What One thing to you attribute to GREAT color in your SPS

[buy_baff]

400 w Radiums

This! And feeding fish a lot.

 

[Spslvr]

Define work... It seems they really only help in low nutrient tanks, and that very well could be simple because they're contributing nitrogen. We believe corals can use them, but we also know they can synthesize their own amino acids, so dosing amino acids may be fairly pointless other than adding some expensive nitrogen to a nitrogen starved tank.

Agreed... i believe polyp labs have done extensive studies and experiments with all manner of aminos and concentrations this new product has been in testing since 2013 and is only just hitting the market now, i have absolutly no affiliation with them btw and purchased a bottle with my own money off my own bat, and i am impressed with it i dont believe its coincidence, if you read through the farm thread you will see we have been experimenting with all sorts of nitrogen sources and various aminos and vitamins some with great results others not so much, after 2 weeks of colors there is a noticeable difference and while i dont know exactly what concentrations are in the product it is my understanding that it is a blend of aminos that polyplabs has isolated a formula for, all i can suggest is when it hits the shelves give it a try like i said if you follow the instructions they pretty much guarantee it will enhance colors and vitallity.

Then again mabe its all a sales pitch..

 

[Big E]

Define work... It seems they really only help in low nutrient tanks, and that very well could be simple because they're contributing nitrogen. We believe corals can use them, but we also know they can synthesize their own amino acids, so dosing amino acids may be fairly pointless other than adding some expensive nitrogen to a nitrogen starved tank.

Agreed... i believe polyp labs have done extensive studies and experiments with all manner of aminos and concentrations this new product has been in testing since 2013 and is only just hitting the market now, i have absolutly no affiliation with them btw and purchased a bottle with my own money off my own bat, and i am impressed with it i dont believe its coincidence, if you read through the farm thread you will see we have been experimenting with all sorts of nitrogen sources and various aminos and vitamins some with great results others not so much, after 2 weeks of colors there is a noticeable difference and while i dont know exactly what concentrations are in the product it is my understanding that it is a blend of aminos that polyplabs has isolated a formula for, all i can suggest is when it hits the shelves give it a try like i said if you follow the instructions they pretty much guarantee it will enhance colors and vitallity.

Then again mabe its all a sales pitch..

I'm not following your thread, but if you're farming you have very few fish in these setups...........you need the amino products because you aren't feeding a fish load 2-3 times a day.

Most normal reef tanks have plenty of fish and plenty of amino dosing in the form of fish food.

Not bashing you in particular, but every time I hear these spectacular claims I never see before after pictures that prove the product works. Even when I have asked manufacturers of these products to produce some proof I get no response.

I'm 100% with Peter on this.........they end up being pollution more often than helping most people.

 

[Spslvr]

All i can say is try some and make your own observations....

 

[JB NY]

Really I think it comes down to three things, good light, strong flow, and stable parameters. That's it.

I have had great coloration on my tanks going back well over ten years, I have tried Berlin method, carbon dosing, GFO, chaeto, live sand, refugiums etc. None have made my corals more colorful they have always been colorful.

I do dose AA and feel that AA acids helps with coral health. Healthier corals can lead to better coloration, but mostly just to healthy corals that grow well and live long.

Good light, strong flow, and stability, that is what makes corals colorful.

 

[Wazzel]

Really I think it comes down to three things, good light, strong flow, and stable parameters. That's it.

I have had great coloration on my tanks going back well over ten years, I have tried Berlin method, carbon dosing, GFO, chaeto, live sand, refugiums etc. None have made my corals more colorful they have always been colorful.

I do dose AA and feel that AA acids helps with coral health. Healthier corals can lead to better coloration, but mostly just to healthy corals that grow well and live long.

Good light, strong flow, and stability, that is what makes corals colorful.

I would add sufficient/proper food to Joe's list. IMO there is not one magic item or parameter that will give you good results. You need a good running system that is stable and well cared for over time. There are so many ways to get there.

 

[sharkboy99999]

Money lol

 

[Wazzel]

Money lol

You do not need to break the bank to have a nice tank. Patients is probably a good trait to have as a reef keeper.

 

[JB NY]

Money lol

You absolutely don't need crazy money. I have seen crazy colors on tanks that were pretty low tech and not a lot of water volume 40G or so. Good light, good flow, and stable parameters doesn't take a lot of money.

 

[JB NY]

I would add sufficient/proper food to Joe's list. IMO there is not one magic item or parameter that will give you good results. You need a good running system that is stable and well cared for over time. There are so many ways to get there.

Do you mean food for the corals? I personally do not think you need to feed them at all. I know people swear you must, and I would say that I think your corals appreciate the food, and it can help in growth or recovery. But I have had good coloration without deliberately feeding SPS corals for years.

Feeding the tank and having fish helps to get nutrients into the water column, that I think does help with coloration, but I think that is different than directly feeding. There should be fish in the tank and you should feed them. But I wouldn't attribute that to getting great colors.

 

[Wazzel]

Do you mean food for the corals? I personally do not think you need to feed them at all. I know people swear you must, and I would say that I think your corals appreciate the food, and it can help in growth or recovery. But I have had good coloration without deliberately feeding SPS corals for years.

Feeding the tank and having fish helps to get nutrients into the water column, that I think does help with coloration, but I think that is different than directly feeding. There should be fish in the tank and you should feed them. But I wouldn't attribute that to getting great colors.

Just making sure there is food for the corals, either by having enough fish and feeding the tank or direct feeding if you do not have a good fish population. I tend to take the approach that corals are animals and they need to eat. I like to do it buy having a good fish population in my tank and feeding the fish adequately. I do not direct feed my corals. It is just another thing to consider in the overall heath of the tank.

 

[Reefvet]

I've never had trouble with color in SPS as long as I've got a good fish population and feed as much as they'll eat a few times a day. The trick is finding that balance where you've got enough fish but not too many so that your system is over loaded.

Having said that. I've tried just about every AA formula on the market in the last 20 years and many of them definitely do more than just contribute nitrogen. I've had some shift colors, some increase colors and some remove colors.

I use NSW and can change as much as I like as often as I like. I've run tanks with a range of daily water changes from 2% to 60% so that nothing could possibly be depleted by the inhabitants growth. The results were an ultra stable reef with good colors.

Adding certain AA to those same setups pushed colors to saturate and improve but I believe it was also because what ever I was doing was never allowed to push the tank out of balance. The daily water changes meant there was time for corals to consume what they needed/wanted and anything not consumed was reduced from potentially over-saturated levels by the next water change.

 

[lsingh]

What One thing to you attribute to GREAT color in your SPS

Without going into detail and additives . My current system 50gln tank is fairly new about a year old and has been doing great since last couple months. Clean water is always good for Sps but too clean will starve em . My tank was going through 0 nitrates and could never achieve the darker colors of my Sps and they stayed to loose color no matter what I do .
I took my carbon and GAC offline and haven't ran skimmer in last 5 months and tank has never looked better . Nitrates run around 15 to 20ppm every time I measure which is every 3 days . Other water parameters are normal as they should be . The only thing I dose is k balance from zeo and and feed my tank every three days with variety of food like reef chillies oyster feast and plankton and tank has never looked better. Tank is still young and growing ok but colors have definitely come back .
We always tend to keep nitrates 0 which is not good and make corals starve . Again I am not voting for don't run skimmers , it's just worked best for me to bring up my nitrates .

 

[pledosophy]

Anyone else dosing potassium?

 

[Spslvr]

Anyone else dosing potassium?

i do, i keep it at around 430

 

[Myka]

Stability. Before anything else. After that; flow, food, light. In that order.

 

[Myka]

Stability. Before anything else. After that; flow, food, light. In that order.

I have to also add that I'm assuming the parameters are reasonable. Stable alkalinity at 5.5 dKH is probably not going to help much, but it is certainly better than alkalinity swinging from 5.5 to 8.5 every 3 days.