Not getting the vibrant colour expected.

[Fisherman Joe]

I have a 120g tank (600L) filled with SPS.

I run 4 x XR15 G3 (just ordered some G5) on AB+ at 65% intensity.

My parameters:
dKH 8.5
Salt 1.026
Ca 425
Mg 1350
No3 5-10
PO4 <0.1

All other parameters are fine on a triton ICP test.

I think I should be getting better colour on my SPS than I am, most are dull and brown, especially my acropora and Millipora. How can I up my game?

I worry my nutrients are too high, but I run a GFO reactor and a large refugium and can only get them stable at these levels.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

Have you checked your par with a par meter?

 

[guylaga]

Have you checked your par with a par meter?

Was going to say the same thing.

65% seems a tad low unless they are mounted really close to the surface.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

Brownish, dull, and no vibrant “pop” means stressed/starved. Not high nutrients, like I’m sure someone is going to chime in with. But that is not true in my experience. My corals always looked like crap with gfo even though the residual n/p were in the “recommended” range. Now I only run chaeto and skimmer.

Now they could also be stressed from pests. I read in some of your other posts that you had trouble with several mari’s, which could of brought in some bad bugs.

 

[TX_Punisher]

I have the g4 xr15 over a 20g frag tank and run about 350 par with that light turned up fairly high in a shallow tank. How high above water level are those lights mounted?

 

[RMS18]

Brownish, dull, and no vibrant “pop” means stressed/starved. Not high nutrients, like I’m sure someone is going to chime in with. But that is not true in my experience. My corals always looked like crap with gfo even though the residual n/p were in the “recommended” range. Now I only run chaeto and skimmer.

Now they could also be stressed from pests. I read in some of your other posts that you had trouble with several mari’s, which could of brought in some bad bugs.

I find Tenuis do better in "dirtier" water. Do you have milli and acros not in the Tenuis family to show? When po4 get above .15 and no3 above 10-15 my Tenuis look good and color up, but everything else loses that "pop" and dulls out / darkens out.

 

[Cjeippert]

I have a 120g tank (600L) filled with SPS.

I run 4 x XR15 G3 (just ordered some G5) on AB+ at 65% intensity.

My parameters:
dKH 8.5
Salt 1.026
Ca 425
Mg 1350
No3 5-10
PO4 <0.1

All other parameters are fine on a triton ICP test.

I think I should be getting better colour on my SPS than I am, most are dull and brown, especially my acropora and Millipora. How can I up my game?

I worry my nutrients are too high, but I run a GFO reactor and a large refugium and can only get them stable at these levels.

Low nutrients may make the acros and stylos pale or die.