 2 shrimp
I added a reactor a few days ago full of Seachem de-nitrate to see if I could get the nitrates down. Too early to tell if it's helping. Have I done the right thing? What should I add to my system as I would really like to turn my tank into SPS only over the next year.
Thanks for any advice,
Andrew
krzyphsygy
Active member
About 9 months ago or so I had lost quite a few corals to a low nutrient system. I couldn't really figure it out at first. RC helped and I did not have enough fish or enough food going in. I went from 5 fish to 10 and feed 3x a day. Color came back and so did growth. I worked great for months. Algae slowly started to come and take over, then the cyano. Broke my heart.
Point is the balance....this is key. You cant put in more than you can export. I am still trying to find the balance. Cyano took over my tank. Keep a strong maintenance routine while your increasing your feedings because before you look I had another issue that was harder to correct.
Point is the balance....this is key. You cant put in more than you can export. I am still trying to find the balance. Cyano took over my tank. Keep a strong maintenance routine while your increasing your feedings because before you look I had another issue that was harder to correct.
trueblackpercula
New member
Everything looks really good, I had the same problem until I started feeding pappone and now everything is glowing with color. I still have work to do as they could be better but feeding my tank pappone sure has brought it to a different level.
Michael
Michael
dowtish
New member
I love everything about this thread!
I keep trying to tell all the local noobs they have to feed to get growth and color on their SPS. Its all about the balance of import and export.
If your tank is 75 gallons or larger. Get a bunch of fish and feed them 2-3 times a day. Just have a capable skimmer and means to export nitrates/phos. i.e. carbon dosing etc.
Yes, I have colorful acros, and yes, I have to clean my glass almost daily.
I keep trying to tell all the local noobs they have to feed to get growth and color on their SPS. Its all about the balance of import and export.
If your tank is 75 gallons or larger. Get a bunch of fish and feed them 2-3 times a day. Just have a capable skimmer and means to export nitrates/phos. i.e. carbon dosing etc.
Yes, I have colorful acros, and yes, I have to clean my glass almost daily.
BrentH
New member
Great thread I learned a lot I've been having problems with pale sps and the lighting that I haven't changed has been to much all of a sudden nkw I understand why I run a lot of fox and rowaphos and I also have a oversized skimmer lol I'm going to remove fox and gfo and see if my sps come back I'm actually having rtn which comes after the pale ... I've learned that the sps can take more intense light with higher nutrients ??i run a 550 phosban reactor full on a 650 gallon system rox carbon(way to much ?
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ReeferJohn408
New member
Very informative topic guys. When I purchased a handful of colorful sps frags 2 weeks ago they were stunning in my tank. I also replaced the Carbon in my reactor and added a few more because I added a few fish as well. Then these past few days my sps are turning brownish and losing their colorations.
Since I started reading this informative thread about carbon / nutrients , i started feeding my tank with Oyster Feast and doubled the fish feeding as well. I also turned off the carbon and left the Biopellets and skimmer instead.
Hopefully, it benefits my sps and gain back the rainbow coloration once they used to have.
Thanks guys.
Since I started reading this informative thread about carbon / nutrients , i started feeding my tank with Oyster Feast and doubled the fish feeding as well. I also turned off the carbon and left the Biopellets and skimmer instead.
Hopefully, it benefits my sps and gain back the rainbow coloration once they used to have.
Thanks guys.
I dose vodka an vinegar to manage inorganic N and P and have done so for 5.5 years. Color growth and health for sps and other corals have been very good during that time . Levels are PO4 .02 to .04ppm ; NO3 0.2ppm. Feeding is heavy with over 50 fish in the system including a dozen heavily fed seahorses in a tank integrated to the system.Skimming is relatively heavy.
I've used rox 8 carbon at approximately 2 ozs per 50 gallons of water volume,changed once per month. It's useful for water clarity and taking up some excess organic carbon but has no direct effect on inorganic nutrients. Those NO3 and PO4 levels do not change when I change the gac or if I let it go longer than a month which I've done on occasion.
GAC helps with water clarity as it has an affinity for organic compounds that discolor the water, mainly fulvic and humic acids which are refractory( ie the don't degrade very much furthere at all biologically) hence they have no nutrient value.It also removes some organics that will degrade in time and contribute some N and P . Perhaps more importantly it lowers total oragnic carbon levels which if high can harm corals .
GFO and organic carbon dosing
( pellets vodka, etc) with skimming do remove inorganic nuttients . In asytem with aninorganic nuteint deficiency, or one with undetectable NO3 and or PO4 , I'd look at reducing gfo use and or organic carbon dosing to boost those nutrients rather than removing gac from the system.
Those levels of PO4,.02ppm to .04ppm and NO3 0.2 have been adeqaute . I never wanted them to go lower. have no need to take the m higher. There is some micro algae requiring glass cleaning every 4 or 5 days ; I think that's a positive thing. Virtually no cyano or other nuisance algae except for some red turf and sneaky limited bryopsis appearances from time to time.
I've used rox 8 carbon at approximately 2 ozs per 50 gallons of water volume,changed once per month. It's useful for water clarity and taking up some excess organic carbon but has no direct effect on inorganic nutrients. Those NO3 and PO4 levels do not change when I change the gac or if I let it go longer than a month which I've done on occasion.
GAC helps with water clarity as it has an affinity for organic compounds that discolor the water, mainly fulvic and humic acids which are refractory( ie the don't degrade very much furthere at all biologically) hence they have no nutrient value.It also removes some organics that will degrade in time and contribute some N and P . Perhaps more importantly it lowers total oragnic carbon levels which if high can harm corals .
GFO and organic carbon dosing
( pellets vodka, etc) with skimming do remove inorganic nuttients . In asytem with aninorganic nuteint deficiency, or one with undetectable NO3 and or PO4 , I'd look at reducing gfo use and or organic carbon dosing to boost those nutrients rather than removing gac from the system.
Those levels of PO4,.02ppm to .04ppm and NO3 0.2 have been adeqaute . I never wanted them to go lower. have no need to take the m higher. There is some micro algae requiring glass cleaning every 4 or 5 days ; I think that's a positive thing. Virtually no cyano or other nuisance algae except for some red turf and sneaky limited bryopsis appearances from time to time.
rovster
New member
Hey tmz, thanks for chiming in. Have you observed any white feathery like mats under your rocks? I heard this is a result of carbon dosing and is just bacteria. I just cut my dose by 25% to see if it would dissipate. I have 9 smallish fish in my 30 gallon, feed real heavy, and add some form of coral food and or aminos every night, and I have no algae. My colors look really good but growth is not the greatest. Desired to cut dosing also to see if growth rate would be affected. Thanks!
No I don't see bactreria forming under rocks at the dose I use;could be bacterial mass or sponge growth in your case . I see a lot of the later overall. .What are you dosing now and how much to how much total water volume? What are the PO4 and NO3 levels? Alk? Sorry for all the questions but it's been a while since you posted these and A frame of reference would be helpful.
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rovster
New member
First off, I mixed vinegar to vodka in an 8:1 ratio and was dosing 1ml of that (now I'm at 0.75ml)daily. Alk is the only parameter I check regularly and my target is between 7.5 and 8. I stopped checking nitrates and phosphates when all the brown disappeared and algae went away. Last I checked phos was 0.03-0.04 and nitrates were <2 (almost clear on Salifert test). Thanks.
I'll try and get a pic of the white stuff this coming weekend if its still around.
I'll try and get a pic of the white stuff this coming weekend if its still around.
trueblackpercula
New member
The white stuff is bacteria growing from carbon dosing. This means you should cut back on the dose amount or change the carbon source.
OK if my math is correct and youa re using 8 parts 5% vinegar to 1 part 80proof vodka, in terms of carbon content the mix equates to about 1.8 ml of vinegar per ml of the mix. So at .75 mls per day to 30 gallons, the mix eqaates to a dose of 1.35ml of vinegar or only 0.45 per gallon. Most folks setle in at around .4 to .8ml of vinegar gallon. I dose amounts of vodia and vineager that equate to .6 ml per gallon. At the low dose you are currently using , I'd be surprised if it fueld much visible bacterial growth..
I think PO4 at .03 /.04ppm are fine and NO3 ,2ppm should be fine. Keep the alk steady. Personally I keep mine right around 9dkh . I also keep pH at 8.15 to 8.35 daily swing . Temp in the high 7Os , mostly 77/78. Growth is fine but not unusually fast . I don't really care about growth rates that much since my tanks are packed. I think higher temps and alk might push it more
I think PO4 at .03 /.04ppm are fine and NO3 ,2ppm should be fine. Keep the alk steady. Personally I keep mine right around 9dkh . I also keep pH at 8.15 to 8.35 daily swing . Temp in the high 7Os , mostly 77/78. Growth is fine but not unusually fast . I don't really care about growth rates that much since my tanks are packed. I think higher temps and alk might push it more
