My SPS colors suck! Help!

[Squiers007]

Hey everyone, thought I would post here because I need others opinions on how to help my SPS coloration.

A bit of info on my setup... I have a standard 75 gallon display with a ~20gal sump. Lighting is from 4 54w T5's w/ individual reflectors, overdriven by an Icecap 660 ballast. The bulbs sit ~ 9in. above the surface of the water. I am using ATI bulbs and currently am using 2 Blue +, 1 Aquablue, and 1 Coral plus. I dose daily with BRS 2 part solution as well as there Magnesium. Last time I tested my parameters (about 1wk ago) they were as follows:

Temp: 79-81
pH: 7.9-8.2 (day/night fluctuation)
dkH: 10
Ca: 430
Mg: 1250 - trying to raise this slowly
P04: ~0
NO3: <2

My phosphates and nitrates are always super low due to my giant skimmer (Reef Octopus Extreme 150) and the fact that I only have 3 small fish so I don't feed much. I feed my corals daily with either phytofeast or oysterfeast. I will try and get some pictures up later today, but my coloration in my SPS are basically non-existent. Its as if they are all bleached out. The weirdest part is that everything is growing fairly quickly it just doesn't have much color. Any ideas for how to get my corals to color up would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[allan]

What are the sps in question?

My sps tend to be brightest along its growing parts. How old are your bulbs?

[Squiers007]

It is pretty much all of my SPS... I have several different Acro's, montipora's, pocillopora, and seriatopora. The ones I notice the lack of color the most on are the Acro's though. I have a picture of a green slimmer that I got from buck a few months back and it has grown really well, but has lost almost all of its color. I will get the picture up when I get home. I replace the bulbs ~ every 6-8 months. and most recently replaced them 2 weeks ago. But the color issue has been around for at least 8-9 months now, just can't figure it out... I'm thinking maybe I don't have enough light to get the corals to produce the fluorescent protective pigments?

[SinisterLou]

I had a 4x54 t5 unit on a 55 gallon with all of my sps sitting mid top or basically as high as I could put them. I even tried to stick two more bulbs under my canopy to see if that would work. I then realized that 6 bulbs a year was pretty expensive. So I switched over to some led units and growth really took off and so did the colors of some of my sps. Through my experience I can say it very well might be lack of light. Oh and you also have a small fish load, so your water might be a bit too clean. I personally took off my skimmer and just do regular weekly or bi-weekly water changes

[Squiers007]

I have been thinking about upgrading to LED's but am not sure I want to invest the money quit yet. Maybe I will try not running the skimmer for a few weeks and see what that does... or do you think adding a strip of 12 -14 3w led's would help? I was thinking about doing that before jumping into a full led replacement?

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[SinisterLou]

Well I tried that also and with panaroma module not the stunner. I ended up returning it cuz I couldn't see the light difference with the t5s on. Have you heard of aquavitro fuel? I would try no skimmer, add some fuel, keep the reef nutrition products going, and small weekly water changes. If you still don't see color coming out still after that. Then perhaps you might want to consider different lighting.

[Big_Pun]

color depends on a lot of factors, color of lighting used and elements used by coral for color. if your serious about sps then investing in red sea colors test kit would be help, test contains tests for potassium, iodine, and iron. i have a basic routine i used to dose, brightwells potassium, brightwells iodine, and kent marine trace elements(blue liquid), and feed coral frenzy and fuel(amino acids). just dose basic at first, test and adjust accordingly. oh yea iron controls greens and yellows but be careful if you dose it algae loves it too

[SinisterLou]

Big pun do you run bio pellets?

[Big_Pun]

Big pun do you run bio pellets?

yes. been keeping sps before bio pellets. thats what i dosed up until recently. now i use KZ's Seawater complex which has all trace elements except iron in one shot.

[SinisterLou]

How often do you do water changes? I am curious as to how other people treat there tanks. I too am addicted to color stix. I tried to bring interest to the sps forum by showing progression shots last night.

[Big_Pun]

How often do you do water changes? I am curious as to how other people treat there tanks. I too am addicted to color stix. I tried to bring interest to the sps forum by showing progression shots last night.


10g a month on a 85 gallon system, but im bumping it to 20g a month to see if i see changes and have to dose less.

[Squiers007]

Big_pun, I saw those test kits and after your recommendation I think I will go ahead and get them to see how my water is doing...

If I were to add in some LED's it would be a DIY project which might be fun to do on the side anyway, but I think I will start with the water chems and skimmer and see where that gets me. I will still try and get those pictures up later tonight so you can see what I'm talking about. Thanks everyone!

[CoryDude]

Oh and you also have a small fish load, so your water might be a bit too clean. I personally took off my skimmer and just do regular weekly or bi-weekly water changes

You got it. I've been keeping SPS for a while now and nutrients and dissolved organics are the key to deep colors. When I used the hiatt, which is basically bio-pellets on overdrive, my sps colors lightened because the water was striped clean of any organics. Even now, whenever my nitrates get to undetectable levels, the colors lighten. My sps do best when the no3 levels are between 2ppm-10ppm.

You levels seem fine. I'd recommend you increase the light output in the tank and add a fish or two. Phyto-feast, coral frenzy, and the like do a great job, but nothing beats a lot of fish poop. It basically builds your tank's food chain from the bacterial level on up.

[Bill S]

Yup, I agree with the above. I almost posted this earlier, but thought... Hmm. Hate to give bad advice.

I think you are too clean. I had the best colors when my nitrates were around 20 or so.

BTW, Cory, just connected my Hiatt to my discus tank again. Wow - the water is crystal clear. Let's see how the discus and plants do with it!

[Squiers007]

Thanks for the advice everyone. Turned off the skimmer last night and will keep it off for a couple weeks and I will plan on adding a couple other fish to the mix to see what that does. I also will be ordering the Red Sea test kits today. I will keep everyone updated on how things progress.

[Big_Pun]

well the great thing about bio pellets and using a big skimmer is you can actually feed your coral with no worries of adding too much nitrates, and if you use the right foods like zeovit stuff it doesnt add nitrates. i can do fuel, coral frenzy,zeo food 7, one each day for 5 days then 2 days off with no rise in nitrates. your skimmer will pull any extra stuff out. treat your tank like zeo tank look up how those guys run their low nutrient systems, its a lil more work but your in control and if you put the time you will get great results. if you dont want to do the work then running a traditional system with just a fuge is fine and you can have a good looking tank. the pics of my blue mili are 6 months of growth under t5, and bio pellets

http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu357/stangchris/926c6cf2.jpg

http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu357/stangchris/0b84c55a.jpg

[Squiers007]

I have looked into doing Zeovit in the past, but it seems to be so darn expensive that I don't think I want to go that route. We will see were this plan gets me and re-evaluate from there. Im all for upgrading my lights if it comes down to it, just have to convince the wife is all!

[Big_Pun]

I have looked into doing Zeovit in the past, but it seems to be so darn expensive that I don't think I want to go that route. We will see were this plan gets me and re-evaluate from there. Im all for upgrading my lights if it comes down to it, just have to convince the wife is all!

you just need to use there foods for coral, they are very concentrated and last a while. zeos Milwasser(sea water complex) is a great all in one for trace elements. then all the coral foods they offer are great too. you are in a way doing a zeo system with bio pellets "low nutrient".

[Goofball310]

ULNS is not bad for SPS coloration as long as you are replacing trace elements that are depleted. The point of ULNS is to strip the tank of nutrients that promote algae growth and inhibit SPS growth. If you go to the zeo forums you will find a lot a people that first get into the ULNS system forget about dosing trace elements, and complain about the same thing you do which is no coloration but good growth.

To replace the trace elements you can do weekly water changes, dosing, and the combination of both. Before dosing I would test as Big_Pun has suggested earlier.

Here's a vid of Reefcube's 45 with low bioload.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up87qLUodYw

[Big_Pun]

ULNS is not bad for SPS coloration as long as you are replacing trace elements that are depleted. The point of ULNS is to strip the tank of nutrients that promote algae growth and inhibit SPS growth. If you go to the zeo forums you will find a lot a people that first get into the ULNS system forget about dosing trace elements, and complain about the same thing you do which is no coloration but good growth.

To replace the trace elements you can do weekly water changes, dosing, and the combination of both. Before dosing I would test as Big_Pun has suggested earlier.

Here's a vid of Reefcube's 45 with low bioload.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up87qLUodYw


what he said lol.....well said Mark

[Squiers007]

Yea, I'm definitely going to get those test kits before I make any drastic changes. Finally got those pictures taken... please disregard the bubble algae( I'm getting it back under control slowly) Ok, the first picture is when I first got the green slimmer frag from buck27, and the 2nd pic is from tonight. Please don't be too harsh...



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[Squiers007]

Ok, messed up first post so here is the current picture.


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[SinisterLou]

You Know if that Slimer is in a high flow area that could have done it as well. It took me a while to figure out why mine wouldn't pop. I then realized it was getting way too much flow. The coral since then settled down and has a very nice color too it.

[Squiers007]

You Know if that Slimer is in a high flow area that could have done it as well. It took me a while to figure out why mine wouldn't pop. I then realized it was getting way too much flow. The coral since then settled down and has a very nice color too it.

I was thinking this might be the case too, but the slimmer is not the only one that is lacking in the color department. Pretty much all of the frags that I got from Buck have all lost a decent amount of color so I think the trace elements might be more of a factor than anything else. I'm planning on ordering the test kits today so I should know more sometime early next week.

[allan]

Man, I miss my green slimer. I've been itching to get another frag of it.

I had mine in a moderate flow. I found that, IME, the corals with the long PE did well when the PE would swing both ways (no pun), rather than either just floating or being swept in only one direction.

[Still Learning]

The only thing I would add to this thread is perhaps to slowly shut down your skimmer instead of all at once. You might cause a swing. Maybe one day on, then one day off...then two days off...until you get it where you want it.

[Big_Pun]

ive noticed when my skimmer and pellets are off coral will fully open up all night feeding

[Texreefer]

So just for the sake of discussion..let me pose this question..I don't use any reactors, biopellets..color enhancing trace elements, anything,, I only have a skimmer and a fuge.. skimmer runs 24/7 and is always pulling out junk. I do a semi-weekly 5 gal waterchange which is roughly 8%. the only thing I dose is the BRS 2 part for calcium and Alkalinity and I have awesome color.. even better than these crudy pics I took. so unless your skimmer is WAY over-rated for your size tank and It is actually working that good, I don't know that turning off your skimmer is going to make that much of a difference..I will admit I know nothing about bio pellets so i cant comment there other than to say i keep it as simple as possible and keep up with maintenance and i'm very happy with my results
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o258/itili/021-1.jpg
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o258/itili/022-1.jpg

[Big_Pun]

mike your doing exactly what your suppose to do, when i had my bicube 29 with 6 bulb t5 and did 5g weekly water changes no dosing at all i had a great looking tank. its all about replenishing minerals and taking out nutrients.

[lt1z28]

My setup is the same as Texreefers except I rarely do waterchanges. Colors have always looked good. After trying gfo my colors looked even better.

[Squiers007]

Yea, I'm thinking now that my skimmer may be slightly to big for my tank considering my light bio-load. My test kits should be here early next week so we will know more then. Tex, what lighting do you have on your tank? I really love the colors you have and wish mine looked that good!

[Texreefer]

Yea, I'm thinking now that my skimmer may be slightly to big for my tank considering my light bio-load. My test kits should be here early next week so we will know more then. Tex, what lighting do you have on your tank? I really love the colors you have and wish mine looked that good!
It is the 120 watt ecoxotic LED with two white/magenta stunner strips on each side.. very basic and simple but i really like it

[Squiers007]

Got my Red Sea Pro Colors test kit in the mail yesterday. Plan on running chems either tonight or tomorrow night and will post the results once finished.

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[Big_Pun]

have fun with that 45 min potassium test, they all take a lil practice to do.

[Squiers007]

Haha, I'm sure I will. Hopefully it won't take too much practice considering I do water testing everyday at work!

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[profntbtr]

here is an article i discovered a while back detailing what colors are indicators of deficiency in what trace elements. it should help you out. http://reefbuilders.com/2008/09/03/guide-of-sps-coral-coloration-make-them-more-vivid-bright/ i have been using sealab no.28 blocks with part one B-ionic, and also been dosing the last bit of reef plus i had in the fridge from years ago, but colors have been perking up, and growth is awesome as well. The purple bonsai i have is actually turning purple, as opposed to neon brown. At the lfs i discovered that they had discontinued the reef line and now were focusing on the aquavitro line, so i picked up some fuel and am waiting to see how that will affect my corals

[rrasco]

I think I'm starting to have this problem too. I don't have many SPS, just a red planet and an efflo, but neither have shown much growth or colors. The red planet has grown just a bit, but I can see the colors have started to recede. I can see new branches forming, but they are solid white. I'm thinking I'm missing some trace elements. Not to say I have been neglecting my tank, but I have been kind of leaving it alone to run it's course while I have been building the 210.

The article linked above leads me to believe I am low on potassium, but I'm not convinced yet. I don't check params often, but when I did 2 weeks ago everything was spot on and nitrates were undetectable. Maybe the tank is too clean as some have mentioned in previous posts?

Tank rundown: 29g, marineland 100 skimmer, 96W T5 with10K/actinic bulbs. Sumped with fuge, emperor 400 in DT and a few powerheads. Not currently dosing any trace elements.

[Squiers007]

Hey everyone, sorry I haven't updated in a while. Anyway, got my Red Sea Colors test kits and low and behold, my Iron, Iodine, and Potassium were all low! So, I have decided to switch up my water change schedule(which I was not very strict about) from 20gal ~ once per month, to 5gal every week. I'm hoping this will enable my trace levels to remain higher without the need to dose any extra chemicals. I will probably do this for 1-2 months and try to test at least every 2 weeks to see how the levels are doing. If this does not get the colors to where I would like then I will add in some supplemental dosing. I am also planning on adding at least 1 strip of LED's to my lighting which should increase my PAR values as well. Any other suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks and wish me luck!