Hammer Health or Light Issue?

[lanna]

Hey All,
Noobie so pls excuse any naivity

Hammers have lost all vibrant colour, Ex bf lights (which I no longer have) showed these beauties vibrantly. However at the same time as lights were taken, I had to transfer them to a diff tank. Now I'm unsure whether it is the move or the crappy light I had to buy ... They have been settled in new tank for 2 weeks, have come out to about 2/3rd full size on quite a few occasions...seem to be fairly good at acclimating...BUT THE COLOUR!!! It's totally washed out!
Plan to upgrade light asap but worried if they sick...???
Any marine genius able to educate me without loss of tank life??
X

 

[Henryb9]

What’s your parameters?

 

[lanna]

What’s your parameters?

I'm old school, I write it down cause ain't no way I'm remembering it!

 

[legrunt]

Sorry... When someone says parameters, we're talking about chemistry parameters.
Eg, nitrates, phosphates etc

 

[legrunt]

Usually, the parameters to test for most frequently are
Nutrients - Nitrates, phosphates.
and
Water chemistry - Alkalinity, calcium, magnesium

 

[lanna]

Oh well, lol, there's my first foopa! Soz!
I have been doing weekly readings & keeping a log attached

 

[lanna]

What’s your parameters?

Sorry, ol'school notebook

 

[Nick Steele]

What type of light is it?

They look a little washed out but that could possibly just be the light spectrum that you are using causing that.

 

[Uncle99]

What were the lights they were under and for how long?
What is the “crappy” light you bought?
A change in light is going to make them unhappy.

 

[MERKEY]

My guess is the light is the main part of the problem.

What lights do you plan on getting?

Being so new can be overwhelming when buying new lights as there are so many decisions.

When you go to buy a light what will your budget be? Some lights start at under $100 and some lights start at $700 lol.

 

[kkelly007]

Curious as to why you have ammonia present. Any trace of ammonia is no bueno for most living things in a reef tank, but especially corals, and you have both ammonia and nitrite. Is your system still cycling? Not sure if this has anything to do with the coloration of your hammers--i.e., might just need new lights with a 20-23K spectrum to make them pop--but I am confident in saying that your corals will never reach their full potential while ammonia is present.

 

[MERKEY]

Curious as to why you have ammonia present. Any trace of ammonia is no bueno for most living things in a reef tank, but especially corals, and you have both ammonia and nitrite. Is your system still cycling? Not sure if this has anything to do with the coloration of your hammers--i.e., might just need new lights with a 20-23K spectrum to make them pop--but I am confident in saying that your corals will never reach their full potential while ammonia is present.

I'm thinking its a false reading.

OP what test kits are you using?

If API then I would bet false reading of ammonia.

Are there any fish in the tank? If there are...are they at the top breathing heavily?

 

[lanna]

What type of light is it?

They look a little washed out but that could possibly just be the light spectrum that you are using causing that.

This pic is the cheapy I bought to tide me over untill I could order a decent light.
Better light is top priority atm.

I'm thinking its a false reading.

OP what test kits are you using?

If API then I would bet false reading of ammonia.

Are there any fish in the tank? If there are...are they at the top breathing heavily?

Yep U pegged it! API, is it not a reliable brand?? Any recommendations for something reliable?
The clowns & damsel I have in there are very active due to me moving their hide-outs, but do not appear to be labouring at all, in fact they don't seem to have been bothered at all by the move!

 

[Uncle99]

Salifert are all good, however ALK, I use the Hanna checker.

 

[MERKEY]

This pic is the cheapy I bought to tide me over untill I could order a decent light.
Better light is top priority atm.

Yep U pegged it! API, is it not a reliable brand?? Any recommendations for something reliable?
The clowns & damsel I have in there are very active due to me moving their hide-outs, but do not appear to be labouring at all, in fact they don't seem to have been bothered at all by the move!

No ammonia and false reading there are unfortunately tons of threads on API and false readings.

Salifert is a good start brand and on the lower end of price close to api. These kits all use color spectrums so it can be tricky to get an exact or precise reading sometimes.

Hannah is a really good over all brand but more expensive...but more precise and easily read as it shows you numbers.

I use the word precise as numbers are shown which for me is more precise than the color charts as I am sure I am miss reading the color charts most of the time.

 

[Henryb9]

Sorry, ol'school notebook

What’s your phosphates? Your nitrate seems fine.. and everything else. Your ph could be a little better though around 8.0-8.7. Reason I ask you phosphate is in order them to be healthy you need have a little bit of both nitrate and phosphates. Have you tried feeding them like reef roids?

 

[legrunt]

Sorry, ol'school notebook

I LIKEY old school!

 

[lanna]

My guess is the light is the main part of the problem.

What lights do you plan on getting?

Being so new can be overwhelming when buying new lights as there are so many decisions.

When you go to buy a light what will your budget be? Some lights start at under $100 and some lights start at $700 lol.

No ammonia and false reading there are unfortunately tons of threads on API and false readings.

Salifert is a good start brand and on the lower end of price close to api. These kits all use color spectrums so it can be tricky to get an exact or precise reading sometimes.

Hannah is a really good over all brand but more expensive...but more precise and easily read as it shows you numbers.

I use the word precise as numbers are shown which for me is more precise than the color charts as I am sure I am miss reading the color charts most of the time.

Great! Thanks for the advice on those tests, I'm looking into it right now I also would prefer numbers, much less subjective!
I have been considering the Fluval Marine and Reef Bluetooth LED 3.0 Aquarium Light 91-122CM.
I like the new Ecotech Radion but its double the price, and comparing specs it appears the fluvial isn't too different.
But I do, of course welcome any feedback.
Planning on purchasing next week-ish

 

[legrunt]

In my experience, fluval lights don't perform so well. Look at some chinese black boxes if you're on a budget. Illumagic also makes some nice lights...

 

[MERKEY]

Great! Thanks for the advice on those tests, I'm looking into it right now I also would prefer numbers, much less subjective!
I have been considering the Fluval Marine and Reef Bluetooth LED 3.0 Aquarium Light 91-122CM.
I like the new Ecotech Radion but its double the price, and comparing specs it appears the fluvial isn't too different.
But I do, of course welcome any feedback.
Planning on purchasing next week-ish

In my experience, fluval lights don't perform so well. Look at some chinese black boxes if you're on a budget. Illumagic also makes some nice lights...

I have never used the fluval but I agree with @legrunt as I have heard they are not the best for thriving coral.

This is a very fun topic as every reefer has their favorite light brand. The black boxes off Amazon work well for what you pay and will grow coral just fine in most cases. Personally I use Radions and Aquaillumination....ironically Aquaillumination is owned by eco tech "radion" so in reality I use the same parent company for my lights.

There's also kessil which is a great brand of lights.

If you can find a used radion g4 xr15 in the for sale section here, that's what I would suggest getting....some of the radions, Aquailluminations and kessils go for a pretty decent and not bank breaking price most of the time.