What causes SPS to lose color?

[Calm Blue Ocean]

I most commonly sps lose colors when theres a lack of nutrients.

This is one I'm curious about as well. I'm under the impression that there are nutrients and then there are nutrients. Is it possible that I can have elevated nitrate and phosphate but they are still somehow not useful to the corals?

 

[Utubereefer]

What’s your social security number?

 

[TheDragonsReef]

Both tanks are about 1 1/2 years old
Tank 1 - 50g AIO dead rock but has been supplemented since with live rock rubble from AquaBiomics
2xClownfish, 1xMidas Blenny, 1xRed-Lined Wrasse, 1xPink Streaked Wrasse
Smidgen of pellets in the morning and 1/4 to 1/2 cube of frozen in the evening, 1tsp live phyto daily (Reef Nutrition)
Nitrate 24, Phosphate 0.3
No algae issues, had dinos about a year ago
(has faded corals)

Tank 2 - 10g AIO live rock from LFS that I had in a previous year old system
1xYasha Goby
Tiny amount of pellets spot fed morning and night
Nitrate undetectable, PO4 beyond the top of my tester
No algae issues
(the place corals go to recover)

For tank 1 id try to bring nitrates and phosphates down if phosphates are at 0.3 thats pretty high for sps. If 0.03 then id try to raise them a bit. I aim for 5-15ppm nitrates and 0.06-0.10 phosphates my sps tank. Considering they are doing better in your tank with lower nitrates id think that id be going after the high nitrates first

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

There are so many factors that could impact color. What’s your lighting and dosing parameters?

I have Radion xr15 Blues set on an AB+ schedule on the 50g dosing only 3ml All-For-Reef daily which keeps alk pretty much rock steady, weekly water changes of 10%, has an ATO and skimmer. The 10g tank has a small AquaKnight v2 running 100% blue and violet with 25% white, no dosing, gets water changes of up to 50% once or twice a month and manual top offs, no skimmer.

I have some corals in the nano that really looked like lost causes...some montis, birdsnest, even a cyphastrea, all coloring up and growing. I'd love to clear out the frag rack and get them back in the big tank. It's getting crowded in there!

 

[Utubereefer]

What’s your mechanical filtration like? Do you clean detritus from sump/sand bed?

 

[PeterC99]

I have Radion xr15 Blues set on an AB+ schedule on the 50g dosing only 3ml All-For-Reef daily which keeps alk pretty much rock steady, weekly water changes of 10%, has an ATO and skimmer. The 10g tank has a small AquaKnight v2 running 100% blue and violet with 25% white, no dosing, gets water changes of up to 50% once or twice a month and manual top offs, no skimmer.

I have some corals in the nano that really looked like lost causes...some montis, birdsnest, even a cyphastrea, all coloring up and growing. I'd love to clear out the frag rack and get them back in the big tank. It's getting crowded in there!

What’s the max Point Light Intensity on the Radions? What does 3ml o f TM A4R get you in terms of Alk & Calc?

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

For tank 1 id try to bring nitrates and phosphates down if phosphates are at 0.3 thats pretty high for sps. If 0.03 then id try to raise them a bit. I aim for 5-15ppm nitrates and 0.06-0.10 phosphates my sps tank. Considering they are doing better in your tank with lower nitrates id think that id be going after the high nitrates first

It used to be over 1 PO4. For real. So that 0.3 has been progress slow and steady. I keep wanting to pursue the PO4 but the fact that the nano is a phosphate factory without nitrate... Makes me wonder if it's one of those weird ratio things. So yeah, I agree about the nitrate. Time to get the Brute can out again.

I just keep playing this game between the tanks...how's the flow compare, how's the light compare, how do nutrients compare. The answer is always that the nano shouldn't be working but it does.

 

[Utubereefer]

I’ve always heard two tanks started exactly the same will always end up different.

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

What’s your mechanical filtration like? Do you clean detritus from sump/sand bed?

I use dual density filter floss replaced every few days in both tanks. I do a deep clean of the back chambers about every 6 months and syphon sand every week or every other week.

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

I’ve always heard two tanks started exactly the same will always end up different.

It's funny because I've seen this scenario here many times, too.

 

[Utubereefer]

I use dual density filter floss replaced every few days in both tanks. I do a deep clean of the back chambers about every 6 months and syphon sand every week or every other week.

I saw a brs video where they change mechanical filtration every other day for best results reducing nitrate and phosphate. That’s what I do. And I keep my fingers crossed

 

[X-37B]

In my 120 I target no3 <5 po4 <.1.
For me when po4 goes up colors go down.
I do not feed the corals.
I dose trace daily.
I feed 15 fish heavy at 8+ cubes a day.
After adding my or3 light bars to my halides colors also improved.

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

What’s the max Point Light Intensity on the Radions? What does 3ml o f TM A4R get you in terms of Alk & Calc?

I'm measuring about 250-300 par with the lights at 45% intensity, all channels at 100%. I really need to test calcium again (I started another thread earlier today asking for tips on that test because my results always come out lower than ICP) but last ICP test said 417. Alkalinity is steady at 9.1. I get a little variation in consumption some weeks but never more than a .1 variation tested every other day with Hanna.

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

I'm measuring about 250-300 par with the lights at 45% intensity, all channels at 100%. I really need to test calcium again (I started another thread earlier today asking for tips on that test because my results always come out lower than ICP) but last ICP test said 417. Alkalinity is steady at 9.1. I get a little variation in consumption some weeks but never more than a .1 variation tested every other day with Hanna.

I should add the 50 is only 16" deep

 

[Utubereefer]

I love my supplemental or3 bars. I have a blue and daylight. My gen4 xr30s definitely needed a pop

 

[jmichaelh7]

There are so many factors that could impact color. What’s your lighting and dosing parameters?

Beautiful …

what about nitrates ?

 

[PeterC99]

I'm measuring about 250-300 par with the lights at 45% intensity, all channels at 100%. I really need to test calcium again (I started another thread earlier today asking for tips on that test because my results always come out lower than ICP) but last ICP test said 417. Alkalinity is steady at 9.1. I get a little variation in consumption some weeks but never more than a .1 variation tested every other day with Hanna.

I get 600 par at the top of my aquarium with 80% light point intensity and 100% schedule.

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Here's a recent FTS. As you can see it's not like I have a tank full of dying things just a bit of a repeating pattern of unhappy montis in particular. I have a RRC Red Roses monti cap that looks healthy in the 50 but hasn't really grown ever. I broke a piece off it while cleaning a while back and threw that onto a frag plug in the nano. It's now bigger than the one in the 50 and it was just a chip! I sometimes think I'd feel better if the SPS corals didn't do well in either tank then I'd just say "I guess I can't grow those" but then they have to go and grow well in the nano, leaving me asking "what's different?"

I get 600 par at the top of my aquarium with 80% light point intensity and 100% schedule.

I admit I don't totally trust the Seneye. But this is part of what prompted the initial question. The kneejerk feeling was that "loss of color is too much light" but my gut kept telling me that's not true. I've searched around for other people's xr15 par numbers and they seem to unfortunately be all over the map (with a few recently reporting very low numbers) but even the BRS video on the xr15 gave me the impression I might be underlighting the corals (suggesting closer to 60% for LPS dominant). I suppose I can increase the overall schedule and set an acclimation timer. If it gets worse, I'll try something else. If it gets better, yay! In the meantime, I think I'll go ahead and order up a pair of ICP tests but I imagine they won't be testing until after the holidays now.

 

[2una]

I've a setosa that's been gradually fading over a number of months and an encrusting monti that lost tissue color

As you can see it's not like I have a tank full of dying things just a bit of a repeating pattern of unhappy montis in particular.

For monti's visually complaining for me its #1 lack of iron or #2 low iodine #3 potassium
Iron disappears out fast so if you start adding a drop or 2 per day to see if you get any improvement it won't be a big deal.

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

For monti's visually complaining for me its #1 lack of iron or #2 low iodine #3 potassium
Iron disappears out fast so if you start adding a drop or 2 per day to see if you get any improvement it won't be a big deal.

I see iron mentioned increasingly. AFR has iron and iodine but I'm dosing so little that it might still be insufficient. Definitely worth investigating. Is there a test for iron aside from ICP? My last ICP did show low iodine and did not detect any iron.