Acropora tricolor becomes brownish

[meermann]

Hi guys,
a month ago I bought small acro tricolor
Unfortunately it became brownish (previously it has green-blue color as it should have)
Actually all the body is already light brown, except the end of branches

Sorry for image quality, haven't got my orange lens yet.

I have no idea why.

Water params:
Salinity 35‰, NO3 2-3, PO4 0.03-00.6, Ca 440, temperature 78, KH 7, PH 8.2

Salt is Tropic Marin Pro Reef

Light: 1 AI Hydra 32HD, 9" above water surface, mode is: UV, V 85%, B, RB 120%, CW 45%, R, G 8%. Daylight is 6 hours per day + ramping 3.5 hours each side
The acro is no more than 10" below water surface

Any idea?

 

[dedragon]

PO4 .03-.6 is a huge range, maybe a typo?

 

[lakai]

Hi guys,
a month ago I bought small acro tricolor
Unfortunately it became brownish (previously it has green-blue color as it should have)
Actually all the body is already light brown, except the end of branches

Sorry for image quality, haven't got my orange lens yet.

I have no idea why.

Water params:
Salinity 35‰, NO3 2-3, PO4 0.03-00.6, Ca 440, temperature 78, KH 7, PH 8.2

Salt is Tropic Marin Pro Reef

Light: 1 AI Hydra 32HD, 9" above water surface, mode is: UV, V 85%, B, RB 120%, CW 45%, R, G 8%. Daylight is 6 hours per day + ramping 3.5 hours each side
The acro is no more than 10" below water surface

Any idea?

probably need to hit it with more light and raise your nitrates a little. It'll go get its color back it just takes a few weeks or month once its happy.

 

[ChaosAquaculture]

I would suggest raising the alkalinity to help support it better, somewhere in the 7.8 - 8.4 range. Try moving it to a differently lit spot as well. - kali

 

[meermann]

PO4 .03-.6 is a huge range, maybe a typo?

.03 - .06 - I couldn't measure more precisely with my Milwaukee MW12 photometer

probably need to hit it with more light and raise your nitrates a little. It'll go get its color back it just takes a few weeks or month once its happy.

What's the best NO3 level in my case? 10 is OK?
Regarding more light, I have only one light at the moment and it's already right in between the pucks of my Hydra on the top of rocks. But I can set my Hydra a bit lower, let's say 6" instead of 9", will it help?

I would suggest raising the alkalinity to help support it better, somewhere in the 7.8 - 8.4 range. Try moving it to a differently lit spot as well. - kali

Do I need to increase only Alk level or together with Ca? Because I have both Tropic Marine All-For-Reef (1-component balling replacement that increases Ca and Alk) and baking soda. Which supplement is the best in my case?
Actually 10 days ago Alk level was even 6.1, so I increase it with caution every day with baking soda.

Regarding differently lit spot - I believe it's the one of the lightest spots in my tank. Right between and under 2 pucks of Hydra. Should I increase or decrease intensity?

 

[lakai]

Actually 10 days ago Alk level was even 6.1, so I increase it with caution every day with baking soda.

this is probably the problem. your tank i'm guessing is pretty new? Get your tank stable and just leave it alone if most everything else is good.

 

[nbooks]

besides looking like the tank is new, ill bet PAR is probably a tad low with the settings on your hydra if they are posted correctly. can you post a screenshot of your schedule?

 

[meermann]

this is probably the problem. your tank i'm guessing is pretty new? Get your tank stable and just leave it alone if most everything else is good.

Almost 2 months. I just raising Alk level because it was too low. I use no supplements except baking soda and sometimes Easy SPS gel. At the moment I have no fishes because of they are in quarantine tank (due to Velvet disease) and I need to feed up bacteria somehow. So initially I used Ocean Nutrition pellets, then decided to switch to coral food, I think it's also suitable for bacteria

besides looking like the tank is new, ill bet PAR is probably a tad low with the settings on your hydra if they are posted correctly. can you post a screenshot of your schedule?

I got the schedule from this thread (BRS video on the 2nd page), but lowered a bit UV and V because of lens melting, and also I decreased CW because I like more blueish light. Previously it was only 20% CW and no Red/Green but 3 days ago I adjusted the channels.

 

[nbooks]

this is what ive been running for ~6months after wasting a lot of time with a prime 16hd over my 40g cube.

This schedule is finally growing acros (tenuis included). Just added a reefbrite XHO actinic that kicks on once the main light starts ramping down.

i haven't measured this schedule specifically, but after a lot of research and measuring PAR on the previous prime im pretty confident im getting 250-300+ par at about 16 inches from the light (light is 8 inches above waterline)

 

[meermann]

this is what ive been running for ~6months after wasting a lot of time with a prime 16hd over my 40g cube.

This schedule is finally growing acros (tenuis included). Just added a reefbrite XHO actinic that kicks on once the main light starts ramping down.

i haven't measured this schedule specifically, but after a lot of research and measuring PAR on the previous prime im pretty confident im getting 250-300+ par at about 16 inches from the light (light is 8 inches above waterline)

The problem is:
I live in Germany and I'm not allowed to replace the lenses by myself in case of they were melted.
So either I need to send my light to the service and wait (for a week or maybe even 2-3) or the warranty will be void. My light is approx. 8 months old, so probably at first I need to buy lenses on AI website.
That's why I decreased V and UV channels.

In general I like your light much better.

 

[meermann]

Some updates guys
I changed a bit the program on my Hydra, now it's 100% UV + V, 130% B + RB, 8% R + G and 55% CW
Hope lenses won't be be spoiled till warranty end.

I also tried to take the pics in better quality

So it's the tricolor, see how brownish it is



It's the center and the right of the tank. LED pucks are right above the tricolor acro.
Take a look at 2 corals on the right



Despite of they are 2" below tricolor in depth and ~7" on the right of LED pucks, they thus get significantly less light than tricolor for sure but look better: have growth tips and haven't changed their color.



So the question is: do I really need to increase the light intensity?

 

[lakai]

Run all blues and violet at 100%. Whites at 25% peak , red at 15% or lower

 

[Big E]

Until you get fish in there it's going to be difficult for all your acros. They provide ammonium and urea and the food you feed the fish provide phosphate(fish poop) and amino acids.

All the corals look bad....dry look & little to no polyp extension. Growth is probably slow or stunted.

Bacteria as food also play a role as they consume these nutrients and corals consume the bacteria.

I would suggest dosing bacteria, amino acid(MB7 and Acropower) and keep up with the Easy gel. Hopefully that will get you by until you get fish back in there.

Don't mess with all those other variables.

 

[meermann]

Until you get fish in there it's going to be difficult for all your acros. They provide ammonium and urea and the food you feed the fish provide phosphate(fish poop) and amino acids.

All the corals look bad....dry look & little to no polyp extension. Growth is probably slow or stunted.

Bacteria as food also play a role as they consume these nutrients and corals consume the bacteria.

I would suggest dosing bacteria, amino acid(MB7 and Acropower) and keep up with the Easy gel. Hopefully that will get you by until you get fish back in there.

Don't mess with all those other variables.

Thank you for the suggestion.

Unfortunately the survivor now lives in the bucket and I still need wait for 3-4 weeks till the display will be clear of cysts of Amyloodinium or like that.




I add sometimes KZ Cyano Clean (recommended by BRS as a way to prevent red cyanobacteria), in the same video their also mentioned MB7, is it OK to add both?

Question - I also have Ammonia solution 10% and Urea Powder (pharmaceutical grade) - should I add them somehow in addition to / instead of NO3?

I also moved Tricolor on the left side and 2" down. Hope it'll help


On its place I moved Strawberry Shortcake, is it OK?
I believe it requires more light than Tricolor Valida.
Unfortunately it also hides polyps, but has no signs of STN though.



Regarding polyp extension - I have only one acro that's pretty fluffy during the day and doubles its polyps length at night - but there is no growth for a month at all. There are no fresh tips. Some of acros without polyp extension had slow growth during the last month.

 

[ScottB]

Until you get fish in there it's going to be difficult for all your acros. They provide ammonium and urea and the food you feed the fish provide phosphate(fish poop) and amino acids.

All the corals look bad....dry look & little to no polyp extension. Growth is probably slow or stunted.

Bacteria as food also play a role as they consume these nutrients and corals consume the bacteria.

I would suggest dosing bacteria, amino acid(MB7 and Acropower) and keep up with the Easy gel. Hopefully that will get you by until you get fish back in there.

Don't mess with all those other variables.

I second this perspective.

I also have velvet in my display and am dreading going fallow. I always have acro troubles when I don't have enough fish. They are a very constant source of trace ammonia.

 

[meermann]

I second this perspective.

I also have velvet in my display and am dreading going fallow. I always have acro troubles when I don't have enough fish. They are a very constant source of trace ammonia.

I agree, but have no possibility to put some fishes right now.
I have ozone generator thought, but have no idea if it helps. And cysts may be more viable than acros.

BTW I have 2 free dosing heads (each can dose up to 24 times per day), can I add very low concentrated ammonia solution twice an hour? Not very constant but...

 

[meermann]

Also, AFAIK for starting nitrate cycle up is enough to put frozen shrimp into tank, it will produce ammonia somehow.
Are you guys sure that fish food itself will not produce ammonia? It contains proteins and probably some bacteria can consume it and produce ammonia

 

[Big E]

I agree, but have no possibility to put some fishes right now.
I have ozone generator thought, but have no idea if it helps. And cysts may be more viable than acros.

BTW I have 2 free dosing heads (each can dose up to 24 times per day), can I add very low concentrated ammonia solution twice an hour? Not very constant but...

No don't dose ammonia........don't add any chemicals. Don't worry about the cyano, be more concerned with the acros. Your second set of pics don't look as bad, but you still need to be proactive with what I mentioned.

Throwing in some fish food will create some P04 but the amount of ammonia is practically nill. Fish excrete the ammonium and urea from their gills, that's what the corals want.

I guess you could put a hunk of shrimp in there and let it rot, but I don't think things are that dire. In your second set of pics the corals don't look as bad as I thought. Look at them at night and see if you see polyp extension.

Slow down and quite doing a bunch of stuff. Just feed the corals with the Easy.......that's just smashed up shrimp, so it's going to create food juices and some P04 for the corals

Even once you get fish back in there you're looking at 3 months for corals to be thriving again. MB7 results have to be measured in months, same with AA's.

Just maintain the tank and don't make any more changes.

 

[minus9]

I would try sps evo as a food source for your corals in the meantime. Like others mentioned, your sps are hungry and not having fish can lead to starvation. Btw, your parameters are fine, don’t chase numbers, just listen to what your corals are trying to tell you. “Feed me Seymour”

 

[Tamberav]

When I went fallow for 45 days I dosed red sea ab+ and never saw any negative effects of running fallow on my tank.