GARF Bansai. Growing, but pale.

[SamMule]

What's the trick with this one? It's been in my tank for 3 months. It is growing and has decent PE, but the color is blah.
S.G. 1.025
DKH 8.4
Calc 400
Mag 1320
PO4 .02
NO3 16-32

Started it around 180 par.
Then moved to around 250
Now it's been at 350 for a little over a week.
It's growing, but the color is still fading.
I'm about to try putting it down in the sand in the shade.

For those having success with this piece, how much PAR are you keeping it in?

 

[Flippers4pups]

What's the trick with this one? It's been in my tank for 3 months. It is growing and has decent PE, but the color is blah.
S.G. 1.025
DKH 8.4
Calc 400
Mag 1320
PO4 .02
NO3 16-32

Started it around 180 par.
Then moved to around 250
Now it's been at 350 for a little over a week.
It's growing, but the color is still fading.
I'm about to try putting it down in the sand in the shade.

For those having success with this piece, how much PAR are you keeping it in?

I would put it lower in the tank. Looks to be bleaching.

 

[RedReefer]

Yeah I would just leave it around 150 par and don’t touch it and see what happens...

 

[jsbzcmcdaniel]

Are you sure you NO3 and PO4 are accurate. With NO3 in that range I would expect darker colors in all your coral. What brand test kit are you using?

 

[SamMule]

I'm not very confident in my NO3 results. It's the red sea nitrate pro kit, but I'm having difficulty matching the colors.
I'm not sure if I have a bad reagent or something, but reagent B is floating around in the cuvette even after shaking. Also, the color is more purplish than the slides.

With my old red sea kit, I was consistent in the 5-10ppm range.

Honestly, I don't think nitrates are an issue. I am getting good coloration with much of my other SPS.
My A. Sarmentosa is absolutely glowing right now.

I'm thinking it has to be a lighting issue.
How low are you guys keeping it? PAR numbers would be helpful.

 

[Reefnub]

You might want to move it around less, it won't instantly color up within a week. I think 300par should be more than enough.

 

[SamMule]

It's been moved twice in 3 months, gradually increasing in light.
It never stopped growing during that time.
I understand changes won't be instant, but I am concerned that I've been going the wrong way.
Looking for suggestions on PAR levels, so I can get it in the ballpark

 

[JCOLE]

I agree. I would leave it alone for a couple weeks and see how it looks. Mine is in 550 PAR and loves it.

 

[SamMule]

Wow. That looks great. I'll leave it up high then and see what happens

 

[Potatohead]

It is phosphate starved. Get it around 0.08 range.

 

[PicassoClown04]

Directly under an AI Prime HD running at 100%. Yours looks pretty bleachy though, I’d move it down until it regains color then scoot it back up slowly

 

[SamMule]

It is phosphate starved. Get it around 0.08 range.

If this is the case, then why aren't my other acros bleached? If one acro is nutrient deficient, wouldn't they all be?
Please don't take that the wrong way. I am asking, not trying to argue.

 

[Potatohead]

If this is the case, then why aren't my other acros bleached? If one acro is nutrient deficient, wouldn't they all be?
Please don't take that the wrong way. I am asking, not trying to argue.

.02 is on the bleeding edge, some corals will be ok there, most won't unless they are being fed a lot. That coral looks 100% phosphate deficiency, I bet you will also notice a nice change in some of your other corals as well if the level was higher.

 

[jda]

DO NOT chase anything for Bonsai unless you are 100% sure that it came from LeeRoy and has direct lineage. Bonsais get imported all the time of varying degrees of awesomeness and most of them are not as good as the GARF version. It could be just as likely that you have a lesser-looking piece that was sold as real GARF than you have any issue with your tank.

If you are 100% sure that it is real GARF, then mine likes lots of high quality light in the daylight range and will do well under a plethora of different parameters. The real GARF version seems to thrive in many tanks.

The real GARF tends to encrust for a long time before it branches and grows - this can be infuriating at times.

Under 14k Halide, terrible iPhone picture, .1-.2 N, 1-3 ppb P but lots of fish feeding and available ammonia/ammonium. It is more purple than this in real life.

 

[PicassoClown04]

DO NOT chase anything for Bonsai unless you are 100% sure that it came from LeeRoy and has direct lineage. Bonsais get imported all the time of varying degrees of awesomeness and most of them are not as good as the GARF version. It could be just as likely that you have a lesser-looking piece that was sold as real GARF than you have any issue with your tank.

If you are 100% sure that it is real GARF, then mine likes lots of high quality light in the daylight range and will do well under a plethora of different parameters. The real GARF version seems to thrive in many tanks.

The real GARF tends to encrust for a long time before it branches and grows - this can be infuriating at times.

Under 14k Halide, terrible iPhone picture, .1-.2 N, 1-3 ppb P but lots of fish feeding and available ammonia/ammonium. It is more purple than this in real life.

+1 to this! I forgot that a lot of purple acros with green polyps are simply labeled as Garf and aren’t the same as the actual Garf bonsai. If it is a wild collected specimen, it may have trouble acclimating to aquaria and that’s why you’re having issues.

I am agreed on the encrusting habits of real bonsai, mine encrusted for almost a year before tabling out but it’s really pretty now

 

[SamMule]

Thank you all for your input.
It is not a wild piece. Was fragged locally for my LFS by a local fragger.
I can try to get into contact with her and see what she says about lineage.
Aside from that, for those of you saying PO4 is low, what is the logic behind that? I was under the impression that PO4 should be kept low, but detectible. I read a lot of stuff putting .02-.03 as ideal.
Is it because you are looking for that ~16:1 NO3/PO4 ratio? (Redfield ratio?)
If that is the case, I am not confident in my NO3 test results. Old test kit came in at 5-10. New one showing 16-32 and did not change after a 50% water change. Thinking I got a bad kit, so I have a Nyos on the way.

IF it is determined that my PO4 is too low and nitrates are that high, how do you suggest I increase PO4 without raising nitrates?
I do not run GFO. Just ROX carbon.
There is some stuff out there that says cheaper carbon will leech some PO4.
I could switch to that?
Or, increase plant based foods? Seems they have a higher phosphorus content

 

[vetteguy53081]

Calcium low and they’re not big on bright light. Moderate light and water flow sufficient

 

[ScottB]

I totally get managing lower nutrients when the system is young. I did and it made it easy to manage uglies, GHA, etc. But once you get a mature biome -- and have the space for good herbivores -- then I think our captive reefs do better with "higher" nutrients. Mine certainly has. It grew too fast in fact. Here is a pic from before I ripped it all out to start fresh. This is po4 > .1 and NO3 > 10.

 

[PicassoClown04]

reefroids increases phos. I feed them religiously and everything seems to really benefit. I don’t test my water, but I’ve heard a lot of people talking about the reefroids increasing PO4

 

[OSU]

I agree with some of the other posters that it looks nutrient starved.