corals look pale not sure about lighting

[Ernie C]

Hi,

Recently got a red sea 350 that has 2 AI hydra 26 HD lights. I've been using the acclimation feature 50% reduction. Used to have Chinese box lights before. I've downloaded different setting files but kind of lost with all the different information and settings out there. I'd like something that is healthy for the corals but also visually appealing. Not sure if the paleness is due to lighting or water chemistry although I don't see anything off in my testing. I have not tested po4 or no3. I have API tests for those and haven't bothered. I have a bubble, green chalice and plate coral that look great but the sps frags look dull/pale =\

Any suggestions? Just transferred reef from old tank to new tank like a month ago so i'm sure things need to settle but would like to set a good lighting schedule and let the tank mature with stability.

Alk - 10 dkh
cal - 480
ph 8.2
sal 1.025
mg 1400

 

[mcarroll]

Test po4 and no3 ASAP.

If possible get a PAR or lux reading ($free phone app can do in a pinch) from your old lights and try to duplicate that intensity with your new lights. Corals ought to be in similar proximity to the lights as before as well.

Acclimation mode could be too little light. You could have too little nutrients (N or P or BOTH). Or something else.

Can you also post a pic so we can see what you have for flow and where things are set up in the tank?

 

[Ernie C]

i got rid of my old lights. Is their a PAR reader app for the phone? For flow i have the return and two Jebao PP-8 Series Wavemakers with Controller. I have them dialed down cause they seem to pretty strong for the tank and were blowing some small pieces i have on the bottom of the tank for now. This first pic doesn't really show much as it was night time and lights were ramping down. Second pic was when i first set up the tank like 3 weeks ago.

 

[mcarroll]

Second pic was when i first set up the tank like 3 weeks ago.

This is just the new tank uglies then as far as the cyano.

How old was the old tank before transfer? That rock looks pretty bare in pic #2.

Have ammonia and nitrIte levels remained zero in the new tank?

Phosphates
Also the frags may be lacking in flow.....they're tiny and might need a lot more flow if phosphates levels are too low. (May enable a higher uptake rate for them.)

Flow
You suggested you've had to limit flow due to frags moving on the tank floor. It might be time to remedy this and mount them up somewhere sou you can crank up the flow. With SPS and flappy LPS in the same tank, you've set yourself up for somewhat of a challenge....flow might get just high enough to make the SPS happy but may also start tweaking the much-less-svelt LPS. This

Test Kits
Try your API kits for PO4 and NO3, BTW......good enough for now. We need data.

 

[Ernie C]

Will test tonight and see if anything registers but i don't have any cyano that i know of. All of this rock was in my previous tanks for years. The previous tank was at this house for 3 years, before that another 4 years at my old house, and before that in another tank. I only have 2 LPS . I've had the bubble for over a decade and the plate seems to be ok with flow, so hopefully i can find a balance with flow. The frags on the bottom i'm trying to get rid of, so they are temporary. =)

 

[Esquire805]

Will test tonight and see if anything registers but i don't have any cyano that i know of. All of this rock was in my previous tanks for years. The previous tank was at this house for 3 years, before that another 4 years at my old house, and before that in another tank. I only have 2 LPS . I've had the bubble for over a decade and the plate seems to be ok with flow, so hopefully i can find a balance with flow. The frags on the bottom i'm trying to get rid of, so they are temporary. =)

Can I have them lol

 

[Ernie C]

@Esquire805 lol, if you make it to Miami, i'll give you one. =)

 

[Ernie C]

This is just the new tank uglies then as far as the cyano.

How old was the old tank before transfer? That rock looks pretty bare in pic #2.

Have ammonia and nitrIte levels remained zero in the new tank?

Phosphates
Also the frags may be lacking in flow.....they're tiny and might need a lot more flow if phosphates levels are too low. (May enable a higher uptake rate for them.)

Flow
You suggested you've had to limit flow due to frags moving on the tank floor. It might be time to remedy this and mount them up somewhere sou you can crank up the flow. With SPS and flappy LPS in the same tank, you've set yourself up for somewhat of a challenge....flow might get just high enough to make the SPS happy but may also start tweaking the much-less-svelt LPS. This

Test Kits
Try your API kits for PO4 and NO3, BTW......good enough for now. We need data.

Here is what I just got as far as tests. I reduced the lighting again using the acclimation feature to 100% just in case its the lights causing the issue. I'm going to see about better tests for nitrate and phosphate. Any suggestions that are affordable?

Phosphate - 0 ppm (I doubt this cause i have some little bit of algae growing on the rocks and cheato is growing in the sump)
Nitrate - 0 ppm
Alk - 10 dKH
Mg - 1400
salinity - 1.026
ph - 8.02
Cal - 480

This move to this new tank has really made me question my tank skills. Never had these issues before with my old equipment. Had cheap led lights before now have the Hydras which have a wide array of settings. Also, didn't have any filter socks or sponges in my old tank, just a 30 gal refugium. This new tank has two filter socks and a sponge. Should i take those out? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Nothing seems to be dying yet, but doesn't look very nice. =/ Well the lps look great and the fish seem happy and hungry so not too awful.

 

[Esquire805]

@Esquire805 lol, if you make it to Miami, i'll give you one. =)

Lol mail it I will pay

 

[mcarroll]

Phosphate - 0 ppm (I doubt this cause i have some little bit of algae growing on the rocks and cheato is growing in the sump)
Nitrate - 0 ppm

This can make things that are still trying to adapt and grow in to the new tank pretty unhappy.

Algae growth on the rocks is probably using PO4 on the rocks, not PO4 from the water column. Chaeto may be using all available PO4 and NO3, to the detriment of your corals and the rest of the tank.

I think I'd remove the chaeto – clearly the tank doesn't need it, and you can add more later if the time comes when it does need it.

See if this provides enough relief on the nutrients to make corals happy and, maybe even allow something to grow and compete with the algae on your rocks – like coraline algae!!

If things don't improve pretty quickly (within a couple days seems like what folks usually say) then we can try some other steps.

Let us know!

 

[jda]

Here is the order in which I believe that you can fix poor colored corals.

1). Wait for the tank to mature. This can take a year for some tanks, but oft two or more years if you started with dry dead rock.
2). Lights. Full spectrum matters. Adding T5s to LEDs is what most people end up with to solve poor coloring - it works. This is how your coral should eat.
3). Solid, reliable tank parameters.
4). Last, but a long way down are the building blocks (N and P) - they do not seem to be needed as much if you take care of #2 to feed the corals. People call N and P nutrients, but they are more of building blocks in nature and they do not really need many. Some coral can convert ammonia, nitrite and nitrate in small bunches if they are hungry enough.

I have not noticed any difference in my home, yet others swear by it:
1). Feeding Zooplankton
2). Feeding Phytoplankton
3). Chasing N and P numbers.

People do not often agree with my assessment that light is more important than water quality, so let me expand further. I am assuming a competent level of care... maybe not perfect water quality, but a middling effort where most coral can thrive and live if everything else is fine. With this assumption, I would much rather have best-of-breed lighting and middling/competent water quality than the most perfect water quality and some middling lights.

 

[John3]

It’s hard to tell from your pics but is your new lighting more on the white side? I bring that up for 2 reasons. First a lot of corals loose their pop and look pale without enough blue light. 2nd led white light is very strong, so be very careful. If it were me I would start off with a more blueish lighting to be safe and slowly work the settings over to more white if that’s the way you want to go.