sps color

[reefpeeper]

why wont my sps color up? i have plenty of flow and all of my parameters are fine. calcium 450 and alk is 8dkh. temp is 78-80. i use oceanic salt. also hasvery low phosphate, low nitrate. sps is mixed in with alot of softies.the tank is a 50 breeder with 2 175w 20k xms. it has a koralia 3 and 4 for flow. light is 6" from water.

 

[gflat65]

Hmmm. There is a thread a few lines down about this topic (anecdotal). Do you know your magnesium level? Color is tricky... I've never run 20K's, but I'd expect them to allow for some nice color. Running higher par bulbs seems to have helped in color for me in the past.

 

[Hypertek99]

To get them to color you have to have very low nutrients and high light.

 

[slovan]

Your parameters look good. How many fish do you have? I find that a little nutrient is good for my tank.

 

[JGoslee]

Are your parameters always stable? IME my corals always look their best when my parameters are good and stable. Are you using a calcium reactor or dosing 2-part?

 

[reefpeeper]

i am dosing 2 part and have about 8 fish. dont know mag level

 

[gflat65]

Jesse makes an excellent point. If the parameters aren't stable, you won't likely see much for color. How much correction do you have to do when you test and add?

 

[Reef Goddess]

Actually, the nitrates are pretty high in our tanks and we still get good color.

Another question is how long have you had your sps? Zeovit makes some really good chemicals to improve sps color.

If they are mixed with ALOT of softies, the chemical warfare may be affecting their color, but its a long shot. What kind of filtration do you use? How long have you been running those lights?

 

[reefpeeper]

i use a fuge with protien skimmer and carbon. water from tank goes through filter sock before entering fuge. lights are about 1 year maybe more. may need to change bulbs. parameters are always the same when tested and i dont test alot.

 

[gflat65]

Old lights will do it, too. Especially 175W 20K's. Thye don't start with a lot of par to begin with. FWIW, I replace my SE MH at 9 months and always wonder if I shouldn't do it sooner.

 

[reefpeeper]

can i just swith 2 say a 14k with no problems or are the percautions i should take?

 

[iani]

What are you using to test your water. Oceanic salt normally runs really high calcium and low Alk. The parameters you have don't seem like numbers that someone using oceanic would have.

 

[gflat65]

Anytime you change lights, you should probably reduce the photo period for at least a few days and watch the corals respsonse. 20K bulbs generally don't have much par to begin with, so a good 14K bulb could really wreak havoc initially. Reduce photoperiod several hours a day for a week or so and slowly bring it back up. If after 5 or 6 days nothing looks like it is lightening up, increase the photoperiod, etc.

 

[reefboy]

Are the sps colored when you get them then they brown out?

 

[reefpeeper]

yes most are colored and then lose it, they do get some color back but not that much

 

[Tankguy001]

When I changed to 250W from 150W it made a huge difference. I went with the 20K's. I think also its very important to find out your mag levels. I used to never test for it and after talking to few people I started paying more attention to it. I'm glad I did