What do you use to brighten up color and PE?

[wackie1wackie]

As mentioned before all my parameters are within acceptable range. Nothing seems out of the ordinary. Yet some of my sps are turning brown. All preliminary testings came back with good numbers as I anticipated. I've heard good things about various additives to assist in getting better color and PE especially Coral Vitalizer. Is it worth the $$$ to shell out for a tiny bottle of unknown composition? Some folks adamantly swear by it for it does wonderful things to their systems. There are a few on here are also devout followers of dosing Prodio, AA, Snow, Spongepower, etc. Let me know what you've use or planning to use to achieve the best out of your corals.

 

[sportzfish]

I thought brown was an indication of too many nutrients or too much light. I think people only add stuff when their SPS are pale in color.

 

[beeker]

IMO if your parameters are where they need to be and the tank is mature then color should be there

i keep my alk between 7-8 DKH
Calc at 500ppm
and magnesium at 1500+ ppm

that is where my tank has been for over a year with good results

I've tryed Vodka and Amino dosing before and IMO Vodka does work and will get you growth and PE but not nesscessarily color

if you do Vodka go slow, only dose it 2-3 times a week, 1 drop of 80 proof Vodka per 30 gallons of tank water

Amino acids to me didn't really add anything though when Vodka dosing i did add aminos to counteract the getting too low in nutrients and starving my Sps, this is an Eye science and not something that is written down, i only added aminos when i added the drop of Vodka and i only added 1 drop of aminos per 1 drop of Vodka and no more to 30 gallons worth of water

It's hit or miss if the Vodka will work for you but it worked for me and that is how i dosed my tank, i did daily dosing at the begining but found it's affect to be less consistant than i did with only dosing 2-3 days a week

 

[wackie1wackie]

Some corals have full PE while other not so much. Most are turning brown though.
Here are my latest numbers using salifert.
Alk 7-8
Cal 400
Nitrate < 2ppm
Po4 0ppm
T5 x6
flow 20-30 turnover

 

[ReefTECK]

What's your lighting set up?

 

[wackie1wackie]

T5 HO 38watt X6

 

[beeker]

hmm i've never been a fan of salifert test, never got the proper hang of how to get an accurate reading from them, i only use Elo's for my test kits i have found these to be most accurate between 4 different brands

 

[wackie1wackie]

Elos use color chart too dont they? Maybe drops count is more reliable.

 

[no_Wedge]

wackie do you have anything that will consume those nitrates, like macro algae? if there are nitrates probably phosphate too which can cause discoloring.

 

[mpoletti]

There is no replacement for fish poop I also like oysterfeast as a staple in my tanks :thumbsup:

 

[wackie1wackie]

if there are nitrates probably phosphate too which can cause discoloring.

I'm not too sure if those two have a correlation as far as if one exist the other also present. Perhaps you maybe on to something. I dont have any macro for I'm very diligent in performing WC on a regular basis.

Fish poops are nice :frog: I don't have any fish but i do use Rod Food.

 

[mpoletti]

Fish poops are nice :frog: I don't have any fish

ding ding ding:hammer:

 

[buy_baff]

ding ding ding:hammer:

+1 I have a ton of small fish in my tank and feed them verry well. My color is excelent and groth is insane. Buy some fish!

 

[wackie1wackie]

Fish poops could produce PE but I'm not sold if it has any effect on color. But back to the topic at hand..how good is CV and other additives?

 

[mpoletti]

Brown corals are usually a sign of elevated signs of po4 or wild corals. What are you testing your po4 with? Are you using a hanna meter or a drop test?

Nutrients (fish poop) are key for the coloration of corals. The extra additives are just another way to import extra nutrients to your tank :thumbsup:

I have never used CV personally, but I do have some friends that use it in their ZEOvit dosing regimen. I have used AA's for when my corals begin to turn "pale", but AA's are just another nutrient to be exported as well.

I'm currently 8 weeks into ZEOvit; using it a nutrient exporter. I have also used prodibio and it works as well. I had some of my richest colors when I was feeding reef nutrition coral foods and doing water changes.

 

[kaserpick]

Nutrients (fish poop) are key for the coloration of corals. The extra additives are just another way to import extra nutrients to your tank :thumbsup:

I have never used CV personally, but I do have some friends that use it in their ZEOvit dosing regimen. I have used AA's for when my corals begin to turn "pale", but AA's are just another nutrient to be exported as well.

I'm currently 8 weeks into ZEOvit; using it a nutrient exporter. I have also used prodibio and it works as well. I had some of my richest colors when I was feeding reef nutrition coral foods and doing water changes.

I agree 100%; feeding (whether it be through fish poop, coral foods, or AA's) seems to definitely be the key to get those bright and rich colors.

As Mark also pointed out, it's important to export these things efficiently. I've used Prodibio with great success, and I'm currently using ZEOvit. I like them both, but Prodibio was just so much easier.

 

[cwegescheide]

I remember a few years ago when I had very few fish in my tank and hardly fed at all. My corals were pretty pale. A few suggested more fish and more feeding.. I did it and it made a tremendous improvement in the coral growth and color. These days I try to have as many fish as I can and feed as much as I can until I see nutrients creaping up. Husbandry is key. Don't let detrius build up as this stuff will just sit on the bottom and rot/polute the water.

I'd reccomend taking your water to a reputable LFS and have them test it with good equipment. Get your Po4 and trates under control and then go from there. I'm not an expert by any stretch but it sounds kinda strange to add food to a tank that doesn't have anything to consume it. Maybe there is something actually in fish poop that is different than just adding food to decay in the bottom of your tank (if that makes any sense). If I were you I'd get fish first and dont mess around with zeo/probido right now. Get some good grazers. Just about every fish I have in my tank has a job to do lol. Tangs for grazing, wrasses for bug control.

 

[wackie1wackie]

I only use saliferts kits to test the following
Po4 0ppm
Nitrate < 2ppm
ALk 7-8
Cal 420ppm
I added Rod food for the coral and a coco worm to consume. The growth on my corals are actually pretty decent. It's just the PE and colors that im worry about.

 

[wackie1wackie]

Meant to say nitrate is less than 2ppm

 

[Znut Reefer]

Agree with the others. Fish poop works best. I have a good many small fish in my tank and feed 2 to 3 times a day. I just added 8 more today. My colors are good, but I know they could be better.