My acros are faded.... Please Help!

[islander84]

I have been trying to find a solution to my problem, but cant seem to find one....

My setup is a 144 gal Oceanic .... 75 gal sump

Lighting
2 x 250 w MH. Phoenix 14k bulbs. 6 hrs a day.
4 x 39 w T5 3 Ati Blue+ 1 Ati Coral+ 10 hrs a day.

Lights are in a current usa fixture hanging about 8" over the water surface...

Equipment
Return pump 4950 Ecoplus ALOT of head loss! Going about 40' across basement and up about 8'
2 x 6100.10 Tunze w (smaller drivers)
Vertex 180 mod w/ hy3000bb pump
2 Neptune ac/jr Controllers
Korallin ca rx

Livestock
Yellow Tang
Desjardini Sailfin Tang
Pacific Blue Tang
Tenetti Tang
3 x lyretail Anthias
2 x clowns
Melenurus Wrasse
Target Mandarin
Neon Goby
BlueGreen Chromis

Hermits, snails

About 25 acro frags- few mini colonies.

Couple of chalices, scoly, micromussa..

I do about 10% WC every other month, just started doing 10% every month.

I have a 3rd of my sump as a refugium stocked with chaeto and mangroves.

Parameters
Alk 8.0-8.25. Very little swing and very slow
Ca 480
Mg 1350

Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[fort384]

What are your Alk and Ca readings? PO4?

 

[GeoHawk]

Hows flow (I know you posted info on this, but can you see the polyps move when extended?) How about Ca/Alk/MG? I would consider doing water changes more frequently. I have just started doing 20-25% every couple weeks and it seems to have really brought out the color in my acros more. I can't be sure thats whats doing it, but until I see that its not working I will continue to do them that frequently.

 

[islander84]

Some of them are colored up nice with nice PE, some look really pale and (thin flesh) very little PE.... the polyps whip gently...

My KH stays between 8.0 and 8.25.(hanah, salifert,rs) Very little swing and it does it very slow.... i use a calcium reactor..
Calcium stays around 480.(hanah, rs) Mag stays around 1350...(salifert,rs) po4 was at 0.00 hanah so i pulled gfo offline month ago...

 

[Dowtish]

I would start using a nice quality salt for trace element replacement and doing 5% WC's a week. Look into some vitamins and aminos for dosing.

 

[islander84]

About a month ago i switched to red sea coral pro. What kind of aminos do you suggest?

 

[Giancarlo]

is your phosphate currently reading at 0.00 with the hanna?

 

[SPSjunky]

I would try to do more water changes.I personally do 20% per week and my sps love it.

 

[islander84]

I havent checked it since i pulled gfo offline.

20% weekly would be 45 gal in my setup.... seems like a bit much... what kind of salt do you use?

 

[Henry C]

The params you have listed look good, what about your P.H. ?

 

[Dowtish]

That is why I do 5% weekly. Its not a lot of water per water change, but in a month you have done a 20% water change to your entire system in a month.
I have been dosing red sea reef energy a &b. But only once a week.


Typed from my phone, because I have nothing better to do.

 

[-Logzor]

Add more flow, I assume with those smaller drivers your not hitting the 3000 gph that those pumps normally put out.

 

[islander84]

The params you have listed look good, what about your P.H. ?

ph is good. 8.3 during day.....maybe 8.1 at night

 

[islander84]

I was thinking about adding couple more tunze but the way my rock is setup they would have to be the newer style....guess i will have to suck it up and get some...

 

[islander84]

Heres a frag that i put on the sand bed, it has what looks like burnt tips but my alk isnt high.....

 

[islander84]

And sand bed has brownish red looking cyano or something going on..... this tank was solid and healthy a year ago i dont understand whats going on

 

[Dowtish]

Try some microbe lift 'special blend'. you can get it at petco. Good bacteria to out compete the bad i.e. cyano