struggling

[cwb_reeftank]

ok ive tried sps many times now and when I get them they are fine for a few days and bam they turn white. I have a green montipora and is doing fine. all of my parameters are stable the only slight problem I have is that my nitrates are at 40ppm im going to check it tomorrow and I do a 15 gallon water change every week. well I went to a frag swap two weeks ago and I got some sps frags. I got a strawberry shortcake, tyree poker star, and a few others well everything that I have kept at the bottom of my tank stall has color but one. and my poker star started to bleach so I moved it up a little and it looked better but now not so much. I also moved another sps frag towards the top. it had color when I moved it but now its a little white. I don't know if its my lights or not. or something else. its a 55 gallon tank and I have a t5 metal halide combo. It has 4 t5 bulbs and two metal halide bulbs. I have about 5-6 Inches above my tank. 2x Odyssea 250W DE HQI Bulb 15000K and 4x Odyssea 54W T5 High Output Bulb Actinic Blue. any help or tip would be fantastic I also have a frogspawn and hammer coral that are doing fantastic and I got an acan that looks great

 

[sharkboy99999]

I think 40ppm is a little high.

 

[glb]

I think 40ppm is a little high.

Agreed. SPS need very low or even undetectable nitrates. I'm pretty sure that's your problem. You also need to figure out the source of the nitrates.

 

[cwb_reeftank]

What about my lights?

 

[afamousjohnson]

Those lights will hold sps well. Check into the nitrates. Sounds more like water. How long has the tank been up?

 

[cwb_reeftank]

It's been up for about 5ish years

 

[afamousjohnson]

Got any pics of the whitening you are experiencing on sps?

 

[Oscaror]

I think 40ppm is a little high.

I kept an acro at 180ppm

 

[Pete polyp]

What are the other parameters? Calcium and alkalinity?

 

[cwb_reeftank]

 

[cwb_reeftank]

Ca: 420, pH:8.0, phosphate: .5-.25, ammonia: 0, nitrite: 0, nitrate:20, dKH: was 12 but I cant test for it right now, mag: was at 1230 but I cant test for this right now either, salinity: 1.025, temp: 80

 

[cwb_reeftank]

??? tips? also I only have my metal halide on for an hour a day because I don't have a chiller but im getting two small fan to blow across the top to cool it down so I can have them come on for 6 hour while my t5 for 12

 

[sharkboy99999]

When my phosphate was at .25 my coral looked like yours now I'm lowering it and the colors are getting better and better as it lowers

 

[cwb_reeftank]

Ok and should I raise my lights to 10 inches instead of 5 or 6 if I leave my metal halides on for 6 hours?

 

[cjsreefaus]

phosphate is to high. I find it to have much more negative affect on coral . sps seem to deal with nitrate on a short term basis. reduce both if you can.

 

[cwb_reeftank]

I'm thinking about dosing vodka

 

[cwb_reeftank]

so should I raise my lights up or keep them where there at?

 

[cwb_reeftank]

they are all white now besides my green montipora it actually has a nice white band around it after I raised my lights 10 inches and started dosing vodka the only new coral that is still doing ok is my orange montipora my acans and the orange setosa but it has a branch that is a little brown everything is still the same as it recorded above

 

[cwb_reeftank]

my hammer and frogspawn are fine still though

 

[Reefing Madness]

LPS like the water a bit dirtier than SPS. SPS you need prestine water conditions. From what I see of your water, your Nitrates you need to keep them as close to 0 as possible. Your phosphates are way to high, and need to keep those at .05 and under.