110 gal Mixed Reef Build. 180 gal System

bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lubeck http:///t/394626/110-gal-mixed-reef-build-180-gal-system/420#post_3531564
I need some help my blue acro. It has huge growth but has lost most of its blue color expect for the tips. All the new growth has great bright blue tips. The deep blue has turned to more of a brown color all over except for the tips. Currently it is sitting high in the tank and straddling between my two kessils but not directly under any of them.
So is it not enough light? Or not enough food? Don't think it's too much light because its brown. The thing is growing like a weed though.


I'm no acro expert so take my comment with a grain of Instand Ocean.

I've seen blue Acropora turn brown with really good growth under the lower light frequencies. Not the amount of light, the spectrum of the light.
 
lubeck

lubeck

Active Member
I think your right. But to be sure are you saying not the intensity but more the color/spectrum? Any comments for best color
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
Bob...theres an excellent thread over on RC regarding SPS coloring. An excellent read and might shed some insight on what your dealing with. It could be a possibility of to much light and nutrient poor in regards to color. There is excellent info on the thread and might also be a deficiency in your supplements. Appears from my reading most of us assume we are getting all are elements such as potassium, iodine and something else through water changes.... Contrary to popular belief it might be false depending on salts used.
Some people have had success dosing aminos bit again I'd refer you to the SPS coloring thread for your own reading.
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Bob,

I would also like to share with you information that I have read in books and from opinions on a larger forum. While I haven't had success recently (and I know why now!) I can try to give you some ideas...

When a tank is nutrient poor it turns SPS pale... and then you hit them with a ton of light to make up for it, that just goes on a downward spiral. What you should be aiming for is about 500PAR about where the branches are. By decreasing the light on the stressed SPS frags, it forces them to turn a darker color to gain more light in their tissues.

Also, if they are turning pale and you don't want to turn your lights down, I would recommend starting to feed the tank more, to make sure that phosphate doesn't drop too rapidly. Phosphate should be somewhere between 0.05 and 0.03. Once you stare removing too much phosphate, the frags can't phosphoralize in their cells, causing stunted growth, pale color and perhaps death.

I also agree with Shawn, sometimes a different salt mix can make a big difference.
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
Not totally knocking salt mixes but as we all know some offer mote trace elements than others. That's why we always see the debates on salt mixes. If you looke at thr super thriving, colorful systems take a peak and gander as to what their doing. Not a 1 size fits all scheme but if you look at a lot of the TOTM tanks you'll find most are dosing mote than the "average" guy to obtain what they are after. Be it Zeo, brightwell to name a few.....
As Seth pointed out light and food will influence the pigmentation the coral takes on..
 
lubeck

lubeck

Active Member
Bob...theres an excellent thread over on RC regarding SPS coloring. An excellent read and might shed some insight on what your dealing with. It could be a possibility of to much light and nutrient poor in regards to color. There is excellent info on the thread and might also be a deficiency in your supplements. Appears from my reading most of us assume we are getting all are elements such as potassium, iodine and something else through water changes.... Contrary to popular belief it might be false depending on salts used.
Some people have had success dosing aminos bit again I'd refer you to the SPS coloring thread for your own reading.
Crazy I'm on page 11 of that very thread.(is it the one about LEDs and sps color)? I'm learning but nothing jumping out at me now. I like the idea of reading about the totm threads to see what they are doing. Good idea. I haven't tested my phos lately so I will in the next couple of days.
I've been using aqua salinity salt and dose alk cal and mag and kalk. I feed the tank at least 2-3 times a day.
Thanks all! any other suggestions I'm all ears
 
lubeck

lubeck

Active Member
My skimmer impeller has melted and is offline. Can't find a replacement either. I have cleaned that pump at least 4 times in the past 6 months since I bought it new. Bummer.
 
edat

edat

Member
That sucks.
I hope you have a spare that you can use until you get that one fixed. Your tank is doing great I would hate to have that happen.
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
Bob have you tried contacting Vertex directly? I remember contacting them and they were quite expedient. I will see if I can dig up the old emails and a contact for you. Your skimmer has the red dragon pump?
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
That sucks man! I hope you can get it fixed soon. I've never had an impeller melt, but I have had a pump casing swell due to heat, causing the magnet to stop rotating the impeller. Could you post a pic? I'm interested in seeing what happened.
 
lubeck

lubeck

Active Member
I did. Tank is going okay. Not had a lot of time with the tank lately. I've been considering changing out my lighting. Not really happy with my sps colors since I started the tank I'm fairly certain my parameters are well within the sps range to thrive.
 
lubeck

lubeck

Active Member
Going to be trading out my kessils in the next few weeks. I just can't keep the right colors with sps. Lps and softies are great. Anyway going to either a radium t5 setup or a PAC sun t5 led hybrid or ati led powermodule I'm not doubting kessil could work but prob need at least one or two more for a total of 4-5 on a 5' tank.
Got a few new pieces today






 
lubeck

lubeck

Active Member
Well I just bought the ATI 60" 4x75W LED & 4x80W T5 LED Powermodule. We will see how it does with LEDs.
 
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