SPS Trouble

[jason g]

Hello everyone, I'm experiencing most of my SPS turning Brown in color. I don't neglect my water levels I test on a regular basis and do water changes. I've also changed my salt to Reef Crystals by Instant Ocean to see if this helps out. I also dose Calcium and Magnesium when needed. I feed Reef Frenzy to my system. I run two 250w 10k MH which run for 6hrs a day. My SPS grow but I'm not getting the color. Please help, am I missing something here?

Thanks
Jason g.

 

[Gauge]

Have they ever had color? What are your water parameters? Usually brown is from not enough light or too high nutrients... Phos and nitrates high?

 

[ritter6788]

How's your alkalinity?

 

[JMSKI333]

How old are your bulbs? What are your most current tank params?

 

[camelcruiser]

10k is a great spectrum for growth but not great for color. You usually do 10k early in a tank to get the sps to fill in the space. Not sure if this is your problem but I'm sure it's not helping a ton.

 

[jason g]

Here are my level's from tonight with lights off.

Temp-78, Ammonia-0.0, Nitrates-0.0, Nitrites-0.0, Phosphate 0.0, pH-7.8, Calcium-450, Mag-1400, Salinity-1.025, Alk-7.0

My bulbs are 10 months old. I notice they lose color over time from being in my tank. I was told by a fellow reefer to add an LED strip to pop out the colors. I am getting growth I've grown 2inch frags out to be my biggest pieces as you can see in pics . Mind boggling isn't it. I appreciate the feedback everyone.

 

[DSP]

I bet those coral have more color then you think, the 10 K just makes them look really brown. I would look into getting a reefbrite 10/20k bulb so you have the best of both worlds

 

[DSP]

Another good bulb would be 14k Phoenix, radium, 20 K xm and 20 K ushio

 

[josh4107]

If it's time for a new bulb anyway id try a 14 or even 20k bulb. Another thing is maybe your water is too clean if nitrates and phosphates are always undectable. You don't want a ton of that in your water but maybe traces of each will help color them up a little.

 

[jason g]

OK I'm actually in the process of upgrading to a 120g with a Current Nova 72inch 12 bulb T5 fixture. The previous owner of this setup said the par from this fixture was amazing. Hopefully I'll see a difference when I change tanks and lighting systems.

 

[DSP]

OK I'm actually in the process of upgrading to a 120g with a Current Nova 72inch 12 bulb T5 fixture. The previous owner of this setup said the par from this fixture was amazing. Hopefully I'll see a difference when I change tanks and lighting systems.

That all depends on what bulbs you use in it and what reflectors etc. The stock reflectors on novas are garbage imo so I would look into switching out reflectors for sure if ya can

 

[blufin]

I like to run my alk up around 9-10. I feel it gives a bit more color. If you decide to raise the alk, do it slowly. The bulbs are also a big problem being 10 months old and 10K. 20K Radiums were my preference when I had MH lamps.

 

[StikHedRon]

I bet your nutrients are higher than you think, especially if your able to keep that xenia alive. If you had a low nutrient system, it would shrivel up and die.

 

[StikHedRon]

Another thing is all these corals look fairly new to the tank, none have really encrusted the rock. So not sure where they came from or what but the move could of caused the browning out. They might have been under different lights, flow, parameters..... lots of things.

 

[jason g]

I like to run my alk up around 9-10. I feel it gives a bit more color. If you decide to raise the alk, do it slowly. The bulbs are also a big problem being 10 months old and 10K. 20K Radiums were my preference when I had MH lamps.

I will try to raise my Alk slowly to see if this helps to. I used API test kit for other levels except Alk, Cal, Mag I use Red Sea Test Kit. I heard API test kits aren't to reliable. As for new bulbs my hands are tied because I'm upgrading to a 120 g tank.

 

[K_red_raider]

in my opinion your tank is too clean (all coral has to have someting to eat), as others have stated 10K bulbs only provide growth with very little coloring, and your alk does need to be raised. Good Luck

 

[dman612]

is it common for newly introduced sps to lose color and then gain them back?

 

[OzarksReef]

is it common for newly introduced sps to lose color and then gain them back?

Not unusual - there's usually a period of photo adaptation, though adequate flow and light, along with appropriate placement will usually minimize this.

 

[jason g]

in my opinion your tank is too clean (all coral has to have someting to eat), as others have stated 10K bulbs only provide growth with very little coloring, and your alk does need to be raised. Good Luck

To clean, please explain how I can get the levels I need? Like do I feed more often or cut back on water changes?

 

[DSP]

I don't think the tank is to clean, Corals normally turn white when the tank is stripped clean and as you can see there not white there brown which leads me to believe it's the lighting, Unless he's having a nutrient problem(to much nutrients) but from the test results it doesn't seem that way