Quick Question on SPS health

[ronnie]

What bulb combo would you recommend for good sps growth and great color? I have a 48" blue LED reefbrite as well for added color.

If you like your current color, then stick with it. It's a good combo,especially with the LEDs.

I am currently running two blue plus, an actinic, and a purple plus, along with the LEDs. I bleached acros on the sand. So plenty of punch.

You could look at swapping the 6500k with an actinic and see what you think. It's subtle, but really brings color out.

 

[JMSKI333]

Ronnie,

Thanks for all the info. Sometimes with all the options with T5, it's hard to pick what you like as opposed to LED where you're stuck with what you got.

If my lights aren't the problem, then what is? Phosphates and Nitrate tests kits will be in tomorrow. I will post results tomorrow night.

 

[ronnie]

The cyano leads me to believe nutrients are playing a factor. I'd definitely look at your water change regimen. What are you doing now?

And what do you feed and how often?

 

[trido]

Your corals don't look too bad. Seems they are growing pretty slow though. I agree that your T-5 combo could use a bit more daylight spectrum like the fiji mentioned earlier. Also, what size are your vortech's? If you have massive flow up top like the FTS eludes to, your SPS will encrust a lot before they start to grow upward which looks like the case in at least one of the pics. I'd bet once they finish encrusting they'll take off.

FWIW, my pink lemonade has spent almost all of its energy encrusting for the last eight months and is only now starting to branch out while some of my other corals are growing like weeds and didn't encrust at all.

 

[mcarroll]

The cyano leads me to believe nutrients are playing a factor. I'd definitely look at your water change regimen. What are you doing now?

And what do you feed and how often?

+1

Very often detritus in the rocks and sand bed are the cause. Rocks can usually be blown out with a power head. If the sand is compromised it's best just to remove the sand bed over the course of a few water changes.

Also, you say the encrustations were too thin and that you don't dose.

You only post one number for alk, but how low does it get before a water change?

With all these stony corals you need to start dosing IMO. Vinegar+kalk is one way to do that you might not have considered.

-Matt

 

[bct15]

Better tell Sanjay and the grim reefer that all of their tests are wrong then...

Nice chart I will redo my test, what distance under the water were those readings taken? Spectrum is important as much as par, he is still severely lacking in "daylight" and way to much blue. He's not getting the color he wants because he isn't bringing out the non florescing colors.

Edit: Now that I think about it, I might have measured mine at my frag rack. I know the coral plus made more.

 

[ronnie]

The color is fine. The purple and the 6500k are adding all the red, orange, yellow, white, etc thats needed. I don't see a major problem with the colors per say. The growth is where he's lacking, and I'd say that is nutrient driven from the cyano.

 

[bct15]

With acros this is the order of importance

1)Water quality and chemistry
2)water quality and chemistry
3) water quality and chemistry
4)Water movement
5)Lighting
6) minor pest and picking

You should work your way down that list, I see you are getting some color and growth so something is right. You never answers my firs question though, how much carbon. A buddy near me was getting pale colors and almost no reds, come to find out he was running three cups of carbon a week. That will do it.

 

[JMSKI333]

I would say I am running 1-1.5 cups of carbon bi-weekly. I just sprinkle it in my filter socks when I change them out.

I have a feeling there may be some phosphates in there that is causing my issue. I am going to step it up on my water changes and see what time will do. I currently do 15 gallons per week. But honestly, over the summer, I was lucky if I did 15 gallons per month.