What else can I do to get better color?

[ReefRockerLive]

My tank stats are currently at:

pH-8.1
Nitrate-20
Nitrite-0
Ammonia-0
Phosphate-0.04
Calcium-410
Alkalinity-10 DKH
Salinity-1.024
Magnesium-1000-I'm slowly increasing this

I am noticing good coloration from my blue tort and everything else is better than average, but I am looking to make them bright!

I have 2x400w MH 20k and 15k XM which are run for 5.5 hours.
I also have 4x32w PC actinics that are being run for 7 hours.

If it's my Alkalinity that is affecting my Acro colors, then how can I get this down without changing my Calcium Reactor settings?

Thanks

 

[redwinger02]

Get them Nitrates down to start along with the phosphates(as close to zero) and make sure you don't load up your tank with nutrients.

 

[merlock116]

skim wetter and get aggressive with carbon (use about a cup and switch it out every 2-3 days).

this has definitely made my colors really pop.

 

[Philwd]

Couple things worked for me. First automation that enabled my parameters to stabilize. Second even though my Saliferts PO4 kit read 0 I now know I had lots of phosphates that the kit doesn't measure. I started to SLOWLY run phosban in a reactor and it had made a world of difference. Colors really deepened up. My tricolor valida is geting color back on the tips. Several people have had problems with the iron based PO4 removers but it worked for me.

 

[kirstenk]

Up your lighting with the XM 20K. Try 8 hours a day.

 

[Bullredchaser]

You need to get your magnesium up,thats crazy low.Your alk is fine IMO but your salinity can be a tad bit higher.1.027 is where I keep mine.Your phosphate is borderline high so I would work on that as well.To be honest a good size water change would properly adjust everything.

 

[clkwrk]

1. Get stable with params and in the right areas.
2. Get aggressive with nutrient export
3. Provide a light source with good par

It was when I got agressive with nutirent export and po4 removal that my corals really started to gain there best color. I also use phosban no problems and even started with a whole container. But slowly and in a paticular manner that I can eleaborate more on if needed.

I will give you some examples if I can of before agreesive manuvers and after ..........

In this pic look at the table and the purple tip above the yellow .

here is a top down after of th table

and the purple tip and table

You can see the color difference. Same bulbs but older.

Another

In this pic look at the ugly yellow tort above the blue tip stag

after

This one shows me getting a handle on it

and this one shows I have a handle on it

 

[Ewan]

Beautiful tank!

 

[SunnyX]

Ranked in order of importance-

#1 The coral's genetics
#2 Water clarity
#3 Lighting
#4 Carbon

No matter how great a tank is, some corals will never color up.

Water clarity directly ties in with lighting and nutrient load.
You could have the most power full lighting system ever and still have no color if the water is yellow and unclear.
The yellowing compounds easily absorb the UV coming down to the corals. If no UV is coming down then the corals have no reason to display their colorful pigments.
This is exactly why carbon usage or frequent water changes must take place.

 

[SunnyX]

I would run the XM20k's for 8 hours. There is no reason why they should be running only 5.5hrs a day. I have had XM20k's before and had amazing colors with the bulb.

 

[MCsaxmaster]

If no UV is coming down then the corals have no reason to display their colorful pigments.

UV won't affect coral coloration one way or another. Visible coral pigments have nothing to do with UV light at all. The various substances that absorb UV (like MAAs) are clear. I'm not sure where this idea got started, but I hear it often and it isn't correct.

Chris

 

[shelburn61]

Ditto on what's already been said, but assuming you've got the water taken care of...

Sunny's tank would be an example of tank getting a lot of violet light from the actinics plus blue light from the 14ks. (i.e. output at both the 420nm and 450nm photosynthetic peaks)

This would support Tyree's contention that we should be focusing on spectrum as well as just total PAR in order to bring out coral colors.
http://www.reefs.org/library/talklog/s_tyree_060202.html

Sunny, you think your colors are reflection of this or would they be just as good with 10k and actinic (mostly violet light)?

 

[Amphiprion]

Interestingly enough, no one really knows what purpose most of the pigments in corals serve.

 

[SunnyX]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6702893#post6702893 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by shelburn61
Ditto on what's already been said, but assuming you've got the water taken care of...

Sunny's tank would be an example of tank getting a lot of violet light from the actinics plus blue light from the 14ks. (i.e. output at both the 420nm and 450nm photosynthetic peaks)

This would support Tyree's contention that we should be focusing on spectrum as well as just total PAR in order to bring out coral colors.
http://www.reefs.org/library/talklog/s_tyree_060202.html

Sunny, you think your colors are reflection of this or would they be just as good with 10k and actinic (mostly violet light)?

For the record, I have actinic white VHO's, not Actinc blue.

I will be switch my lighting tomorrow to XM 10K SE in Lumenarc reflectors so hopefully the colors will remain the same.
The wider the spectrum the wider the palate of colors available.
Corals colors will vary under different lighting.

 

[SunnyX]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6702647#post6702647 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MCsaxmaster
If no UV is coming down then the corals have no reason to display their colorful pigments.

UV won't affect coral coloration one way or another. Visible coral pigments have nothing to do with UV light at all. The various substances that absorb UV (like MAAs) are clear. I'm not sure where this idea got started, but I hear it often and it isn't correct.

Chris

Both UV-A and UV-B light waves have been found to cause destruction of the DNA and RNA within the coral's tissues. In response, many corals have made adaptations in reducing the effects of these harmful rays. Corals have developed protective pigments that are often blue, purple, or pink in color.

 

[SunnyX]

MCsaxmaster tell me one thing, do you not get a tan in the summer?

 

[SunnyX]

From Steve Tyree-

" A very important scientific paper was published in 2001 concerning Fluorescing Pocilloporin coral pigments. Titled "Major colour patterns of reef-building corals are due to a family of GFP-like proteins." It was published in Coral Reefs 19:197-204. The publishing of this paper was delayed by one year due to pending patent applications within Australia. I managed to acquire a copy of the manuscript about 6 months prior to its publication. This paper describes the actual molecular makeup of the fluorescing pigments within stony corals. They genetically identified 3 different types of highly fluorescent pocilloporins. One type primarily absorbs light from 310 to 380 nm (UV-B and UV-A) and then fluoresces this as light from 400 to 470 nm (violet/blue). Scientist refer to this as UV fluorescing pocilloporin, because the greatest absorption occurs within the UV area. Hobbyist should probably refer to this as violet fluorescing pocilloporin, because the visual appearance of the pigment is the fluorescing of violet light. Corals in shallow water can theoretically use this pigment to shield themselves from the harmful affects of UV light, while corals in deepwater can modify the UV-A light into light that is more photosynthetically useable. Unfortunately for the hobbyist, our eyes are not very good at perceiving violet light. Additionally, the stimulation of this pigments fluorescence requires producing UV-A/UV-B light over the reef. Violet Fluorescing Pocilloporin may be of little importance to captive corals."

Article can be found here- http://www.reefs.org/library/talklog/s_tyree_060202.html

 

[RichConley]

That brings up a question for me:

Why do I have shields on my DE bulbs? Yeah, a lot of people have tried pulling them off and are like "THE UV KILLED MY CORALS", but i dont think I've heard of anyone raising their lights to acclimate after pulling off the shields. From sanjay's tests, its a 20% or so difference, and the difference in UV is probably much higher. SO some of thse peopel may just be photoshocking their corals, and its not the UV at all.


ANy ideas?

 

[SunnyX]

Leave the shields on.
The UV can cause blindness and coral bleaching.
All that UV hitting the corals at once with most likely cause them to bleach.

 

[RichConley]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6703795#post6703795 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SunnyX
Leave the shields on.
The UV can cause blindness and coral bleaching.
All that UV hitting the corals at once with most likely cause them to bleach.

But why will it cause them to bleach?


Why is it coloring them up on the reefs, and bleachign them in the tank?