Parameters
Alk 8.0 doses 4 times daily
Cal 450
Mg 1350
Po3 5
Po3 0.001
Temp 78
I have 2 mp10's for flow
Just wondering how you guys pull out those rich colors. What am I doing wrong? Here is a fts of my tank. Sorry for all the blue.
Help needed getting rich colors
- Thread starter Rcollick
- Start date
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Parameters
Alk 8.0 doses 4 times daily
Cal 450
Mg 1350
Po3 5
Po3 0.001
Temp 78
I have 2 mp10's for flow
Just wondering how you guys pull out those rich colors. What am I doing wrong? Here is a fts of my tank. Sorry for all the blue.
john90009
Well-Known Member
First off it seems your doing everything right so patience will be rewarded. Also some corals just have better colors then others. Your corals are also still in the small stage, let them grow and i guarantee you once they grow they will get the color in which they came from. Took 2 years for my shades of fall to pop with the pastel green and pink.
Reefer40b
Valuable Member
+1
It looks like all you have is frags so in some time they will fully settle in and grow/pop some more color. It looks like your doing everything right just needs time, keep it stable and you will be rewarded!
john90009
Well-Known Member
lol just referencing, but i did see what looks like one, or a shortcake..... I got frags from a buddy, when they came to my tank they browned out. Now that they are colonies and have been in my tank for 4 years, they look better then his....
john90009
Well-Known Member
so on my biocube i run the original hydras (when they first added yellow, green, violet, uv bulbs, right before they came out with the 52.) my whites go to 20 percent while my blues purples are cranked to 100. When the whites are up to high my corals "loose color" they technically dont lose color, your eye is just attracted to the florescent colors more. So i am sure with your lights you have enough par for them. i would just be patient, make sure you do your water changes, feed your fish and dont watch the corals every second and try to change things, things dont happen quick, it can take months for them to adjust.
OriginalUserName
Valuable Member
SPS noob observation - the good colors seem to come from new growth. Seems like frags tend to droop a bit (maybe the pros don't have this problem) and that tissue stays that way, but new flesh looks like it should if you are meeting the coral's needs.
john90009
Well-Known Member
I like to feed my fish and coral somewhat alot, i dont run a skimmer and i have a bit of hair algea in places, but i make sure i do a 6 gallon water change every week with good water so stuff doesn't stack up, your tank looks pretty clean and i only see one hermit.
john90009
Well-Known Member
your tricolor is retaining its green polpys and purple coloration, thats a plus everytime i have ever gotten a frag them suckers always turn brown till they sprout new tips and regain color. Patience is key.
View attachment 20180525_155311.jpg
View attachment 20180525_155311.jpg
Rcollick
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Hey John I have about 8 hermits and 8 snsils. I use rodi water that tests 0 and change 5 gallons of red sea blue bucket once a week. I just can't figure out how I get frags in with such rich colors and then they fade. Not enough par or nutrients maybe?
DesertReefT4r
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Takes time. Keep the tank stable and be patient.
john90009
Well-Known Member
ahh well then it will all work out, i promise. How long has those sps frags been in there? Some havent even encrusted off the plug. From my observation, when frags are in survival mode after they have been fragged, they focus on building thier base. Coral energy is focused at quickly building the foundation, and then once the base starts to sprout its nubs, these nubs will have the color you are looking for, once they reach the height of the original frag, then the frag itself goes back to its happy color. My pink lemonade has done this every time i fragged it. If you are doing your waterchanges, it should be fine things just take time.
My theory is that frags fade because they are new to your tank. The stress of new parameters and environment cause color loss. They’ll color back up once they begin to grow, if they grow
I’m surprised that you need to dose alkalinity. Frags that aren’t growing won’t be using much. I’d try to steer clear of dosing anything but food when they are frags.
OriginalUserName
Valuable Member
IMO, your colors don't look all that bad. Keep in mind that the really awesome pics you see are often done with a great camera and tweaked lighting. Size is a huge factor as well. A small colorful frag wont' register much unless you get really close to it. What are your nitrates like? When mine were stuck at near zero my corals looked very pale. I mistook this for bleaching. Now that my nutrients are increasing I see them as a little brown, but not pale so I'm increasing my par.
I was wondering about that also. My 29 cube is packed to the brim and I'm getting slow growth and only have to dose 1-2 ML a day of two part to keep my alk stable. My theory is that frags fade because they are new to your tank. The stress of new parameters and environment cause color loss. They’ll color back up once they begin to grow, if they grow
I’m surprised that you need to dose alkalinity. Frags that aren’t growing won’t be using much. I’d try to steer clear of dosing anything but food when they are frags.
Rcollick
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I really want to thank all you guys for replys this really helps. I have had some of the frags for about 5 months . The bigger ones. I have 6 from battlecorals I got 2 weeks ago on the pedistal rock that seem to be losing some color.
john90009
Well-Known Member
Corals are pretty resilient, each frag comes from a different par, flow, nutrient tank. In most cases, given time the corals will go back to normal. My shades of fall encrusted alot, and was destined to explode from the base up however the pink lemonade to the right beat it to the flow and cut it off from the flow, so it never got to sprout up looking for flow, i also learned it realllyyyyy loves to be shaded from white leds. in the beginning it got blasted with too much light as a frag and was straight brown, while all other corals were colorful. Once the tort shaded it, the green came out and it started sprouting. It only took time, had i moved it when it was brown it may have died off completely, so its best to not go chasing stars or else you just stress the coral out more, it may also be a good rule of thumb to ask what the frags were grown under just to get an understanding as their prior living situation, lol.
john90009
Well-Known Member
Your corals will do the chasing 
they will grow to the spots they like and in some cases corals will get shadded by others and when they get shaded it may make them pop. My tri color likes no light and encrusted down the rock and started shooting towards the shade.
they will grow to the spots they like and in some cases corals will get shadded by others and when they get shaded it may make them pop. My tri color likes no light and encrusted down the rock and started shooting towards the shade.
