SPS coloration question

[polarbear]

So I have several SPS frags in my tank. Some have good color and some don't. Does the heat from MH lights effect the color? I have one SPS frag that is spreading over the rock (this part has color) but the branches are bleached out. Not sure if its the lights or what. I also have a Hollywood stunner coral that has bright green eyes but the base color is still brown. All of my montiporas have good color. What could be the problem?

[CoryDude]

There's been all sorts of speculation on what can affect sps coloration. Heat from your halides will affect coloration indirectly by raising the water temperature. Sps like stability so temp fluctuations can impact color. Montiporas are pretty easy to keep, so whatever is affecting your sps doesn't bother the monti's.

When you say that some branches are bleached out, is there still tissue on the branches or is the skeleton exposed? If your losing tissue then start cutting away the exposed areas.

Can you post some specifics on your tank? Like water parameters and equipment specs?

Here are some things that I have found that affect sps colors:
- fluctuations in temp, alkalinity, ph, nitrates
- high nitrates and phosphates
- low alkalinity and calcium levels
- high organic levels
- pests such flatworms and red bugs or fish that nip
- high water temps
- light levels that are too high

[polarbear]

Ill have to wait until tomorrow to test the water again. As for tissue still on the frag it looks to still be there. The polyps still all come out. My water temp does change a lot from night to day. It's about 78 at night and 84 during the day with the mh lights on. I need to get a fan to see if it helps stabilize it. I think it might be the direct heat from the lights as the under part of the branches have color and the exposed part to the light is white.

[CoryDude]

84 is a little warm for acroporas. You may want to move some of the lighter corals down a bit to see if that helps.

[mkengr45]

Like Cory said, you could get all sorts of opinions on this. I've been doing this reef stuff for about 13 years, and the nicest tank I have ever seen had a photoperiod about half of what most people run. This was a guys tank that most "old timers" around here would recognize. I will also echo Cory's questions on things that effect color. If you sps is all ****ed off and retracted it won't be showing its true colors. The temperature swings you posted are pretty big. Are you using a controller of any kind to control a heater/fan/chiller or anything like that? Have any plots of pH?

[Paul28]

Like Cory said, you could get all sorts of opinions on this. I've been doing this reef stuff for about 13 years, and the nicest tank I have ever seen had a photoperiod about half of what most people run. This was a guys tank that most "old timers" around here would recognize. I will also echo Cory's questions on things that effect color. If you sps is all ****ed off and retracted it won't be showing its true colors. The temperature swings you posted are pretty big. Are you using a controller of any kind to control a heater/fan/chiller or anything like that? Have any plots of pH?


Was that Brians tank (Greenmako) WOW i miss looking at his tank shots thay almost look fake thay looked so good

[Big_Pun]

I heard brian got the ok on another tank... hope it's true!

[mkengr45]

Not Brian. An old ancient wise reefer. Ok maybe not ancient, but I saw better color out of this guys tank than any tank I have ever seen. This was long before LEDs, controllers, and all sorts of other nice gadgets and gizmos. Hint: biker guy, strombus, low tolerance for crap. Doubt anyone will figure this one out. You would have to have been on here a long time to know this guy. Basic ideology was that shortened photoperiod had a positive effect on pigmentation on the majority of sps.

[mkengr45]

To simplify things, try shortening the photoperiod and see what effects it has. Temp peak should go down, but you may see better colors for other reasons. What is your dosing regimen?

A common trend is that people think they need to blast sps with high light. This is not exactly a good thing. I've got crappy colors out of sps that have too much light as opposed to not enough light. The situation gets more complex when you introduce LEDs.

[Big_Pun]

I like how keeping my low nutrient has helped with color. keeps them from getting too dark. too low of nutrient gets a pastel look like a zeovit tank. my old 70 was like that. 6 bulb t5 on it
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/01/26/amyrenaq.jpg

[polarbear]

I think I'm going to try moving the SPS frags lower in the tank. I'm new to running MH lights on my big tank and I'm the one that figured all of my SPS needed to be towards the top so that they got enough light. Ill move them and see how they do. Thanks for all of the advice.

[allan]

Todd had one of the most insane SPS tanks I have ever seen. Huge growth and spectacular colors. He used MH and the VHOs which I believe he swore by.

But his temperature was dead on. Used a chiller.

I'd recommend a fan and a controller or a chiller to keep your temp stable.

[allan]

I think I'm going to try moving the SPS frags lower in the tank. I'm new to running MH lights on my big tank and I'm the one that figured all of my SPS needed to be towards the top so that they got enough light. Ill move them and see how they do. Thanks for all of the advice.

Dude, I didn't read that post in time. If you recently went through a change in lighting, I'd definitely start off lower in the tank. My red planet looked radically different if I had it too high in the MH tank, whereas with the T5 I had to keep it a bit higher to get it to look good. With LED it looks like somewhere in the middle is the ticket. I don't recommend chasing anything rapidly, but for the health of the coral I think it's common practice to always start lower and move higher as necessary.

[polarbear]

I know. That was stupid on my part. I just have one SPS that's causing problems. I'm going to move that one as well as some others lower in the tank.

As for using a fan to cool the tank. Does it need to be in the canopy blowing across the water or will it work the same if I have it blowing over the water in the refugium?

[allan]

I've used it in my sump and worked well. When I ran mh I used a big one over the top of my tank, worked very well.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Big_Pun]

you need to transfer heat out of the canopy keep it circulated. I think we talked about that at one time that about canopy and MH. I love my halides don't get me wrong but in a canopy they are tricky. that's why I run a fixture and open top.

[polarbear]

Ill try one over the refugium to see where the temp stays at. I have a canopy but its open across the back and has holes that someone cut out of both sides. If the fan doesn't work over the refugium then ill by a clip on one to put in the canopy

[BSJF]

Can you post a pic of the problem? Could be as simple as you have more new growth than you are used to. However, with the recent change in light, you could have converted to rapidly.

[KING]

Just get a chiller..theres a few up for sale.. I got a 400w over my 30x30 cube..so i slaped one on.. And now my temperature stays at 78 degrees has a little bit of evaporation so I put an ATO a few days ago..good luck