What else can I do to get better color?

get ALL parameters where they need to be,stable, use good(not old) lighting, do religious WC, don't overfeed fish, feed corals, blow off detritus, get corals from a good vendor, keep MH photoperiod to a max of 8hr/day,export nutrients through good fuge or start zeovit.
 
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.
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Who said that anyway? From the Dove et al. paper that Steve references:

"The fact that the concentrations of high absorbance-low emission pocciloporins are correlated with PAR and not with UV is further evidence of this role [which is to increase screening and prevent photoihibition]."

MAAs are generally regarded as the major players in guarding against UV damage. They absorb UV but don't emit visible light.

MCsaxmaster tell me one thing, do you not get a tan in the summer?
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Yup. I get tan because melanin interacts with visible light by absorbing it. If melanin only absorbed UV we wouldn't change visibly due to UV exposure. See note on MAAs above.

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.
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Ok, but they discuss the fate of this captured light energy:

"By converting UV radiation into blue light (400-445 nm) and then (in many cases) into blue-green light (480-490 and 500-505 nm), UV radiation can be converted into less harmful visible radiation that can be absorbed by the PCP complex of the symbiotic dinoflagellates. The PCP complex is a highly regulated light harvesting complex that can either direct the captured energy toward the two photosystems or dump excess light energy as heat via transfers to associated carotenoids."

In other words, the captured UV energy is either used for photosynthesis (and dissipated as chemical and heat energy) or run through the xanthophyll cycle (and dissipated as heat energy). I suppose it's possible that some of this fluoresced light "leaks" out of the coral, but probably not much.

But why will it cause them to bleach? Why is it coloring them up on the reefs, and bleachign them in the tank?
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The amount of UV produced by one of these bulbs bare is much, much more than what any coral on any reef would experience. It isn't that corals in our tanks can't adapt to UV, they can and do. I think it was Dana Riddle a while ago that showed some data on UV from bulbs and some of them actually produced quite a bit. Corals in nature deal with UV and they do in our tanks too. Trying to push corals beyond what is the max. in nature though probably isn't tolerable because they simply don't have the ability to deal with that. I really, really doubt any of us are lacking in UV over our tanks, especially with metal halide bulbs. Also, as per my comments above, don't expect that added UV would necessarily enhance the coloration of your corals.

Best,

Chris
 
Wow, many thanks to everyone who responded.

I tossed in some RowaPhos in my tank and I ordered SeaChem Magnesium and Carbon. Once I get that stuff, would my Acros color-up?
My water is already nice and clear, but I ordered Carbon just in case.

Also, what is an effective way to reduce Nitrates safely? I already skim wet, in fact I get a full collection cup of thick skimmate every 4-5 days so something is being taken out.

Also, how effective are the Salifert Organics test kits, should I consider getting one to see if I have too many organics?

For some reason my pH has not been going lower than 8.1 usually it's around 7.98 to 8.05. I am running a Calcium Reactor so should I increase the Co2 injection? Would there be a better way to lower my Alkalinity without affecting my Calcium Reactor?

One more question...

Were can I find Magnesium Chips for the Reactor?
 
I also increased the lighting Period to 7 hours for the 20k bulbs and 8.5 hours for the Actinics. Anything else I should do?
 
If your nitrates are high you are either feeding too much, your sand bed is full of nitrates, your not skimming heavily enough or not enough flow. My guess given your skimmer (its a damn good one if its setup right) your way over feeding.

You might try using the Zeovit Coral Vitalizer and Amino Acid High Concentrate (AAHC). Its expensive stuff but it has got quite a following these days.

First I would get your nutrients under control. Get your phosphates down to about .02 or so and get the nitrates to 0. I would imagine that will make a BIG BIG difference alone.
 
:D Thanks ........on a side note it was the tanks that inspired me that also made me sick ........
 
IME the key to great colors is to have a big oversized skimmer and to feed your fish a lot. I am not a fan of the deltec ap600. I have seen this skimmer on 4 tanks, moderately stocked, and they all had nitrates. A nitrate result of 20ppm just goes to show that this skimmer is not enough. Many will disagree ;)

Feeding, great skimming, low nutrients, and correct+stable water parms......Your SPS will have no choice but to be extremely colorful :)
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6707397#post6707397 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ReefRockerLive
Also, how effective are the Salifert Organics test kits, should I consider getting one to see if I have too many organics?
Click to expand...

This is an interesting question. Is there any reliable way to measure/quantify level organics in our tanks? It seems that all references to the amount of organics in the water column are based on observations of their supposed effects. Obviously the accuracy of such observations is somewhat questionable.
 
Also, why would dissolved organic substances (unless they are noxious) negatively impact the corals or cause them to not be as colorful? I mean, if there is a bunch of some toxic substance dissolved in the tank (maybe an allelochemical or something) I can imagine this having a negative effect on the coral's health and then affecting coloration, but why would any other sort of dissolved organic substance harm the coral? I mean heck, every coral ever examined takes up and utilizes DOC and DON, although some do it more efficiently than others.

Chris
 
Well I guess I'd don't need the Organic test kit.

I have a 1" Hippo Tang, 2.5" Anthias, 2" Casio Wrasse, 2 Clowns, 1.5" Curvier Tang.

I feed a full cube of Pro-V vegitable cubes either every 2 days or 3 days and Mysis Shrimp every 2-3 days.

All my fish are fed once.
 
Also, why would dissolved organic substances (unless they are noxious) negatively impact the corals or cause them to not be as colorful?
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because they block light. without them your water is alot clearer and the lights can do their job.

i had the salifert organics test and wouldn't recommend it to anyone for any reason. i didn't know they still sold it actually, i thought they pulled it from the roster.
 
I mention it as IMO I've had much better luck with a slightly understocked tank [fish-wise] .. both with color and growth.

No one likes to hear that, but when I weighed whether I wanted all those fish vs. all those corals colorful ... I realized I was happy to bring a few fish back to the LFS :)

Now I have to feed the tank more to make up for it ... but it's easier to deal with darkening pale corals vs. removing brown.

IMO, you don't have crazy stocking, but not understocked either [lots of active fish, herbivores who often seem to poop a lot more than carnivores IMO].

Anyway - probably useless in your situation now that they're stocked ....
 
Hmmm, I suppose the only thing to do would be to test for water clarity. Mix up some fresh seawater really well, and maybe filter it (the presumption being that this is maxiumum clarity) and then see what percentage reduction there is in light penetration in a given tank. Certainly dissolved organics can block/absorb light, but I was under the presumption that the water appears quite clear in the tank. If that is so I doubt that the dissolved organics are reducing light penetration a whole lot, but again, one would have to test to find out.

Hmmm, I probably can get access to a spectrophotometer...

Chris
 
herbivores who often seem to poop a lot more than carnivores IMO].[/B]
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True enough, but are they excreting more nitrogen than carnivores? ;) How much physical waste something produces isn't a good measure of how much it could influence tank chemistry as the composition of waste will vary depending on diet. Herbivores eat a lot, but they excrete relatively less N and P than carnivores but more C. A given biomass of tang probably produces a lot less N and P than that amount of damselfish, for example, assuming that the damsel gets mostly a carnivore diet and the tang an herbivore diet (to be fair, the fish should be the same size, otherwise corrections for allometries related to size would have to be made).

I don't mean to nit pick, but something to consider perhaps.

Chris
 
Chris,

How do sps corals maintain (keep or release) their population levels of zoox?

I'm asking because i don't know. Thanks.
 
Last edited:
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6709551#post6709551 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MCsaxmaster
Also, why would dissolved organic substances (unless they are noxious) negatively impact the corals or cause them to not be as colorful? I mean, if there is a bunch of some toxic substance dissolved in the tank (maybe an allelochemical or something) I can imagine this having a negative effect on the coral's health and then affecting coloration, but why would any other sort of dissolved organic substance harm the coral? I mean heck, every coral ever examined takes up and utilizes DOC and DON, although some do it more efficiently than others.

Chris
Click to expand...
A guy named Deanos on my local forum, www.manhattanreefs.com, gave me a link today to some good papers. I didn't have time to read them but I plan to this weekend.

Here's a quote from a paper that talks about it,

"practices for maintaining corals in aquaria: (1) remove DON and DOP because some of the compounds may be toxic to some organisms;"

They talk about inorganic nutrients being taken up by corals but dissolved organic nutrients being harmful. And on a side note they were able to see good coral growth in nutrient rich but low ph (high CO2) water which I found interesting.
 
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