My SPS color is ...

[specialk]

When you get into SPS if there is a problem, and you don't correctly diagnose it through testing, you can cause way more harm with an improper solution than the original problem did. Keep your parameters as stable as possible until you can reliably test your phosphate. When you do take corrective action, only change one thing at a time so you can properly attribute any changes.

Noted. I am going to get better test kits. Lesson learned that's for sure. I guess I never really got a really good phosphate checker cause often times I hear, well many times actually, if you have algae -- you have high phosphates. If you do not -- you are ok... "simple as that" -- BUT lesson learned here and if I would have had a better one in this case it would have made things much more easier.

Also I am curious, how many of you guys run carbon in a reactor in your systems ...? I have heard they will def make your water alot more clear, and others i have seen their tanks and they don't run carbon and their water is pristine. So while I was in the process of getting reactors and such and really educating myself to that, I thought I would ask to see how many of you ran them and if it did indeed make that big of a difference in terms of water quality.

 

[saltylife]

Good to see someone else running the same lights. Yes I agree on the phosphate test kit. I am going to get one of those asap.

And I hear ya on the corals and taking some time, but this is different. They were looking good, growing and then their color started to drop and fade .. get worse not stay the same. And like I said they are growing, but the color is fading -- noticeably. Enough to where i could tell something was wrong. And the one thing that adds up is that this started about the time I started dosing with Randys #2 and getting the ALK levels to high. So while I don't discount the phosphate factor .. I have not done anything different in the last 1.5 months OTHER THEN overly dosing ALK. I do not feed alot. I do not have alot of fish in there. So everything was the same -- EXCEPT the dosing for ALK. And this is when I noticed things starting to go downhill.

Just be sure when you bring the alk down to do it slowly or you will have really washed out sps

 

[specialk]

Just be sure when you bring the alk down to do it slowly or you will have really washed out sps

Dumb question here .. but how would you recommend bringing it down slowly? I was just going to let it come down naturally on it's own. Is that not a good approach?

 

[saltylife]

Naturally it will be fine as long as you keep the calcium and mag stable. I would monitor the alk every 2 days to make sure its slowly dropping. If it appears to be dropping to fast as a point every 2 days you can dose a little alk to keep it from dropping so fast.

 

[Keithcorals]

Keith. I respect you a lot after seeing that orange passion at rap. So I would like to ask a question to learn and understand not argue. But how can you come to a conclusion that it's not phosphate? He tested with a wimpy test kit and got .25? I am sure it's not precise but it very high? My sps start to show me the discoloration when po4 gets to above .1. Currently at .06. But your eye after seeing the pic said it's not po4. What did you see. Share the knowledge. But until he gets it checked with a Hanna or better. We are not sure? Then giving him advise based on what my opinion (still respectfully disagree with you) is an inconclusive assumption may be doing him more harm. That is if he has high phosphates adding additives will only raise po4. If I am correct when we spoke you mention your po4 was real low. Think you said .02. Correct me. When you have an ulns like that feeding is a must. But not the case in a high nutrient system. Let's discuss and learn together.

I'm not one to be easily offended so no worries there
I can tell it's not phosphate that is the problem with those pics because stress from phosphate tends to have more of a browning effect. The corals in the pics appear to be suffering from alk burn for lack of a better term and possible a nutrient deficiency. The amount of fuel I suggested adding will have very little effect on phosphate I know all of this from experiments reading and observations I've made over the years. It is just my opinion but it's a educated opinion and I could still be wrong.

 

[Keithcorals]

One thing worth knowing is there are some things that most people do and some information about reef keeping that is considered fact but most people as they become more advanced develop their own ways of doing things and combining info from two people that get good results is less likely to get you good results than doing it one way or the other.

For what it's worth I don't run GFO or carbon

My only filtration is a refugium and a skimmer

My phosphate is always very low 0.000-0.009
I keep my alk at 6.5-7 and have never had better color or growth with it higher

 

[ValorG]

Looking at your pics, you have too little nutrients in your system. Colors are too washed out.

 

[lakeviewink]

I find that if you can match HIGH NUTRIENT IMPORT with HIGH NUTRIENT EXPORT your corals will be happier. There are various methods, some work better than others IMO, but most will agree a good skimmer is one of the top in importance. I agree that, from the pics, your acros look a bit starved and possibly alk stress or light stress. I run some similar leds, Photon 24's, and my blues peak at 55% and whites/colors peak at 18%. I find this spectrum and intensity gives great color and decent growth. This is just my experience, hopefully you can find something helpful from it.

 

[jservedio]

Another question for the OP - how long has this been happening and did you dip or QT all of your acros? If you HAD color for a sustained period of time and it went downhill, besides phosphate, lack of nutrients, and Alkalinity, another possibility is AEFW. I went through AEFW and it was hell, but those washed out colors are what my acros looked like right in the beginning before I started getting bite marks.

I personally think it is your parameters out of whack, but this is something you should check on.

 

[specialk]

Looking at your pics, you have too little nutrients in your system. Colors are too washed out.

Yea it looks as like this certainly seems to be the consensus I am gathering :cry: I am fixing this as we speak with some Fuel. (amongst other things)

 

[specialk]

I find that if you can match HIGH NUTRIENT IMPORT with HIGH NUTRIENT EXPORT your corals will be happier. There are various methods, some work better than others IMO, but most will agree a good skimmer is one of the top in importance. I agree that, from the pics, your acros look a bit starved and possibly alk stress or light stress. I run some similar leds, Photon 24's, and my blues peak at 55% and whites/colors peak at 18%. I find this spectrum and intensity gives great color and decent growth. This is just my experience, hopefully you can find something helpful from it.

Indeed I will. Thanks. I know for a fact now after piecing all this together that my ALK being high and the swings that this was def def a contributing factor. I am currently slowly bringing my alk back down to stable levels.

 

[specialk]

Another question for the OP - how long has this been happening and did you dip or QT all of your acros? If you HAD color for a sustained period of time and it went downhill, besides phosphate, lack of nutrients, and Alkalinity, another possibility is AEFW. I went through AEFW and it was hell, but those washed out colors are what my acros looked like right in the beginning before I started getting bite marks.

I personally think it is your parameters out of whack, but this is something you should check on.

I did not pick up the frags/acros as trhey were picked up for me. They were dipped for me before they went in. When I got home (about a month after the swap) the colors seemed fine and looked as they should for being in a new system with new lights for only a few weeks. They really started going downhill around the time I started dosing too much ALK. However no one has brought that to my attention yet and that is good to know and be made aware of. What do the "bite marks" resemble?

 

[specialk]

And on a good note:

My Alk has came down slowly to 8.7
My phoasphate (although using the mickey mouse API testing kit -- the equivilent of the EZ bake over to make pizzas) has dropped. Again I do not know how much exactly, it has DEFINITELY dropped and I can notice a change in that testing kit ever since I put a sock with GFO in there.

This along with adding half a cap of Fuel everyday. So hopefully things get back on track here for me -- thanks of course to all your guyss' wisdom and help! :ranger: :clap2:

 

[Ike]

Stick with he API kits for alkalinity and calcium, they're quite old and as accurate as any. This is coming from someone that once only suggested Salifert and Lamotte. A Hanna checker for PO4 is highly suggested though

I do think you phosphates are too high as evidenced by the algae and should be addressed with the reactor you bought. You're not going to really get anywhere running GFO passive and you're just wasting money. Go slow with the quantity in the reactor if you're worried.

Doing something to get nitrates up a touch is a good idea if you know your nitrates are truly ND. This is where a good test kit that can measure below 1 ppm comes in handy. The Red Sea is a good choice here. Fuel or amino acids will work, but if you just want to get straight to the point and save money you can look into dosing sodium nitrate.

As for your alkalinity, it can make a slight difference but it's usually in the case of when you're trying to get that last extra hit of color.

Lastly, what is your photoperiod like? Your corals look like they could be washed out from too long of a photo period and not necessarily low nitrogen. If it's much over 9 hours I would look at this as another possible factor.

Good luck!