Toby Flenderson Posted June 15, 2012 Share Posted June 15, 2012 I just sold my last softies and am now officially an SPS only tank. I'm having a bit of a problem with my colors being a bit faded and washed out especially with blues, pinks and oranges. Ill list my tank specs below. I have tested for phosphates, nitrate and nitrites and all are untraceable using new elos kits. Helpful employee(forgot your name sorry! at saltwater fantaseas suggested my water was too clean. I've got 8 fish in a 90 gallon display, I feed a cube a day of mysis and dry pellet from an auto feeder in the morning. People have told me to use trace elements, strontium? I feel like everything is setup right, why aren't i getting those deep colors?Anybody have any suggestions? Comments? Thanks 90 Gallon aga 60 gallon sump w/ large refugium extreme 160 octopus skimmer 2x 250 watt phoenix 14k's alk 9 calcium 420 mag 1300 phos 0 nit 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stylaster Posted June 15, 2012 Share Posted June 15, 2012 Check for trace amounts of copper, make sure no metal is in the tank. Also, add a drop of iodine once a week it helps the zooanthallae grow. Also how new are you bulbs and how close are the corals to them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toby Flenderson Posted June 15, 2012 Author Share Posted June 15, 2012 Check for trace amounts of copper' date=' make sure no metal is in the tank. Also, add a drop of iodine once a week it helps the zooanthallae grow. Also how new are you bulbs and how close are the corals to them?[/quote'] the bulbs are about 4 months old, they are in reefstar housings and the glass on the housing is about 10" above the water. Any suggested copper test kit? ill try the iodine. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
illcssd Posted June 15, 2012 Share Posted June 15, 2012 Next time you swing by, I'll test your copper for you. I have a good salifert test kit for copper we can use. I highly doubt it's copper though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisW Posted June 15, 2012 Share Posted June 15, 2012 How old is the tank? How long have the sps been in it? Are they colonies or frags? If you are not using GFO, I would definitely get that going. Be careful with the GFO if just starting out with it, it is powerful stuff. You might want to simultaneously start lowering your alkalinity to around 8 dKH to get it more in line with a "low nutrient" tank. How are you supplementing Ca and Alk? Ideally, IMO, a Ca reactor is the best for this if your tank is mainly SPS. If dosing two part, then dosing pumps dosing maybe 10 times a day is ideal. There is a little acronym I like to remember; "SPS" stands for, "Stability Promotes Success". Keep everything consistent. The other thing I would suggest is adding some actinic lighting. My preferred actinic supplementation is VHO using the URI Super Actinic R bulbs. Put a couple of them up there some how. Maybe mount them with a reflector off of your pendants. Kind of like "wings". Then just sit back, be patient and watch that tank take off. HTH Dennis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toby Flenderson Posted June 15, 2012 Author Share Posted June 15, 2012 Next time you swing by' date=' I'll test your copper for you. I have a good salifert test kit for copper we can use. I highly doubt it's copper though.[/quote'] Will do, thanks for the help today! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toby Flenderson Posted June 15, 2012 Author Share Posted June 15, 2012 How old is the tank? How long have the sps been in it? Are they colonies or frags? If you are not using GFO, I would definitely get that going. Be careful with the GFO if just starting out with it, it is powerful stuff. You might want to simultaneously start lowering your alkalinity to around 8 dKH to get it more in line with a "low nutrient" tank. How are you supplementing Ca and Alk? Ideally, IMO, a Ca reactor is the best for this if your tank is mainly SPS. If dosing two part, then dosing pumps dosing maybe 10 times a day is ideal. There is a little acronym I like to remember; "SPS" stands for, "Stability Promotes Success". Keep everything consistent. The other thing I would suggest is adding some actinic lighting. My preferred actinic supplementation is VHO using the URI Super Actinic R bulbs. Put a couple of them up there some how. Maybe mount them with a reflector off of your pendants. Kind of like "wings". Then just sit back, be patient and watch that tank take off. HTH Dennis Thanks Dennis, the tank has been going for about 2.5 years and has been about 90% sps from the begining. I started almost everything from a frag, most are colonies but there are some new frags. Ive been using a dual BRS reactor with carbon and GFO for about a year now and its been great. I have been running BRS recipe 1 from a dosing pump for a year and levels are steady. I have 1 T5 actinic goingwith a 454 bulb, i had 2 but it was too crowded with the pendants in there. I'm planning to switch to led's anyway this year. I feel like Ive had all this setup for a while now and my tank is very stable but still the color is weak. Ill buy a new piece of coral and it will stick out like crazy for a few weeks then blend in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toby Flenderson Posted June 15, 2012 Author Share Posted June 15, 2012 How old is the tank? How long have the sps been in it? Are they colonies or frags? If you are not using GFO, I would definitely get that going. Be careful with the GFO if just starting out with it, it is powerful stuff. You might want to simultaneously start lowering your alkalinity to around 8 dKH to get it more in line with a "low nutrient" tank. How are you supplementing Ca and Alk? Ideally, IMO, a Ca reactor is the best for this if your tank is mainly SPS. If dosing two part, then dosing pumps dosing maybe 10 times a day is ideal. There is a little acronym I like to remember; "SPS" stands for, "Stability Promotes Success". Keep everything consistent. The other thing I would suggest is adding some actinic lighting. My preferred actinic supplementation is VHO using the URI Super Actinic R bulbs. Put a couple of them up there some how. Maybe mount them with a reflector off of your pendants. Kind of like "wings". Then just sit back, be patient and watch that tank take off. HTH Dennis Thanks Dennis, the tank has been going for about 2.5 years and has been about 90% sps from the begining. I started almost everything from a frag, most are colonies but there are some new frags. Ive been using a dual BRS reactor with carbon and GFO for about a year now and its been great. I have been running BRS recipe 1 from a dosing pump for a year and levels are steady. I have 1 T5 actinic goingwith a 454 bulb, i had 2 but it was too crowded with the pendants in there. I'm planning to switch to led's anyway this year. I feel like Ive had all this setup for a while now and my tank is very stable but still the color is weak. Ill buy a new piece of coral and it will stick out like crazy for a few weeks then blend in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
illcssd Posted June 15, 2012 Share Posted June 15, 2012 Dennis, his nitrate and phosphates are undetectable, and he has a very well running refugium. I don't believe it's his phosphates, or his lighting. Alk at 9 is okay, but I'll agree I prefer it at 8-8.5. It's my opinion that he has too low of nutrients and not enough fish load/food for the corals to eat. Brown coloration is a sign of higher nutrients, but pastel is from lack of food for the zooxanthellae. I.e a zeovit system. It's a hard balance between low nutrients and enough food to balance that perfect color, but it's definitely possible. How old is the tank? How long have the sps been in it? Are they colonies or frags? If you are not using GFO, I would definitely get that going. Be careful with the GFO if just starting out with it, it is powerful stuff. You might want to simultaneously start lowering your alkalinity to around 8 dKH to get it more in line with a "low nutrient" tank. How are you supplementing Ca and Alk? Ideally, IMO, a Ca reactor is the best for this if your tank is mainly SPS. If dosing two part, then dosing pumps dosing maybe 10 times a day is ideal. There is a little acronym I like to remember; "SPS" stands for, "Stability Promotes Success". Keep everything consistent. The other thing I would suggest is adding some actinic lighting. My preferred actinic supplementation is VHO using the URI Super Actinic R bulbs. Put a couple of them up there some how. Maybe mount them with a reflector off of your pendants. Kind of like "wings". Then just sit back, be patient and watch that tank take off. HTH Dennis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigjohnwoody Posted June 16, 2012 Share Posted June 16, 2012 I was having similar issues and I'm 100% positive that my tank was too clean. I was running BRS Rox 0.8 carbon 24/7 changing it out every two weeks, also running GFO and changing it out monthly and I run a bubbleking 180 gen2 skimmer. I also did weekly water changes. Everything seemed healthy, but my colors were weak. I pulled my carbon off line and everything started to pop in less than 2 weeks. I was stripping out my nutrients faster than I could replace them. Try pulling carbon offline and see what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisW Posted June 16, 2012 Share Posted June 16, 2012 Toby, do you have an overall pic of the tank you can post? Dennis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toby Flenderson Posted June 16, 2012 Author Share Posted June 16, 2012 Man I should have posed this question a while ago, this is some great feedback! I change carbon and gfo often and that may be part of it. As far as water changes I do a 34 gallon change once a month somtimes even spaced out longer. Not sure if this is ok or part of the issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toby Flenderson Posted June 16, 2012 Author Share Posted June 16, 2012 Here is a full shot and the next picture tells the whole story. Above is a recently acquired Cali tort and below is a Oregon tort I have had since a frag. The difference is crazy. That small setosa is new as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
illcssd Posted June 16, 2012 Share Posted June 16, 2012 Is the Oregon tort rtn'ing, or is that new growth? If you're getting really good growth, it definitely points to low nutrients. Sps can grow awesome but will lack that deeper/richer color in those conditions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefnjunkie Posted June 16, 2012 Share Posted June 16, 2012 I have gone months with out water changes for what its worth and those pieces look like they have pretty good color(whistle) so I would rule the WC's out as part of the issue I feed my tank pretty well IMO but up until recently when the shaft on my skimmer broke I had zero nitrates and PO4 used to run around .03-.05. When I got back into it, I asked Travis at upscales what he did with his tanks that made them look so good and tried to do the same. oyster pheast phyto pheast strontium/molybenum ( or something close- to lazy to go look) Coral vite iodine My bet is on the phyto and oyster more than the rest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toby Flenderson Posted June 16, 2012 Author Share Posted June 16, 2012 Is the Oregon tort rtn'ing' date=' or is that new growth? If you're getting really good growth, it definitely points to low nutrients. Sps can grow awesome but will lack that deeper/richer color in those conditions.[/quote'] Good eye. That white spot is from where i just clipped off a big section to trade for the Cali. It has been defiantly growing very well. So should i start by doubling my feedings to 2 cubes plus pellet food or turn the reactor off or both? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toby Flenderson Posted June 16, 2012 Author Share Posted June 16, 2012 Is the Oregon tort rtn'ing' date=' or is that new growth? If you're getting really good growth, it definitely points to low nutrients. Sps can grow awesome but will lack that deeper/richer color in those conditions.[/quote'] Good eye. That white spot is from where i just clipped off a big section to trade for the Cali. It has been defiantly growing very well. So should i start by doubling my feedings to 2 cubes plus pellet food or turn the reactor off or both? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toby Flenderson Posted June 16, 2012 Author Share Posted June 16, 2012 I have gone months with out water changes for what its worth and those pieces look like they have pretty good color(whistle) so I would rule the WC's out as part of the issue I feed my tank pretty well IMO but up until recently when the shaft on my skimmer broke I had zero nitrates and PO4 used to run around .03-.05. When I got back into it, I asked Travis at upscales what he did with his tanks that made them look so good and tried to do the same. oyster pheast phyto pheast strontium/molybenum ( or something close- to lazy to go look) Coral vite iodine My bet is on the phyto and oyster more than the rest. So that's what it is! Your tank motivated me alot to get serious about coloring up! What am i looking for when i buy phyto? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefnjunkie Posted June 16, 2012 Share Posted June 16, 2012 Before I started the home brewing phyto I was using reef nutritions phytofeast-Its just with my water volume I cant afford buying itDOH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toby Flenderson Posted June 16, 2012 Author Share Posted June 16, 2012 You can say that again, its a beast! thanks to all for the advise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toby Flenderson Posted June 17, 2012 Author Share Posted June 17, 2012 I got a couple of new fish. And I did not turn my GFO completely off but I dialed down the flow a lot. I'm increasing my feedings now so we will see what happens. I'm not sure how long it will take to see results but I'll try to take an identical picture of the Oregon tort every week and post it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefnjunkie Posted June 17, 2012 Share Posted June 17, 2012 You may want to try some of the oyster feast and phyto feast, I know when I can see a difference when using those 2 Good luck-oh and that piece I got has already started to show color change(clap) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmike Posted June 17, 2012 Share Posted June 17, 2012 Feed more... ALOT more. I feed about a 4x4" section of PE mysis daily... If I had to guess how much that would be in cubes it would probably be 8-12 cubes daily on my 400 gallon system. I also will feed about 100 small NLS pellets daily. Most people who see how much I feed think I'm crazy but I have fat healthy fish that poop a lot and feed my corals for me. The only additive I use is a little amino acids from ELOS once weekly or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wopadobop Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 Not trying to start a poo flinging fight or anything. But , algae scrubbers do add food to a system. Wouldnt have to change anything. just add one and keep doing what your doing. Would allow you to feed more anyway. I have had very good success with mine. doesnt take much to make one either. just my two cents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alterego Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 All this advice is good, I would also think about adding some actinic light. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.