Some Paling

[Fishfinder]

I've been having some paling in my acros for like idk 2-3 weeks. It's not everything but some pieces are getting lighter. The growth is still good, they have PE just slowly getting paler as time goes on. It seems to be mostly my reds. Any suggestions? Should I move the paling pieces down? or try to bump nutrients up? I'm at about 1-2ppm NO3. Any specific element that contributes to red?

 

[Diesel]

Where are your other numbers at?
Bumping up No3 can help.
Can you also post some pics?

 

[Fishfinder]

Alk is 8.0-8.3
Cal 420
Mag 1380
PO4 .02-.03
NO3 1-2

I can get some pics. Won't be until Sunday morning

 

[Diesel]

Your test are good imo.
Did you make any changes to the tank, like flow, light, new pump?

 

[Fishfinder]

I added a pair of T5 bulbs the first week of July to supplement my LED. I assumed I would have noticed changes before now.


Edit: nevermind, been slowly paling for weeks. I guess this is probably the reason. The T5 run for 4 hours a day on top of the LED, from noon-4

 

[Reefer40b]

I added a pair of T5 bulbs the first week of July to supplement my LED. I assumed I would have noticed changes before now.


Edit: nevermind, been slowly paling for weeks. I guess this is probably the reason. The T5 run for 4 hours a day on top of the LED, from noon-4

This could very well do that, I would drop your led percent a little and maybe back off an hour of T5 until you see some color come back. And then slowly add some more hrs to the T5

 

[pecan2phat]

I found that if your adding T5s in the non-blue range like Aqua Blue Plus to an existing LED system, you should lower the whites on your LED fixture during the peak or when the T5s are programmed for those 4 hours.
My SPS did the same, if I had a PAR meter, I'd bet the PAR was over the saturation range when the LEDs ramped to peak and my Aqua Blue Plus bulbs came on.

 

[Diesel]

I added a pair of T5 bulbs the first week of July to supplement my LED. I assumed I would have noticed changes before now.


Edit: nevermind, been slowly paling for weeks. I guess this is probably the reason. The T5 run for 4 hours a day on top of the LED, from noon-4

Supplement lighting from T5’s shouldn’t make that much of a difference.
As mentioned adjustvyour leds a bit.
Also try to boost your No3 to at least 5ppm.
Due to a better spectrum your growth is increasing that results in less nutrients.
When you do increase No3 keep a eye on your Po4 as that may drop a bit.

 

[Fishfinder]

I'll try adjusting my lights. And getting nutrients up over the next couple weeks

 

[Diesel]

Sodium nitrate from loudwolf,

Sodium nitrate is the chemical compound with the formula NaNO3. This alkali metal nitrate salt is also known as Chile saltpeter (because large deposits of this salt can be found in Chile) to distinguish it from ordinary saltpeter, potassium nitrate like stumpremover.

 

[Fishfinder]

I have been using reef roids and potassium nitrate to hold the 1-2ppm

 

[Fishfinder]

Is it possible that a couple pieces just want lower light and need to be moved? Or can they handle the extra light with more nutrients?

 

[Diesel]

Is it possible that a couple pieces just want lower light and need to be moved? Or can they handle the extra light with more nutrients?

Hard to tell.
Every system is different, all I can do is give you the guide line.
I have moved pieces of coral and yes sometimes they do better at a other location.

 

[Fishfinder]

Thank you for the help. I'll give this a try and see if there's improvement. If not I'll move them down.

 

[Diesel]

Sounds good my friend.
Keep us updated on those awesome sticks.

Btw, you have a FTS?

 

[Fishfinder]

I have some stuff in my build thread. Here's a couple pics.

 

[Fishfinder]

 

[jda]

If you have "color" on a N test kit, then you have enough - dosing more can do more harm than good. Throughput with heavy import and export is the sweet spot with a number on a test kit being fools gold. Feed more, export more.

I would turn the LED down and let the T5s do the heavy lifting... they are better at it, IMO.

The tank looks pretty new without a ton of coralline? Is it perhaps less than a year or two old? If so, it just might need some more time... especially if it was started with dry/dead rock.

 

[Fishfinder]

The rock came from my previous 220gal tank that was up for 1-2 years. But yes it was all moved into this tank along with some new rock for the upgrade. This was setup in march

 

[Fishfinder]

Very good timing, since I've got this thread going. I sent in an ICP when I noticed the issue. Got the results today. Will post shortly