GARF Bonsai color fading

[don_chuwish]

I would pop that off and give it a dip. Some of the spots on it look suspicious.

Thanks, but I'm sure they are just polyps. My fancy blue Orphek flashlight makes them glow like crazy at night.

 

[BoomCorals]

Thanks, but I'm sure they are just polyps. My fancy blue Orphek flashlight makes them glow like crazy at night.

Yea none of it looks like any pest, it looks like usual starvation spotting.

 

[don_chuwish]

MH in action:

 

[don_chuwish]

Wow, the temp impact while the MH was on:

I really can't imagine running two of these things!

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

Wow, the temp impact while the MH was on:

I really can't imagine running two of these things!

This is what three of them does on my tank... having 450 gallons helps.

The hatched marks are when my 1,100 watts of heaters are on. I do keep my house around 65 all year though.

 

[don_chuwish]

Today I tested for:

Alk: 9.13 (after increasing dosing past couple of days)
Ca: 435 (new bottle of the "C" reagent, so maybe not good reference to previous numbers)
NO3: 8ppm

I'm dosing NOPOX again, 10ml/day. My only good barometer SPS (from before I got GARF) looked a LOT better when my levels were lower, so that's what I'm trying to get back to.

The MH did 4 hours again today. Forgot to mention before that it's a Phoenix Hexarc Blue 14K bulb.
So far no significant change in the appearance of GARF.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Nutrient deficient. Feed with amino acids in water, Reef Roids or similar and decrease white lighting a bit. How is your flow?

 

[don_chuwish]

Nutrient deficient despite the NO3 and PO4 numbers? I do occasionally feed Reef Roids and/or BRS Reef Chili. I could get more Red Sea Reef Energy I suppose.
Flow is very good, there's a Tunze 6055 about 8 inches away, blowing just over the top of it.

 

[BoomCorals]

Nutrient deficient despite the NO3 and PO4 numbers? I do occasionally feed Reef Roids and/or BRS Reef Chili. I could get more Red Sea Reef Energy I suppose.
Flow is very good, there's a Tunze 6055 about 8 inches away, blowing just over the top of it.

The nutrient deficiency I think occurred before followed by a high nutrient spike which can lead to what we see here. Need to get nutrients lower and stable again. It’s going to take a long time for the frag to recover.

 

[don_chuwish]

The nutrient deficiency I think occurred before followed by a high nutrient spike which can lead to what we see here. Need to get nutrients lower and stable again. It’s going to take a long time for the frag to recover.

IC - well I'll just have to keep at it!

 

[don_chuwish]

Giving up one the MH light, doesn't seem to be making any difference other than heating up the tank and using more power.
Finally got NO3 & PO4 down to nice levels again, so I'm going to reduce the NOPOX to 5ml daily and see how that goes. Also pulling back on 2 part dosing a little, now that levels are up.
Alk: 9.86
Ca: 440
NO3: 4
PO4: 0.02

No observable difference in the look of things, to my eye at least. I tried taking more underwater photos with just the T5 lighting and no flash. The GARF, followed by the only other acros:

 

[don_chuwish]

So for a very late update, I finally went with a hunch and moved it to the sand bed. It took a while but after a week or two the color has started to return. I should probably move one other stick that hasn't been too happy up so close to the LEDs. Trouble is finding a good alternative spot!

 

[Mattrg02]

So for a very late update, I finally went with a hunch and moved it to the sand bed. It took a while but after a week or two the color has started to return. I should probably move one other stick that hasn't been too happy up so close to the LEDs. Trouble is finding a good alternative spot!

How have your nutrients been doing? Stable?

I’ve had a world of trouble for two years now with sps corals. They lose PE and then turn beige. 2 months in, they stn and are gone. My guess is a nutrition issue. I’ve decided to go gangbusters and increase feeding dramatically. So far, my new frags are still alive and appear to be growing their bases. The two previous ones that were going the same route as the previous, looked to be showing signs of a turn around.

 

[don_chuwish]

How have your nutrients been doing? Stable?

I haven't measured in weeks to be honest. But I'm betting NO3 is probably around 8-12, that seems to be where things settle when I don't do any NOPOX dosing. I have been changing filter socks more often though.

 

[foxt]

How is your lower-light approach working?

 

[vetteguy53081]

How is your lower-light approach working?

Good question

 

[don_chuwish]

Doing well thank you! After a spell on the sand it was looking better, so I moved it up to about 2/3 down from the surface. That beautiful deep purple is slowly returning, with the bright fluorescing tips. Encrusting well too. I'll try to get a picture tomorrow.

 

[adtravels]

I too, was thinking flatworms. But it seems you have solved the issue. Good luck

 

[don_chuwish]

Got a couple of decent photos today...

 

[Sierra_Bravo]

Nice recovery.