What causes SPS to lighten or pale?

[rovster]

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

Thanks for the math. I was not aware that I've settled in to a "usual" dose, which makes me feel better. I've noticed that if my alk goes above 8 the tips on my green birdsnest, and a few of my acros start to get burnt tips, so that's why I keep it below 8. I will try and get a pic of the "white stuff" later. Maybe I should check my phos and nitrates to see just where I am now. But other than some slow growth, everything (except zoas) looks great. I cannot keep zoas happy for the life if me. Montis are another coral I somewhat struggle with. LPS and Acros and milles, they do great. Go figure!

 

[tmz]

The math I did puts you at about only 10% of a usual dose.

I'd doublecheck the nitrates in particular.

 

[rovster]

The math I did puts you at about only 10% of a usual dose.

I'd doublecheck the nitrates in particular.

Thanks for clarifying. One thing I'll mention is when I tried to increase my dose I did see some white stringy stuff unlike the white feathery stuff under the rocks. When I lowered the dose the stringy stuff went away but the stuff under the rocks remained. It doesn't bother me as it's barely noticeable. I decreased my dose more for the hope that raising nutrients slightly will spur some additional growth.

 

[BrentH]

I removed my gfo about 4 days ago and I'm already seeing some crazy colors barely start to show up on a few pieces ...I've been cheating myself this whole time

 

[trueblackpercula]

I removed my gfo about 4 days ago and I'm already seeing some crazy colors barely start to show up on a few pieces ...I've been cheating myself this whole time

Question
After removing it did you see a spike or elevated levels of PO4

 

[plyle02]

had the same issue a couple months back. Was running too much GFO and carbon. Took those 2 offline for a while and the colors darkened back up.

Me too,
My tank and corals have never looked so healthy

 

[Deadcalm]

I also had this same issue and will never use GFO again. I have a series of photos I thought I would share:


This is a Red Planet that became very pale while I was using GFO:

This is the same coral after I removed GFO and started to feed more to get my PO4 to 0.02 - 0.03:

Here's that same coral today colored up healthy and growing:

 

[tmz]

IMO, it's fine to use gfo but not fine to shoot for for zero PO4.

 

[epicurus84]

Imho, when running biopellets and GFO it can cause problems with the amount of food.

See that attachement, my monti grows fine, but the new grow rim is barely coloring up.

Now i start feeding the corals again, and it will be fine in about 2 months, however when overfeeding corals it causes problems as wel, so be carefull with that.

 

[AugustWest]

Bump for a lot of good info in this thread. I've been running Ecobak Biopellets for over 8 months now .

I'm thinking I need to increase feeding due to lightening of a few SPS. I'm currently feeding 2 tsp of Oyster Feast every other day. Thinking of increasing this to nightly.

A few of you said you are feeding "heavily" can you give me an example on what you might feed in a day ?

 

[Acro Lover]

Theirs a lot that could cause Acros to lose color or have less Polyps Extension. Usually Bleaching could be from to much Light, high Po4 or No3, or pest. When acros turn brown it could be from lack of light, flow, nutrients, and depending on what bulbs u use more like 12-14k can cause some corals to not color up and stay brown, not that its unhealthy just that how it is with the lights, the will still grow. For polyps mostly can be from Pest, Fish pecking on them or even high Po4 or No3, can be from many things, just gotta do by one by one and its great investment to buy a magnify Glass and inspect your Sps corals for pest!