Whats the best way to make SPS corals super bright?

[Greatreefer]

now, I thought that with SPS corals there needed to be a little nitrate?

 

[cwegescheide]

I'd find somebody that has a Hanna meter and test your Po4.. If all params are fine, which your alk/ca looks fine, Nitrate of 0 if anything would make your corals look pale, but if you have Po4 in excess of about .05 you may see browning of coral. Lighting intensity plays a role too and if your lighting is not close to from where your corals came they might take a bit to adjust.

 

[Greatreefer]

I'd find somebody that has a Hanna meter and test your Po4.. If all params are fine, which your alk/ca looks fine, Nitrate of 0 if anything would make your corals look pale, but if you have Po4 in excess of about .05 you may see browning of coral. Lighting intensity plays a role too and if your lighting is not close to from where your corals came they might take a bit to adjust.

So, what your saying is that there needs to be Nitrate. How much?

 

[cwegescheide]

Well... What works for one person might not be quite the same for another.. With that said, I've found that Nitrate @ ~5ppm gives my corals a nicer, healthier appearance to my eye. Others might prefer 0 nitrates and a lighter color. But Po4 is the nemesis with SPS IME. Lets put it this way.. I test Po4 every week like clockwork. I test for No3 when I notice excess neusance algae. Or something just doesnt look right..

 

[Greatreefer]

On the topic of nitrogen: This is going to sound like a really weird question but how do you dose Nitrate into a system Other than over feeding the fish? My system only has 3 fish in in atm.
In a system, the elevated nitrate levels are for the growth of the zooxanthellae algae?

 

[chercm]

so it is po4 that is causing the sps to brown out ?

 

[wackie1wackie]

Not only does PO4 cause sps to brown out it can also downright kill them (Rtn/Stn) I learned the hard way. You can easily get a phosban reactor for 40 that should drop your level down significantly within days. That or you can opt to carbon dose which I highly caution you to take it slowwwwww.

 

[Greatreefer]

I currently am running a carbon pad and a phosphate pad in my wetdry tower. Along with some Chaetomorpha. Should that be enough to drop the P04 levels down to safe zone?

 

[Greatreefer]

What is the ideal nitrate level that SPS need to be at? My tank is registering at 0.

 

[nano427]

What is the ideal nitrate level that SPS need to be at? My tank is registering at 0.

~5 ppm

 

[Greatreefer]

how do you does nitrate?

 

[cwegescheide]

I guess you could "Dose" nitrate but I prefer to add just enough fish and food for the desired level.

 

[Greatreefer]

If i over fed my fish, doesn't that increase the phosphate?