Help make my corals look good.

[Kennyb1]

I'm surprised no one said anything about pH. If all your other parameters are stable I would figure that put because its backwards. Your tank should be higher during the day and lower at night. When do you dose your two part? Also maybe run kalkwasser or a soda ash two part until you get your pH stable.... A high pH can(and should) lead to faster growth rates.

 

[w.gurney77]

If you are running a ultra low nutrient system your alk should be in the 7s (dkh). You should be feeding the corals like crazy because they have no other source of nutrients.

If your not so concerned about running ULNS then add a few more fish to get your NO3 and PO4 in the detectable range. Then you can crank up the alk ( slowly) and your colors and growth will be much improved.

 

[Kasasah]

If you are running a ultra low nutrient system your alk should be in the 7s (dkh). You should be feeding the corals like crazy because they have no other source of nutrients.

If your not so concerned about running ULNS then add a few more fish to get your NO3 and PO4 in the detectable range. Then you can crank up the alk ( slowly) and your colors and growth will be much improved.

+1. What should be feeding sps? I haven't fully jumped into sps. When I set up my new tank, I will be testing the waters.

 

[that Reef Guy]

I use a refractometer that I do calibrate. I just calibrated and checked. It's 1.025

What do you Calibrate it with?

 

[J Rog]

Along with the other suggestions the best addition I added when i had MH lighting was the all blue reefbrite strips. They are awesome and will make your corals pop. But ya looks like the corals may be starving along with the alk being to high for a low nutrient system.

 

[duke4130]

The blue led strip is a good idea. Also you may want to consider using a 20k radium bulb. Great bulb that helps pull nice color out of your corals. I am currently running a 50 cube and I have a pretty heavy bio load and my sps have great coloration and are growing fast. One of the things I did was add more fish to the system. Corals eat poop!!! Fish along with a good protien skimmer and fuge if possible will help tremendously. You may also want to consider running a calcium reactor. Ever since I got the reactor things are doing much better. If you are dosing every day in your system how much are you dosing??? I was having to dose 30ml of alk and cal a day using the B-Ionic(estimated 60 gallons of total water volume). That is a full 1 dkh swing in a day. That is too much of an swing in parameters on a daily basis for corals. Hope this helps

 

[CSJIII]

What do you Calibrate it with?

I calibrate with rodi water. Oops. I guess I really should be checking with calibration fluid.

 

[Kasasah]

I calibrate with rodi water. Oops. I guess I really should be checking with calibration fluid.

Check with distilled water from your local Safeway or Vons, or Kroger/Fred Meyers.

 

[J Rog]

Oyster feast is a good one to.

 

[CSJIII]

I have been feeding but it looks like not enough. It seems from the comments that I'm unintentionally running a ULNS tank.

 

[Tanglover]

If you want great growth and a good color combo from just the halide. Get a phenix 14k bulb. There spectrum are unlike any of the 14k series bulbs. If memory serves me right. Back when halides were the way to go some one did a test with the phenix series bulbs verses some othe good competitors and phenix growth and color won almost all there tests hands down. I remember the one thing everybody always couldn't get enough of was that color!also what is the hight in inches of the tank?

 

[nhorner]

May want to be placed higher. What K are you running again for bulb? I was running 10k halids poor color but great growth. Also what I noticed is your alk to cal ratio is out of balance. Down load a reef chemistry calculator so you can get your tank back to balance.

 

[mrcoffee2]

It might be too much light.

 

[SamsReef]

here is one more thing to look for - when a millepora is doing ok and other other smooth skin acros are not....i look for red bugs. you need magnifying glass and expert eyes to look for them.

one more thing - too much light will bleach sps not cause them to lose tissue.

Sam.

 

[joshbbert]

Reef roids!

 

[that Reef Guy]

I calibrate with rodi water. Oops. I guess I really should be checking with calibration fluid.

You MUST use the Fluid.

I was using RO Water and it was off by 5 Points!

My LFS said the same thing.

We tested both our Refractometers and got a reading of 1.030 when using RO Water to Calibrate it.

But the Water was Really 1.025

So if your water is reading 1.025 it is probably 1.020 and that could be why your Corals look bad.

I use the Glass Bobber Hydrometer as it is considered lab grade and the most reliable thing out there.

Do not use the Plastic Swing Arm ones as they are always off too.

 

[Kasasah]

You MUST use the Fluid.

I was using RO Water and it was off by 5 Points!

My LFS said the same thing.

We tested both our Refractometers and got a reading of 1.030 when using RO Water to Calibrate it.

But the Water was Really 1.025

So if your water is reading 1.025 it is probably 1.020 and that could be why your Corals look bad.

I use the Glass Bobber Hydrometer as it is considered lab grade and the most reliable thing out there.

Do not use the Plastic Swing Arm ones as they are always off too.

The fluid is just a 0ppm liquid, most likely distilled water. Distilled water at the store is the same as the calibration fluid at 1/50 the cost... you have to calibrate it to 0 because there's nothing in it.

 

[that Reef Guy]

The fluid is just a 0ppm liquid, most likely distilled water. Distilled water at the store is the same as the calibration fluid at 1/50 the cost... you have to calibrate it to 0 because there's nothing in it.

I do not know what is in the liquid and it really does not make sense but you cannot calibrate with water because you will be off by around 5 points of salinity.

 

[Kasasah]

I do not know what is in the liquid and it really does not make sense but you cannot calibrate with water because you will be off by around 5 points of salinity.

Because you were calibrating with RO water, not distilled water. The instructions included with refractometers tell you to calibrate with distilled water. I've done it that way since I got mine and have had no problems. I don't trust calibrating fluid because it has a salinity value that can fluctuate due to evaporation. If the fluid is meant to be read and zeroed at 1.025 and some of the water evaporates leaving a higher salinity value, then you're calibrating to an incorrect value. Like lots of things in this hobby, you're overpaying for saltwater lol. Just like "glue accelerator" is acetone, a common cyanoacrylate hardener and accelerator. Just like a Vortech pump; the manufacturing cost to make one is so low, yet it is so expensive. You can buy an 8,000lb warn winch for $500 which requires a lot of manufacturing(I've worked for warn) but a MP60 is almost $700. Warn has revolutionizing patents, just like ecotech. You can choose to calibrate with whatever you trust. I trust pure distilled water with no impurities that even when evaporated holds the same salinity value of 0. Saves money for other things in this expensive hobby.

 

[Diesel]

A lot have been said here and it was all from own experience that members chimed in.
It happens a lot on this issue that if you ask, you get a lot of different answers and all can be helpful.
If you going to follow the recommendations you doing to much in a short time and that is even worst for the tank.
What I look at is light, nutrients, flow and WC.
Go back to basics and do a 1 maybe 2 gallon WC per day if possible, feeding your corals is a risky topic.
I would if I look to your PO4 # change your skimmer a bit and remove your filter socks or make holes in the bottom of them and feed the fish a bit more.
In that case you let through some important nutrients that corals need but it will be natural, if after a week or 4 still suffering on that issue you can start feeding.
Keep a close eye on Po4 as it should raise close to 0.04 or so.
I have seen lots of tanks that are awesome looking with a PO4 of 0.1 or higher.
My ZEO tank is stuck at 0.02 but trying to get to 0.04
You also can check your water parameters as they are now and request a test from Triton-US Call Us at (707) - Triton8
Remember nothing good happens in this hobby if you go fast, and if you think you go slow, slow down even more.

Good luck.