SPS Color Issues

[markalot]

Finally below 9 dkh today and my calcium is staying on point. My NO3 is going to likely need to be dosed. Can't get a reading above .25ppm but that will get sorted out after the alk and calcium are level. I also know I am right about where I need to be on feeding. Fish are happy and so are the corals My Cali tort appears to be getting some color back as well as better polyp extension. It has't been extending like this for months. Plus there is a tiny bit of hair algae that popped up but hasn't gotten worse. My zoas aren't the happiest though. I have only a few kinds and I keep them together off to the side. They open during the first part of the day completely then some close about halfway into the photo period. Then they all open back up the next day. I am putting it on light intensity and/or tank cleanliness. I bought a seneye reef and will be getting it next week. I figured why not. Why rent a meter every time I want to check my lights and even if its not entirely accurate it will still give me a better idea on my black box lights and I can use it when I want as well as when I go on vacation I can get the packets and set it up to notify me when anything is out of wack. I will likely post the results when I get them. Oh and Hanna confirmed that my check was broken and is sending a new one!

I can't keep zoas alive in my big tank, it may be the very low KH, so beware if you want to keep them. I do think they do better near 8, but I'm really not sure.

 

[mshonk]

I can't keep zoas alive in my big tank, it may be the very low KH, so beware if you want to keep them. I do think they do better near 8, but I'm really not sure.

I will definitely dig into that because if that is the case I may stay over 8 dkh. I will dig into that later.

 

[mshonk]

Had another ah ha moment today. What is the alk of my salt mix. I have been meaning to change it anyway but I have been using Coralife and it tested at 10.6. I tested my main tank today expecting a particular result but I did a 2 gallon water change and was a bit higher than expected. After some research on how they various salts test Red Sea or Topi Parin Pro Reef seem to be the best choices. Does anyone use these and if not any acro lovers want to chime in with what they use?

I got to testing my trace elements today.
I2 .o6
k 440ppm
Fe .05

My iron is low. What ever that means. I would imagine all of the organisms utilize it to a degree. Plus it makes me curious if that may translate to finicky zoas.

 

[mshonk]

.o12 po4 Definitely have some ups and downs with hair algae. Nothing major. CUC is keeping it in check for now.

All I can do is monitor but I haven't dosed alk and it has been at 8.6 dkh and not dropping.?????

 

[mshonk]

So I am digging the seneye. I figure I will pick up a cheap windows tablet and use that to put on the side of the tank to monitor. Will be a releif when I go on vacation.

Like I figured I am not worried about my light as far as par goes. I have a Bloomspect black box. It is lacking in the red spectrum but the blend is consistant throughout the whole tank. I never got around to measuring the distance between the lights and water but I raised my lights and did two rounds of readings 1 at 10" and another at 14" which is where they are set now. The gray reading signify shadowed areas. Mind you this is done with the rock work in place. going to post this on my tank thread but I thought it would do well here.

 

[mshonk]

So I have not lost any sps! Even the the ones that were showing tissue necrosis are coming back. Polyp extension is great except for one that never really had it. The color is slowly coming back... still. Ha I don't expect it to be any faster.
Feeding alone was not enough to raise my nitrates so I started dosing using the Potassium Nitrate stump remover. Fortunately, I had one more dosing pump available for this. I didn't have a scale for grams so I put .4 oz into a quart and started at 5ml for the day and have been testing steady which I then bumped up to 10 ml a day and today I finally hit .5 ppm no3 today. I had a little round of GHA but an easily manageable amount.

On a side note my zoas are in much better shape since I started dosing no3.

I gave up on getting my alk below 8dkh. The dosers are back on and as of right now I am testing daily or every other day and have maintained 8.6 dkh since the 17th dosing 4 ml of alk solution and I am steady at 420 ca dosing at 2ml per day. I am still seeing growth as well.

The seneye was a great investment being that it takes some of the work out of testing and recording of course but also that it really dials in on the nh3 and nh4 readings and their trends based on feeding.
I also found a great alternative to purchasing a seneye web server or running a long usb cable to leave it plugged into my pc. I bought a used RCA cambio on ebay[ Win 10 2 in 1] so now I have a lightweight pc hooked up to my tank all the time. I picked it up for $40 dollars it wasn't playing nice with the seneye software but their support team was fast and efficient to get me a different version.

I am on vacation so I will try to post some progress pics later today.

No one chimed in on salt so I went with the red sea and it works great. After dosing some calculations I have a nice mix using my old and the new that is spot on with my tank!
Again you guys saved my a**. Thanks for all of the insight.

 

[mshonk]

Pics

 

[mshonk]

So happy I picked up the trace colors pro tests. I only test before I am considering dosing and my I2 has been consistently low at .03 rather than .06. Which could help explain the lack of blues in the tank though I am sure the stress from October is the main culprit. I finally have my alk at 7.3 dkh and consistent with my Ca demand and stable.

I had to dial back on the nitrates. I would like the to sit at 1 ppm until my tank can better handle algae. It is at the cusp and can easily get out of control if left unchecked. It seems that once the no3 hit my mark its demand almost diminished. I have become so accustomed to the no3 pro test that it really isn't a bother to do. Now the trace colors test, on the other hand you need around 45 minutes to and hour to do the three tests.

but I notice more and more color coming back on the daily. It is subtle but present.

 

[Nicholas Dushynsky]

So I am digging the seneye. I figure I will pick up a cheap windows tablet and use that to put on the side of the tank to monitor. Will be a releif when I go on vacation.

Like I figured I am not worried about my light as far as par goes. I have a Bloomspect black box. It is lacking in the red spectrum but the blend is consistant throughout the whole tank. I never got around to measuring the distance between the lights and water but I raised my lights and did two rounds of readings 1 at 10" and another at 14" which is where they are set now. The gray reading signify shadowed areas. Mind you this is done with the rock work in place. going to post this on my tank thread but I thought it would do well here.

Hi what were the percentage number for the 2 channels? I followed this link from the Blalock box test page, so is this the par for 100% on both channels? Thanks for taking the time to do this.

 

[mshonk]

Hi what were the percentage number for the 2 channels? I followed this link from the Blalock box test page, so is this the par for 100% on both channels? Thanks for taking the time to do this.

80 blue and 50 white. At that time. I will double check tonight with the 100/100. I don't think it increases much in par beyond the 80/50. I can check a different setting's par if you'd like also.

 

[markalot]

Great job getting things stable again! Every tank has it's level it seems, I think you did right settling on where it wanted to settle.

 

[mshonk]

Great job getting things stable again! Every tank has it's level it seems, I think you did right settling on where it wanted to settle.

Thanks! I picked up some corals from asd this past weekend and they ship today. Plus I won a $200 LPS frag pack. So after they arrive and are placed in the tank I honestly think that is it.

 

[mshonk]

I figured since I have the trace elements tests I would pick up the additives as well. I cant wait to see the difference by summer. I also looked at some of my initial posts on my member tank thred and this one and didn't realize the growth I have seen dispite the issues i ran into.

 

[Nicholas Dushynsky]

80 blue and 50 white. At that time. I will double check tonight with the 100/100. I don't think it increases much in par beyond the 80/50. I can check a different setting's par if you'd like also.

Well that is mighty kind of you to do so. Currently running mine at 40 blue and only 3 white which has been like this since Sept last year but I don't feel its bright enough and the problem I have is constantly fiddling with it and p...ing my corals off. My tank is only 24x18x18 and the light is 8 inches above the water but I think the tank was happier when I was running 65 blue and 20 white. Which I know is lower than your settings but your light is higher I suppose.

 

[mshonk]

Well that is mighty kind of you to do so. Currently running mine at 40 blue and only 3 white which has been like this since Sept last year but I don't feel its bright enough and the problem I have is constantly fiddling with it and p...ing my corals off. My tank is only 24x18x18 and the light is 8 inches above the water but I think the tank was happier when I was running 65 blue and 20 white. Which I know is lower than your settings but your light is higher I suppose.

I will check it out at the two settings. But i have just under 30 pieces of sps and some low in the tank which is why I run it high. I will let you know.

 

[Nicholas Dushynsky]

I will check it out at the two settings. But i have just under 30 pieces of sps and some low in the tank which is why I run it high. I will let you know.

Thanks this is my tank at the moment

 

[mshonk]

Thanks this is my tank at the moment

Thats a great looking tank! Surprised you want to change any settings. When i increased my intensity I did 2% interval increases on both channels every day to every other day.

 

[Nicholas Dushynsky]

The parameters are good but my red monti is not liking the lower light. The thing is I grew it all at a higher intensity but turned it down due to the lps colour

 

[mshonk]

Thanks this is my tank at the moment

Just finished the readings!!!

 

[mshonk]

Not sure what your has but I am pretty sure I have a broader blue spectrum, I have 90 degree lenses, and my tank is only 16" deep. I set the light at 11" above the water to try to compensate for the displacement. I would say this would be close to what yous should be but definitely not spot on but more than enough to give you an idea.