SPS color

jason.tammy · Nov 16, 2009

I have been working with our sps frag tank lately.I have got all paramenters in order, so now on to why my color seems to be off a little.
Is ther a suplement I should be adding or something I am doing wrong.
Lights 2x 250 MH HQI 10hr photo period
several fish for nutrients
alk is back to 9
ph is 8.2
calcium was high now back to 460
0 nitrate
0 nitrite.
This system is tied in with my LPS system which also has some fish load.
Skimmer is an octopuss 300
plenty of flow.
Any suggestions?

Tomoko Schum · Nov 16, 2009

Are your SPS browning out?
What are the color temp of your lamps and how far up is your light suspened above the water surface (and corals)?
Zero on nitrate by what test kit? Phosphate should also be checked. Not all test kits are made equal. API NO3 test kit reads in too high a range to be any good for a reef tank in my opinion unless your level is well above 20 ppm.

jmuzzey · Nov 16, 2009

There are many things that affect acropora color. Phosphates is one thing that affects not only color, but also growth. If your phosphate levels are above 0.1, then your sps can/will brown out, and it will inhibit growth. The only way to get an accurate reading though is using either a photometer, or the D&D merk test kit for low range. But for the money, the photometer is the better option inmy opinion. A regular hobbyist test kit(titration style) just do not read low enough to be accurate for what we need. I would look at phosphates first then go from there.

jason.tammy · Nov 16, 2009

Some of my purple monti's seem to be browning out some and some of my milli's.The standard reef kit say's 0 phosphate.The light are about 16 inches above water level and the rack is only 2" tall in a 14" tank.The bulbs are 20k coral lifes.They came with the fixture I bought out of Atlanta 2 mnths ago.My alk crashed low and now is back up.It had gone down to 6

jmuzzey · Nov 16, 2009

If you can, look into an accurate phosphate test. If you were at absolute zero, your corals would die. 0.03 is the target you are looking to maintain. Corals need some phosphates to live. Losing blues and purples could be you lighting. Most blue or purple corals need very intense light. Try moving those pieces up and see if that helps over the next few weeks. But move them up slowly, maybe 6 inches at a time or so. My idaho grape is brown in shaded areas, but very purple under direct light. Same with digitatas. My blue tort gets super blue under very intense light, and dulls down a bit under less intense lighting.

jason.tammy · Nov 16, 2009

My grape is one that I was most worried about in the monti's.I have 3 different purple's.Thanks I'll chk in to that phos. kit.

Tomoko Schum · Nov 17, 2009

You may need to reduce the distance between the fixture and corals. I had my HQI fixtures very low over my 120 to brighten up all my SPS's. Some corals, usually the pink ones, love a very intense light. I recall Philip had a extremely intense MH bulbs over his frag tanks at Fish tails and Aquarium Designs. I think it was more like 1000W bulbs suspended high enough for him to work in the tank. His corals in these frag tanks were absolutely gorgeous.

Purple monti's could be funny. Some color up well under medium light, but my purple digi needed a very intense lighting to be purple. My phosphate was always undetectable with hobbyist's test kit, but my nitrate fructuated between 0.2 to 0.5. When my nitrate approaches 0.5, the digi lost the vivid purple color. On the other hand I had two purple montis cap that acted differently. One would be very purple anywhere in the tank whereas the other just stayed kinda dingy lavender most of the time.

jason.tammy · Nov 17, 2009

Ok, what test kit do you recomend I use?I was afraid of to much light on them.The lights are on chains so I can move them with ease

Tomoko Schum · Nov 17, 2009

I use Salifert for magnesium, nitrate and phosphate. Hach and La Motte are better but mighty expensive. I use inexpensive test kits for other stuff like kH and pH.

If your light fixture is on a chain, you can bring it down gradually. I used to bring my light fixture down about 1/4 inch every two weeks or so after hitting the 6 month mark on my bulbs to keep the color of my SPS's.

My acropora used to maintain good vivid colors in 120 as long as they get enough bright light even when nitrate went up to almost 5 ppm for some reason.

Alkalinity swings can also affect SPS's. The colors of sensitive acroporas can get really drab if alkalinity drops suddenly.