SPS PALE!!

[Gold3nboi]

Over the past week some of my sps are losing color and are looking pale. My cheerybomb is losing its tissue but still alive, my bill Murray was rich in color but now is looking faded. All my other sps still have their color. I have been battling high nitrate low phosphate issues for a 2 months now. Nitrate bounces from 20-40ppm and phosphate has been a headache, my Hannah checker reads 0-4 ppb. Idk if other reefers do this but after running the first test, I run the viles again and get 0. Example first test usually says 4 but I run it again and it says zero. Anyways calcium is 420,mag 1260,alk a steady 8.5 with no swings. Lights I am running are radion gen 2 pros on 40 percent intensity with 100 percent brightness 6am-6pm and t5 bulbs 7am-5pm. For flow I have 3 tunze 6105s, 2 tunze 6055s. Tank size 330 gallons/ 4 year old tank/250ish live rock,sand bottom. FILTRATION: Algae turf scrubber 11pm-5am, Retuens have filter socks, And running skimmer 24/7 . And dosing 3ml vodka a day (8weeeks into it). I am thinking of starting to dose brightwell phos to get a reading/ even though my algae turf scrubber is looking healthy so I know there's phosphate. At this point I am thinking I need to balance my phos with nitrates so I can get nitrates down. Can high nitrates have a bad effect on sps? Or is it the fact I am not getting a phos reading and sps are starving? Any suggestions or changes I should make? Sps experience under my belt is about 4 months so id love any info/ recommendations you sps OGs have for a rookie like me. Thank you

 

[brandon429]

the first thing we do is lower light intensity, then search for answers. drop it a good 30% for a while

 

[Gold3nboi]

the first thing we do is lower light intensity, then search for answers. drop it a good 30% for a while

Would that be in intensity or brightness ?

 

[brandon429]

Overall output for sure lower to prevent bleaching as causatives are hunted

My kessils run about 40% power. I'd be turning the power output knob down

 

[Gold3nboi]

Overall output for sure lower to prevent bleaching as causatives are hunted

Will that effect other corals?

 

[brandon429]

no its ideal for all corals, light fades in and out in nature and we're using it strategically here:

When to lower light intensity as a reef tank CPR move

Team, you need to know that being able to revert back to cloudy day/low lighting is the #1 thing you do as tank CPR before any other action. Water charges come after Preventing light sunburn is #1 temperature insults cold and hot. chemical burns, overdoses. events where you think ammonia...

www.reef2reef.com

any reef tank here, from the 17K gallon home one, to my one gallon, to Pauls fifty year old tank, all of them instantly can handle a halving of light power and then slow ramp back up as many times as needed, it will not harm. to time the low intensity points with reef insult times is ideal we show. most people run full adapted power no matter what, even during insults, that's a huge amount of preventable loss the theory says.

I'm not too helpful on finding the cause though, just that initial plan for safety

 

[Gold3nboi]

Thank you I will be doing this today

no its ideal for all corals, light fades in and out in nature and we're using it strategically here:

When to lower light intensity as a reef tank CPR move

Team, you need to know that being able to revert back to cloudy day/low lighting is the #1 thing you do as tank CPR before any other action. Water charges come after Preventing light sunburn is #1 temperature insults cold and hot. chemical burns, overdoses. events where you think ammonia...

www.reef2reef.com

any reef tank here, from the 17K gallon home one, to my one gallon, to Pauls fifty year old tank, all of them instantly can handle a halving of light power and then slow ramp back up as many times as needed, it will not harm. to time the low intensity points with reef insult times is ideal we show. most people run full adapted power no matter what, even during insults, that's a huge amount of preventable loss the theory says.

I'm not too helpful on finding the cause though, just that initial plan for safety