How do you keep "Reds" in your corals?

[BigJim]

I disagree.

How does the OP know how pink/red his corals are supposed to be? He has to have a frame of reference to come at the "problem" this way.

I'm not saying he has no problems with light, flow or nutrients or that his corals couldn't be redder and pinker.....I'm just saying we can question the frame as well.

I know what colors my red planet and Tierra del Fuego should be because I have seen them in my tank and others. I'm willing to give the OP enough credit to think he started this thread with that knowledge. I don't think we can establish a frame without knowing tank information or the specific coral we are talking about. Saying we are off topic may not have been the best choice of words. I just think we are ahead of ourselves going this deep without knowing many details of his current situation.

 

[markalot]

I think the thread is perfect right where it is. Red is one of the more difficult colors and I do think all of this applies.

 

[BigJim]

I thought since the previous thread was so successful that we could do one on Reds in your corals. We all often have spoke about keeping a coral's color vibrant. Wanted to start a thread about how people are achieving these colorations, is it Elements, Lighting or Flow that is making you successful with the coloration?
I'll start with my question:
How do you keep the Reds in your corals? I'm having a difficult time getting my SPS's to color up in the Pink/Red spectrum.
How do you do it??

My biggest problem is that my frags that are suppose to be Red are actually Green

If the OP feels like this is helpful, I will stand corrected. I was just concerned that we (including me) cannot help him with the concerns above without asking for more information about his tank. I was reading his lack of replies to be a sign that we were not answering his question. I could be completely wrong and he could be absorbing it all.

Mcarroll did ask for a par or lux measurement and I was thinking those types of questions might be a good approach. Mcarroll and markalot were also spot on with advice on alk, light and stability. It just seems like we took the conversation further down the road and left the OP behind. I was hoping the OP would chime back in with more details of the tank and people could offer more advice on his particular corals / tank. And hopefully you know this is coming from a good place and I'm not trying to start a debate.

 

[Salty1962]

If the OP feels like this is helpful, I will stand corrected. I was just concerned that we (including me) cannot help him with the concerns above without asking for more information about his tank. I was reading his lack of replies to be a sign that we were not answering his question. I could be completely wrong and he could be absorbing it all.

Mcarroll did ask for a par or lux measurement and I was thinking those types of questions might be a good approach. Mcarroll and markalot were also spot on with advice on alk, light and stability. It just seems like we took the conversation further down the road and left the OP behind. I was hoping the OP would chime back in with more details of the tank and people could offer more advice on his particular corals / tank. And hopefully you know this is coming from a good place and I'm not trying to start a debate.

It's not so much for me having a problem as much as getting everyone's input as to how they achieve getting the most reds out of their corals. It has been in an effort to educate everyone in how to maintain colors in their corals. I threw it out there that I've have been getting more green in what is suppose to be red corals but my main issue right now is I'm treating my tank to rid it of unwanted algae and my balance is off because of the treatment.
I'm sure light isn't my issue as I have 2 XR30 G3 Pros over at 36X24X21" tank. I'm sure I'm getting @150~200 par on my sand bed and at least 400~500 par on the upper part of my tank with my current settings. I believe it's more of a nutrient issue than anything else.
Thx for your concern

 

[BigJim]

It's not so much for me having a problem as much as getting everyone's input as to how they achieve getting the most reds out of their corals. It has been in an effort to educate everyone in how to maintain colors in their corals. I threw it out there that I've have been getting more green in what is suppose to be red corals but my main issue right now is I'm treating my tank to rid it of unwanted algae and my balance is off because of the treatment.
I'm sure light isn't my issue as I have 2 XR30 G3 Pros over at 36X24X21" tank. I'm sure I'm getting @150~200 par on my sand bed and at least 400~500 par on the upper part of my tank with my current settings. I believe it's more of a nutrient issue than anything else.
Thx for your concern

Gotcha! Are these well known acros or maricultured pieces? My red planet has maintained the red in a lot of different conditions. It may just be the pieces you have are more sensitive.

 

[Salty1962]

.

 

[Salty1962]

Let's move this on to the next colors, Blue/Purple. How do you do...

 

[David Cher]

is it to dose Kalium for reds ?

 

[Salty1962]

.

 

[davidserious]

I too face great difficulty in keeping reds and strong dark pinks.
I do dose bromine and potassium in hopes of achieving greater red.
I feel it may be lighting related.
The pieces that have changed to greenish pink, lilac,dull pink greys are situated quite high in the tank.
I run 4x XR30s - 2G5 and 2G4's at 100% intensity,blues and UV.
I run Green and red at 12 and Cool whites at 65 and Warm whites at 24.

I think the white is actually killing the red colouration.

 

[92Miata]

It's a lot easier to pull reds out of corals with T5 or halides. T5 setups with coral+ plus bulbs help pull red coloration.

If you have LEDs and poor reds run your white diodes at about 20% of the blues and get some coral+ bulbs to supplement.

Its funny - the first thing people seem to do with LEDs is turn the red diodes way down - and then they wonder why reds look terrible.