ScottR
Surfing....
Blue plus and actinic. I also have a Chinese LED setup to make up for other colors. My lighting is not my preferred to be honest but it works. I trust T5s. They really have great reach in the tank where LED gets shadowed.
I don't get acros
- Thread starter joe0813
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motortrendz
2500 Club Member
And it's funny you say thos. I had 3 hydra 26s on my tank, with 2 t5 bulbs retrofitted into my tank, all my acros always looked like crap. Browned or slowly died or just did nothing. I removed the t5s and 1 of my 26s and added 2 52. So now I have 2 52 and 2 26s behind them. I have them set at 65% and get more even coverage. It's weird bc its definitly more par than the t5s were putting out. So who knows.
I feel like 2 things you said stand out, and 1 thing you didn't say...
1x a month water change of a decent volume. May be causing too much of a nutrient swing, try more often less amount.
Your p04 is pretty low. (Agsin this is all opinion so take it for what its worth) I've found d better colors when my po4 as above .05 but below .15
And I didn't see a nitrate reading... maybe I missed it but you may just be starving your corals out. With now nitrates and phosphates
So that's what I noticed in your post that may help, you may not have enough spread on your lights. Meaning high and low par spots could be an issue as well. (Just a thought)
It took me almost a year to get everything dialed in and alot of trial and error. and alot of waiting to see if the change I made helped or not.
ScottR
Surfing....
This is what is called: husbandry. And you have succeeded. This hobby is not set-it-and-forget-it, it’s trial and error.
OP
OP
joe0813
Well-Known Member
So I bumped my lights up only 5%. I did find a meter but I have to wait my turn to use it. I unplugged my gfo reactor also. I will take pictures of the corals tonight when I get home from work. I'll probably start slowly dosing the redsea a + b this week.
SeaDweller
2500 Club Member
Yeah don’t implement gfo unless you’re feeding heavy and trying to keep things in check. I’d recommend you use half dose or so when you feel like you “need” to. You may not even need to at all, finding a balance is key.
Good luck!
melanotaenia
Well-Known Member
Whatever you decide to do with your changes, just make sure to do them slowly; even with the browning, drastic changes could lead to even worse results such as tissue recession and death. Good luck!
motortrendz
2500 Club Member
It's crazy how every system is so different. They're their own eco system.
Bastray
Active Member
Couldn't agree more. Took my GFO offline about a year ago, set up a fuge, and took a simpler approach. There have been some problems along the way, but overall my SPS look great, good growth, and much simpler to resolve issues as they come up. Seems like the less I do and the more patient I become things in the tank tend to sort itself out as long as I keep up my water changes and weekly maintenance.
There's been a trend to do changes far more often. More parameter stability. Some are doing it daily or continuously. I do it religiously every weekend. This also forces me to keep a better eye on the salinity.
KJoFan
Valuable Member
I think some folks just get lucky and get the right combination of factors to see success, while others struggle for no apparent reason. Every parameter and factor can be "within" range, but unless your'e lucky enough to find the sweet spot for your tank, you'll struggle with sps.
Some people seem to find it effortlessly, others struggle. I'm on the struggle bus with many others, but will keep trying.
Point is, I really feel acro keeping successfully does take just a little bit of luck and good fortune.
Some people seem to find it effortlessly, others struggle. I'm on the struggle bus with many others, but will keep trying.
Point is, I really feel acro keeping successfully does take just a little bit of luck and good fortune.
LARedstickreefer
Valuable Member
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Par is an easy one to check. Either buy a par meter (ideal) or rent one from BRS. I had similar problems until my lfs got suspicious and sent me home with their par meter. Found out that I was trying to grow acros with 80 to 100 par 
I had to max out my hydra26hd to get 225 par. I then added another to get my to 350. I’m now swapping them out for one of those Reefi duo extreme lights.
Also, overfeed. Nitrates and phosphate WILL come up in a week or so if you overfeed every day. Rather than take your skimmer offline, just take the cup off until you notice your nutrients risking naturally. The problem with dosing is that doing one or the other will lower the other. Dosing only nitrates drove my phosphate down to zero. Dosing phosphate only drove me nitrates to zero.
I stopped dosing either and just quadrupled my frozen food. No rinsing, just large chunks of rods food. I also dose some reef roids, pellets, and Acropower.
Now I’m having to dose alkalinity
I had to max out my hydra26hd to get 225 par. I then added another to get my to 350. I’m now swapping them out for one of those Reefi duo extreme lights.
Also, overfeed. Nitrates and phosphate WILL come up in a week or so if you overfeed every day. Rather than take your skimmer offline, just take the cup off until you notice your nutrients risking naturally. The problem with dosing is that doing one or the other will lower the other. Dosing only nitrates drove my phosphate down to zero. Dosing phosphate only drove me nitrates to zero.
I stopped dosing either and just quadrupled my frozen food. No rinsing, just large chunks of rods food. I also dose some reef roids, pellets, and Acropower.
Now I’m having to dose alkalinity
Scott.h
Valuable Member
Nitrates, phosphate, alkalinity, and lighting all need to be relative to each other.
Assuming your tank is mature (not less then a year) , you started with zero tds water, and triton shows no real concerns, that would be my first step.
Too much light is worse then lower light. Your lights are powerful. People talk 300 par, but I have the capability of 500-800 par (I have a meter) yet run more 150 to 200. People claim under 10 nitrates, yet I’ve had 70. So it’s not a one size fits all solution.
Nothing fancy. No magic solutions, no coral foods, no aminos. Maturity, consistency, water changes, lower your alk to less then 8 if your nutrients are very low. (7.0 to 7.4) otherwise 8.0 should be fine. if your nutrients are near zero with no known contaminates (triton) maybe don’t do water changes.
Assuming your tank is mature (not less then a year) , you started with zero tds water, and triton shows no real concerns, that would be my first step.
Too much light is worse then lower light. Your lights are powerful. People talk 300 par, but I have the capability of 500-800 par (I have a meter) yet run more 150 to 200. People claim under 10 nitrates, yet I’ve had 70. So it’s not a one size fits all solution.
Nothing fancy. No magic solutions, no coral foods, no aminos. Maturity, consistency, water changes, lower your alk to less then 8 if your nutrients are very low. (7.0 to 7.4) otherwise 8.0 should be fine. if your nutrients are near zero with no known contaminates (triton) maybe don’t do water changes.
