Millepora coloration

  • Thread starter Thread starter drtodd
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I use Acro Power and have seen a more vibrant color to all my sps but I had good color prior to using it and great growth and PE but if he's having lighting issue it would seem you'd want to solve it to get the best from your corals without depending solely on the Acro Power.
How much better would his corals look if the light issue is resolved first?

+1 Agreed
 
How old are his bulbs? did I miss that? And how high are the lights off the tank again? Is he running GFO/Carbon clearer water allow light to penetrate better while dirtier water restricts light.
 
I think dtech means placement under the light, not the light itself
With a 10 bulb t5 he can pretty much place the millie anywhere in the tank and it would have plenty of light, Not trying to argue I just think his lighting and perameters are great and nothing needing fixed so now would be a good time to try feeding.
 
what bulbs are you using? and what type? also How deep is your tank? how high is the Fixture? you might have 10bulbs but that might only mean 10bulbs and not the correct combo for color and growth, can you share a little more info on your setup.
 
I just added 2 10K now with 4 blue plus 3 coral plus and 1 purple plus. Mg is 1450, potassium 319, phos 0.04, nitrate 1.0, iodine 0.04. I have moved the rose mille and another redish mille to the highest point in the tank now just give it some time.

This is the combo now correct?
 
i dont no much about the 10k bulbs. But if you want a good spectrum i would go with the red sea 15k bulbs there awesome and have really good color and from the past month and a half they been shooting some good stuff as well along with the blue+ purple+ and 1coral + and red sea 22k actinic and ati actinic on our 8 bulb ati fixture
 
Perhaps both your chemistry and lighting are great, because unless your bulbs are incredibly old or a mile away, you have a lot of wonderful firepower going on. And bright colored corals even existed before amino acid supplements. I think fish poop is still considered the best additive that we know of. Assuming your parameters are reasonable and stable (potassium I believe should be around 390-400 but not sure how reliable hobbyist test kits are and I have no idea of correct range of iodine--I personally dont know anyone who tests for iodine), then that certainly would not be an issue. Again stability is so important. Pests are another consideration but you aren't having any destruction take place, so always possible but not so likely.

Some acros including Millie's are inherently blah. They come in all the colors of the rainbow including feh brown and feh red and feh green. It's easiest to maintain bright colored corals when the frags come from multigenerational tank raised brightly colored mother colonies. That's why red planet, palmers blue Millie, tyree rouge, etc are such good choices because given reasonable stable parameters they always look good . So maybe your corals are the feh ones and may never look more colorful. Genetics is tough to correct ( just ask my kids).
 
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Perhaps both your chemistry and lighting are great, because unless your bulbs are incredibly old or a mile away, you have a lot of wonderful firepower going on. And bright colored corals even existed before amino acid supplements. I think fish poop is still considered the best additive that we know of. Assuming your parameters are reasonable and stable (potassium I believe should be around 390-400 but not sure how reliable hobbyist test kits are and I have no idea of correct range of iodine--I personally dont know anyone who tests for iodine), then that certainly would not be an issue. Again stability is so important. Pests are another consideration but you aren't having any destruction take place, so always possible but not so likely.

Some acros including Millie's are inherently blah. They come in all the colors of the rainbow including feh brown and feh red and feh green. It's easiest to maintain bright colored corals when the frags come from multigenerational tank raised brightly colored mother colonies. That's why red planet, palmers blue Millie, tyree rouge, etc are such good choices because given reasonable stable parameters they always look good . So maybe your corals are the feh ones and may never look more colorful. Genetics is tough to correct ( just ask my kids).

+1000

Potassium is the only test read out that looks out of line.

I might focus on your bulb combinations, but other than that like mentioned you have to start with known good colored acros with a history or it's a crap shoot.
 
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So still trying to figure out color issues. As stated earlier I had testing done through aquariumwatertesting and a potassium of 310 was found. Im going to try and bring that up. Have others had this issue? Did repacement make a difference?
 
You mentioned 39w bulbs. Are you using 2 36" fixtures on a 72" tank with 5 bulbs per fixture? I remember discussing adding a white light about a week ago. How long have you had the 10k bulbs in your fixture?
 
I have 10 T5s. All 39w. I added two 11k by geisman. Only been up and going a week. Just looking for any possibilities.
 
I think Im underfeeding so I just went to feeding twice a day. Also took gfo off line. Nitrate1 phos 0.04
 
be careful and keep a close eye on our nitrates. don't do too much too soon.

th acropower itself breaks down quickly and adds nitrates to the tank that alone would help.

IMO you need to swap out some of the 10k and c+ bulbs for blue+ and that will add color to the tank. to me you have too much white light not enough blue.
 

IF YOU HAD TO TAKE A REEFING EXAM, WOULD YOU PASS?

  • Yes!

    Votes: 32 45.7%
  • Not yet, but I have one that I want to buy in mind!

    Votes: 9 12.9%
  • No.

    Votes: 26 37.1%
  • Other (please explain).

    Votes: 3 4.3%

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