Corals Browning

[bacchus_fl]

I have a 125 that I set up about 6 months ago that I tranfered from a 75. It has 2 MH 400W 20Ks and 2 160W VHOs 50/50.
All of my parameters are in check but some of my corals seem to be dull in color or brown. Pieces that I know are different colors are just plan brown. Everything seems to be doing great growth wise just a lack of color.
What could cause this?
Thanks in advance for your help and let me know if you need additional info.
Jason

 

[chilwil84]

stress like a fish picking or u moving them around can cause it. the amount of flow (usually to low) can cause it. phosphates, if you can read them you may have to much because they are used up quickly. the age of your bulbs because they decrease in intensity over time

 

[bacchus_fl]

No phosphates, and no fish picking on them. The bubls in the MHs are probably about 6 mo old and the VHOs are about 4mo old. I haven't moved them since i placed them in the tank either. I also have pretty good flow with a 6 output CLS at about 2400GPH and a 2100GPH return pump.
Thank you for the suggestions. Any other ideas?

 

[kingfish8302]

I heard and read around that you want to change your bulbs every 5 to 6 months.

 

[bacchus_fl]

Really? I have always gone about 12 months before replacing my bulbs but I don't think that is the problem since these corals have never had color in this tank.

 

[chilwil84]

do your sps open fully during the day or do most open more during the night i have a flame angel and never catch him but pretty sure he likes to pop my sps occasionally and this is the normal reaction to it happening. having the flow is not as important as directing it and as your corals grow they effect the flow and may not be allowing it to hit (not directly) your coral in they way it did in the beginning thus some may be browning out due to others growth

 

[chilwil84]

have you ever saw them with color because they may just be brown coral and there is nothing you can do to color them up 6-9 months for vho and 12 for mh you should be fine there

 

[bacchus_fl]

Nothing is overgrowing the flow direction. My corals all open completely during the day except my leathers which just seem to open when they feel like it.
I have seen them with color becuase some are frags out of friends tanks and some I have fragged and they regained some color in their tanks.
My friend runs basically the same system with the only differences being that he has a better skimmer and uses HQI bulbs whereas mine are a standard mogul base PFO.
Thanks for all the trouble shooting.

 

[doktorj99]

Where are they in the tank??....they may be need to move up......

 

[chilwil84]

was your friend running 20k 400w or something like 14k or 10k because 20k has significantly lower par so they may be wanting more light because that is what they were used to and dont like the change. dont remember the other posters name but he/she may be right and they may need to be a little higher

 

[teen]

when you went from the 75 to the 125, did you just transfer the sand bed over?

 

[bacchus_fl]

I was wrong that my bulbs are not 20K, they are actually XM 14K. My friend was actually using 20K. They are all in decent locations as far as proximity to the surface and are not being shaded by anything.
I did not transfer the sand bed over. My 125 was actually set up as a predator tank for about a year with just a small shark and eel so I left that sand bed in there.
The only problem I seem to be having is keeping my temp down, it runs about 82.5 by the end of the MH period. It doesn't seem to be stressing anything but I also know this isn't optimal. Could that be causing it? Also does it matter what brand bulbs you buy, could it be that these are XM bulbs?

 

[psusocr1]

your magnesium is too low.. iw ould bet on it! nice, steady higher magnesium equals good color...ive seen this personally on many tanks..get a salifert test kit,, only way to really knwo what its at accuratly and they will color up over time..
for sps you should tryt o acheive
ca 400-450
alk 9-11 dkh
mg 1250-1350 ( i always liked 1350 myself)
steady levels are important

 

[chilwil84]

what does your temp drop to when it is at its coldest the constant rise and fall in temp may be stressing them a few degrees is normal change for tanks but whats your swing in temp

 

[psusocr1]

82 during the day in the summer and 79-80 at night int he summer, a few degrees is fine but nothign drastic

 

[bacchus_fl]

My starting temp is 79.5 which is controlled by my RK2. I also do water changes about every 2 weeks or so.
I add 4 capfuls of Oceans Blend MAG every week and 3 caps of Kent Iodine and Kalk when needed.
The other noticable problems I have is my leathers tend to stay closed, my xenia don't pulse as much as most peoples and most recently my fogspawn has started to turn clear in a few spots.
I wish I knew what was going on.

 

[digitydash]

I would test all your supliment levels and water levels to make sure they are all on a good level.Most of the time you can find whats going on with it from their..

 

[psusocr1]

agreed.. iw ould bet the house that your levels are somewhere way low or way high...you need good test kits.. i only trust salifert especially when dosing for things liek kalk, calcium, magnesium etc. etc.. i had a horrible experience with bad test kits and calcium in my reef,, really messed things up.. i kept adding because it told me it was low but it was actually sky rocket higfh.. killed alot, alot looked horrible for about 4 months until it came back slowly when i adjusted

 

[bacchus_fl]

I agree that it seems like it is some kind of checmical imbalance but I am not sure what I should be testing for.
I have Salifert kits for Nitrates, PO4, and Calcium. What else do I need to get outside of the obvious KH and MAG kits?

 

[psusocr1]

KH and MAG can be one of the most important things with color iny our sps..many articles will suggest this and also my personal observation over time with my and other tanks