Brown Sps

[briand7878]

OK HERE ARE MY PARAMETERS
PH 8.1
ALK 3
CALCIUM 400
MAG 1300
NITRITE 0
TRATE LOW
Ok, I have noticed that 2 pieces of my sps are kind of brown. Their polyps still come out so i know their alive. They have been growing very slowly. I have a couple monti caps that look good and a couple monti digis that look good. I have never worried about my alk before today but i bought my first test kit for it a little while ago. Does it look like an acceptable number?, and why would some of them be brown.

 

[coral keeper]

What kind of lighting is on the tank and how many gallons is the tank? How long has the tank been up for? How long have you had the sps before they started turning brown? Whats the salinity? Whats your stock list? What other kinds of corals are there?

 

[digitydash]

What are you measuring by on the alk?If it is what I think ideal is like a 3.50/14 drops.If it is what I think you are on the low side of alk.
Here a chart for you.

 

[pinstripe]

I know what you mean about "browning". I don't have any sps but I have quite a few LPS and Softies and I gotta tell ya, I feel the same way, that my corals all get brown-er. Levels are all good, halide lighting, etc., but I think it has to do with me feeding spirulina flakes. I hate not to feed this stuff because it is so important, especially to grazers like my yellow tang, but I think it is the cause of some discoloration. I am currently reseaching some changes in flake foods, as well as feeding frozen more often to see if I can spot a difference. Only thing is it happens so slowly, I don't know if I will be able to determine if that is the problem or not!

 

[bang guy]

Just fyi - the vast majority of SPS in the wild are some shade of Brown.
If yours had color and then turned brown then all we can say is that something in their environment has changed. It could be less light (old bulbs, water turbidity), it could be more dissolved nutrients, it could be a temperature change. It's hard to say.

 

[niskyvaulter]

im not sure why pinstipe has brown corals with mh lighting. but corals are more of a brown yellow in lower lighting. thats why most corals in real reefs are brown and yellow (yes, good mh does provide more intense lighting than the sun). the reason that they look brown is because the phtosynthetic cells are brown, so if there isnt a lot of light, then the cells will reproduce to get the desired amount of energy. this will cause the coral to look brown. if there is a lot of light, then it will get rid of a lot of the cells, which makes corals show there true vibrant colors. thats why even if you have enough light to support a coral it will still look better under something stronger.

 

[briand7878]

Wow thats alot of replies. My lighting is 250 w MH,salinity 1.025,alk is 6 drops with the seachem test. Im not sure which one your using. With the seachem test what is the ideal spot for the alk test? Tank has been running for a couple of years with no losses. Size is 125 gallon.

 

[wangotango]

Have you tested phosphates?
-Justin