Sps turning more white

[Kfactor]

Hi all I just had a question or 2 I have had my sps in my tank for a bit now there growing alright but I find there loosing colour . I try to keep it stable as I can but there just not colouring up good . Some have decent colour but just not happy with them .
Alk 7.5
Cal 420
Mag 1280
Ph 8.1
Po4 0 I have been trying to dose it up but doesn’t seem to move
No3 2.7
I feed my 3 small fish once a day and add a small amount of phyto once a week . The tank has been running for around a year now and got a little bit of brown algae on the rocks that I clean every week and still can’t get rid of it here is a pick of my one sps

 

[sixty_reefer]

It’s most likely due to the low phosphate, this is what is causing the brown algae on the rocks (dinoflagellates)

 

[Kfactor]

It’s most likely due to the low phosphate, this is what is causing the brown algae on the rocks (dinoflagellates)

i have been trying to get them up just dont want to go to fast

 

[sixty_reefer]

i have been trying to get them up just dont want to go to fast

Take your time as you don’t want a big swing, is your current dose giving you any reading after dosing?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Not dead but chemically - its unhappy. Increased temperature either modify the structure of the coral microbial symbiotic community or trigger the production of virulence factors. Temperature stress can increase chances of coral disease development in several ways by creating stress in the coral zooxanthellae and decreasing its resistance to infection.
Some possible triggers of infection are:
- Alkalinity spike
- Temperature spike
- Salinity spike
- Low dissolved oxygen
- Poor water quality related with phosphate levels up to 5 ppm
- Change in water flow
- Additions of sand
- Changes in brand of salt
- Bad test kits giving faulty results
- Levels of minor elements such as Iodine, Potassium, Strontium
- Light intensity
- - Changes in water flow
- Addition of new corals
- - Pesticides

 

[Kfactor]

Take your time as you don’t want a big swing, is your current dose giving you any reading after dosing?

no i check 4 hours after dosing

 

[Kfactor]

Not dead but chemically - its unhappy. Increased temperature either modify the structure of the coral microbial symbiotic community or trigger the production of virulence factors. Temperature stress can increase chances of coral disease development in several ways by creating stress in the coral zooxanthellae and decreasing its resistance to infection.
Some possible triggers of infection are:
- Alkalinity spike
- Temperature spike
- Salinity spike
- Low dissolved oxygen
- Poor water quality related with phosphate levels up to 5 ppm
- Change in water flow
- Additions of sand
- Changes in brand of salt
- Bad test kits giving faulty results
- Levels of minor elements such as Iodine, Potassium, Strontium
- Light intensity
- - Changes in water flow
- Addition of new corals
- - Pesticides

my temp is 77 only swings around a half degree/ salinity is .026

 

[sixty_reefer]

no i check 4 hours after dosing

Wend did you start dosing? You may need to double it until you get a reading, try and do a test 20 minutes and 12h after dosing to see how fast is depleting.

 

[Kfactor]

Wend did you start dosing? You may need to double it until you get a reading, try and do a test 20 minutes and 12h after dosing to see how fast is depleting.

i just added 2 ml to my tank and it showed 1 ppb 20 mins later and am sure if i test tomorrow at same time it will be 0

 

[sixty_reefer]

i just added 2 ml to my tank and it showed 1 ppb 20 mins later and am sure if i test tomorrow at same time it will be 0

I would double the dose it if it depleted

 

[TheBiochemist]

I would suggest just to feed more. I was in a similar situation and it took me some time to reach saturation of rocks/sand with phosphates after which I was able to detect phosphates in water column (Hanna PO4 ULR). With dosing, be careful as it is very easy to overdose. Dont panic if you are dosing and still reading 0. Once, it will inevitably rise.

 

[Kfactor]

I would suggest just to feed more. I was in a similar situation and it took me some time to reach saturation of rocks/sand with phosphates after which I was able to detect phosphates in water column (Hanna PO4 ULR). With dosing, be careful as it is very easy to overdose. Dont panic if you are dosing and still reading 0. Once, it will inevitably rise.

all give it a try too do you think that my sps are starving ? I might do a icp test if I can find one in Canada

 

[stefan09w]

I was in a similar boat roughly a year ago with phosphate. Everything in the tank was pale and just barely looked like it was surviving. Dosing phosphate was a tricky game that I couldn't dial in. Constantly went from 0 to .2 and back to zero within a few days. so I stopped dosing, and started feeding my fish twice a day. once with flake and once with Mysis and eventually after a few months I began to see phosphate regularly on my tests kits (Hanna). I think I had it in my head not to over feed so I was severally limiting the input into the tank. Not saying this is your case, but something to think about.

 

[TheBiochemist]

all give it a try too do you think that my sps are starving ? I might do a icp test if I can find one in Canada

It could be. I keep my PO4 around 0.05 ppm with NO3 between 5-10 ppm and to keep everything happy Im dosing live phyto everyday and AB+ with Goldpods and NLS Nutricell every other day. At the beginning when I had (longterm) 0 PO4 and was optimizing the feeding regime, my acros looked the same way and the colors returned back with detectable PO4. But its always worth to note that every tank is different. ICP is definitely a cool tool but the question is how to deal with the received data. For instance, Ive always had elevated Ba and Al. Im not able to get them down but as long as it doesnt cause any problems, I dont care about it. Thus, I would really focus on PO4 first and slowly increase the concentration in water column.

 

[Miami Reef]

Hi all I just had a question or 2 I have had my sps in my tank for a bit now there growing alright but I find there loosing colour . I try to keep it stable as I can but there just not colouring up good . Some have decent colour but just not happy with them .
Alk 7.5
Cal 420
Mag 1280
Ph 8.1
Po4 0 I have been trying to dose it up but doesn’t seem to move
No3 2.7
I feed my 3 small fish once a day and add a small amount of phyto once a week . The tank has been running for around a year now and got a little bit of brown algae on the rocks that I clean every week and still can’t get rid of it here is a pick of my one sps

The temperature is fine. No need to raise it.

What are you using to test phosphates?

 

[Dennis Cartier]

Phosphate is one of the hardest to control nutrients. It is prone to being unintentionally raised, difficult to intentionally lower, and frustratingly hard to keep elevated in a specific range. Every tank is different based on how much sand and rock you have to act as a reservoir of your phosphate. With lots of surfaces for it to bind to, it becomes a pretty large anchor that you have to work against.

I allowed my phosphate to get super elevated (0.90 ppm) and then ran a DIY LaCl reactor for a year or so to get it pulled back down slowly. I took the reactor offline at 0.15 ppm, but my phosphate has continued to decline. My chosen target range is 0.8 - 0.12 ppm, but as of today I am at 0.05 ppm, and that is after doubling my feeding for the past few weeks. Today I added some Reef Roids to the frozen food for the first time in years. Let's see if that slows the decline and perhaps reverses it.

 

[SamMule]

Add a few more fish and Feed more. Most of the acropora gurus agree that they key to success is heavy in heavy out.

 

[minus9]

Yes, your corals are starving. How big is the tank and what 3 fish? You should be feeding the fish several times a day, but small meals, not over feeding them. Depending on tank size, you probably need more fish that will feed your corals all day long (hence multiple feedings during the day). In the meantime, you can dose PO4, but break up the recommended dose and split it into two or three doses over the course of the day. But I would safely add more fish if you can? You can reduce your lighting a little bit as well, either with intensity or duration.

 

[SamMule]

Something about ammonium produced by fish waste is what the corals need. Not Nitrate/phosphate. I dunno. That's chemistry for smart people. @jda can explain how it all works.
All I know, is that as soon as I got on the "feed more" train, everything turned around for me.

 

[Kfactor]

The temperature is fine. No need to raise it.

What are you using to test phosphates?

The Hanna ulr