Sps color help

[sevitz5]

i will start with some stats:
110 gal tank 5’x18”x24”deep
EShopps Refugium sump
2 MP 40’s
Vectra M1 return
BRS GFO reactor (just installed)
Simplicity 240 dc skimmer
GHL 2.1 doser
3 Hydra 36’s HD mounted in a Aquatic Life T5 Hybrid with 2 blue+ and 2 actinic
The T5 light was added 3 weeks ago and still acclimating
Tank has been running since January


Sps dominant tank with several pieces

Livestock:
Purple Tang
Lavender Tang
Fox face
Long nose butterfly
Clown
Fire fish
Dottyback
Wrasse
(5) chromis
Several shrimp, snails crabs
Sea cucumber

I feed frozen daily along with an auto feeder dropping a few pellets 4 times a day. I place a small amount of nori in every morning (fish are fat lol)

Ph 8.2
Alk 8.8
Ca 490
Mg 1440
NO3 5
PO4 .07
Salinity 1.025

Ok enough stats, I am noticing that frags I buy that are super colorful when I get them, slowly loose their color and turn a brownish maroon color. I’m dosing Alk, Ca, Acropower, and Nopox daily. I noticed today that the chaeto in my fuge is turning light and falling apart. I really want to get to a point of having beautiful corals.....I’m paying good money for named corals, only for them to go drab on me after a month or so. I feel my parameters are good.....I’m working on lowering my NO3/PO4. Any help would be appreciated. Should I be feeding the corals Reef Roids or something? Thanks guys

PS these photos are from when I first received the frags.

 

[tripdad]

Go to the articles archive and look up an article, I believe by Mike Paletta, that tells some of the "Big Names" parameters. I think you will be surprised by what they keep levels at. I personally run NO3 at 10 and PO4 at .08 to 1.0. My colors are pretty good.

 

[teen]

its tough to say by the photos you posted because they look over exposed or whatever but it looks like you have a healthy tank. id agree with above. stop chasing low numbers on the p04 and nitrate. good flow and water changes with good salt will go a long way.

 

[sevitz5]

its tough to say by the photos you posted because they look over exposed or whatever but it looks like you have a healthy tank. id agree with above. stop chasing low numbers on the p04 and nitrate. good flow and water changes with good salt will go a long way.

I use fritz salt and feel like I have good flow, I also think my tank is healthy, just hate loosing color. Man this hobby can be frustrating at times

 

[teen]

you gotta remember theres no finish line. take a step back. maybe introduce some new fish youve been thinking about. feed them get them nice and fat. keep up with water changes. dose a little calcium and alkalinity as needed and see where youre at in 6 months or a year.

 

[jda]

If your tank is mature (like more than a year... maybe two if you started with a bunch of dry rock) and you have semi-constant water parameters, then this is the order in which you can get more color. This needs to be your foundation.

1). Lights
2). Lights
3). Lights
4). Lights
5). Lights
6). Lights
7). Lights
8). Lights
9). Lights
10a). Chasing water parameters
10b). CaRx to help with addition of more than just calcium and alk, but a balance other trace elements that corals need.

I think that you probably still need more time on a 5 month old tank. SPS can struggle to thrive in young tanks, but they should not be dying or anything. You also might need more time for the T5s to do their work - they should be doing the heavy lifting now and you should be able to tell the difference if you cut your Hydras back - the T5 are better acropora light with better spectrum.

 

[tripdad]

Sometimes they go brown for months until they color up, give them time.

 

[sevitz5]

Thanks for the replies guys

 

[Ty Hamatake]

I agree with others. Just give your tank time. Mine was set up for over a year before I started seeing good coloration in my SPS. I actually noticed the biggest difference when I stopped testing so often and I backed off of water changes. If you're not struggling with algae or bacteria, let you nutrients build a little. I really do believe that's what made my tank happy.

 

[Camaro Show Corals]

flow is the most important aspect for sps then lighting

 

[jda]

I set up an additional tank in January too. I had 300 pounds of PREMIUM Marshall Island live rock that was "cooked" and ready to go along with best-of-breed lights and flow - this is a huge advantage over a dry/dead rock tank or one with live rock that needed cured still. I put SPS in there starting in Feb - they are growing some, but the color is still horrible. In the tank about 10 feet away, all of the same corals are thriving, but it is more than a decade mature. It just needs more time. The other day I noticed that coralline was just starting to flourish on the rocks... not just be present, but actually thrive... so the SPS should color up and take off in the next two or three months.