How to improve sps color

[hvusalt]

i have sps dominated tank and was set up couple months ago. all corals are doing well and grow fast and happy but their colors aren't there yet. my water is in checked in term of CA, Alk, Meg....i am current dosing acropower twice a week and osyter feast twice a week. my suspect is that my tank is too young and less Nutritions or tank is too clean. my questions are:

do i need to feed the fishes more?
do we have any thing that enrich the colors?
or i just wait for my tank get older with more Nutrition?
is there anything to do with lighting- cause i know LED makes colors pop ? current running metal halide and T5 combo- 10 hours t5 and 5 hour metal halide per day

thank is a 120 gallon with sump.

thanks for inputs and suggestions

 

[RMc]

Hey, I've just gone through this myself and have done a ton of research.

First, some questions.

1. -What sort of lighting are you using? How long are your lights on per day? Do you know your par readings?
2. -What is your Alk and CA? Is your Alk very stable? How are you keeping it stable?
3. -What is your Nitrate and Phosphate level?
4. -How much do you feed, and how many fish do you have?
5. -How are you filtering and are you carbon dosing?

Why I ask the above questions:

1. -Metal Halide and or T5 are proven technologies, LEDs are inconsistent as far as coral coloration. That said, I am using LEDs and am determined to make them work. If your coral are brown, you likely do not have enough light. If your coral are bleached, you may have too much light for your nutrient level.
2. -Stable Alkilinity is necessary for good color - i've read no more than a .5 swing per day. Alkalinity levels should be appropriate for your nutrient levels and lighting. If you are running an ultra low nutrient solution your Alk should be lower (closer to NSW) based on heaps of anecdotal evidence.
3. -Nitrate and phosphate levels should not be 0.00. If your nitrates are 0 you will definitely have pale coral. I increased my nitrates from 0 to 2ppm and noticed an immediate deepening of the color on my coral (within 3 days). If you have to, dose something like KNO3 to increase nitrate levels.
4. -Feed as much as you can without increasing Nitrate / Phosphate / Algae growth to unacceptable levels
5. -If you are filtering using GFO or Carbon be careful that you are not stripping the water. I would run carbon passively (bag in the sump) rather than in a reactor for this reason. Carbon only lasts a day or two in a reactor anyway. If you are filtering using carbon dosing again...be careful that you are not overdosing carbon sources and stripping the water of nitrate / phosphate. Algae needs N/P/K but so does coral.

 

[wolffman1992]

First, stability is key with SPS.

Second, There are many trace elements that are linked to bringing out certain colors in SPS. For example iodine and potassium. When dosing these trace elements it is extremely important that you also monitor levels to avoid overdosing. While these are thought to aid in SPS coloration typically your salt mix will replenish these levels safely and dosing such elements will be of little use.

Third, high nutrients or lack of light are the most common suspects that will lead to coloration loss. Personally I run GFO, skim heavy, carbon dose, and feed lightly. I add aminos and coral foods to the tank everyday because it is my thought that these carbon sources are much cleaner and more beneficial to the corals than allowing nutrients to build up from fish and food waste. The addition of Acropower will actually further a lack of coloration in your sps if your water is not extremely clean. The break down of proteins from the frozen fish food you add to your tank has all the amino acids your corals need if you are not running a low nutrient system. This is not to say occasional dosing won't benefit your SPS. To conclude my school of thought with SPS is essentially this:

1.) have in place effective nutrient export systems (large skimmer, carbon, gfo)
2.) and add clean sources of nutrients by dosing

This is not to say my school of thought is the only way, I have seen some of the most incredible tanks that defy everything previously stated but most of these are mature tanks.

One last thing, SPS corals typically require a settling in period before they begin to color up and start growing in captivity. This period can be as long as 6 months. These extremely sensitive corals are (in most cases) taken from the ocean, shipped thousands of miles away, sent to a wholesale distributor, then to a LFS, and finally to your tank. Recovery from this stress can take months even in the most adequate tanks. Purchasing aquacultured pieces is one way to reduce stress on the coral and ensure (again in most cases) that coral will remain the same color in your tank.

Hope this helps

 

[s_kelley]

Mine all turn this intense white color after a few weeks lol
****dead***
No advise from me lol

 

[luu78]

Anyone tried dosing the LIVE Phycopure Zooxanthellae in a bottle from Algagen? Multiple species in 2 clades from clams and SPS. It supposed to help with coral acclimation in reducing stress.

Sent from my LG-D851 using Tapatalk

 

[dz6t]

What bulbs in the metal halide and t5?

 

[hvusalt]

some update about tank info:

-the tank was set up couple months old but basilly this was a transfer tank meaning i used all live rocks, some water, bactiria from the cycled tank to this new tank including some sps from the old tank. so it was almost instant cycled.
- as mentioned light is 250w metal halide and 4 ATI bulbs( two super blue and two coral extra..) combo and 5 hours for halide and 10 hours for T5
- my Alk is between 11-12 range and my CA is 450-460 range. the Mag is 1350 and i run a GEO reactor to stable my Alk and Ca
- Nitrate is around 0.6-0.8 and Phosphate is around 0.05. these two elements may be lot that acuracy due to my old test kit but i believe these two numbers are low due to my nutrients export method
- there are 4 fish - a yellow tang, a naso, a powder blue, and clown fish and 5 shirmps. couple snails. i try to feed them dately now with a bit of frozen and some seaweeds or some pallets.
- no GFO but i run carbon reactor and a good skimmer
- i amlooking into trace elements such as red sea color up and see if these help
- for lighting, i just lift up my light about 6 more in from water surface total about 15"-16" to see if the color is better cause i think the light is to intensive for some new frags.noted all my new frags were came from aquacultured buddies.
- for the medal halide bulbs i belive these were Phonix but i am not 100% positive. any suggestion for good bulbs for it and where to buy?
- water change every two weeks with 10 percent

*** i try to do avoid dosing and keep the system simple***

 

[wolffman1992]

If those are your actual phosphate levels those are rather high for an SPS tank. More water changes or a GFO reactor can help with this. Also how much water volume do you have? If you're looking to add trace elements easily to the tank one way to do this is to use Aquaforest's Elements Strong product. Basically its like the balling method in that your trace elements will be mixed in with your ALK and Calc. Trace elements are absorbed at rates similar to that of ALK and Calc so this method is easy. You simply add the elements to your Alk and Calc containers. This method to me is the easiest way to do this. I am not too familiar with the Red sea products but if you are going to dose those liquids right into the tank water every day it might begin to become a hassle.

 

[hvusalt]

hi i like this Aquaforest's Elements Strong product but only found the liquid can you send me a link with ball or pellet that i can put in my ca reactor? thanks

 

[G.T]

you mention 250 watt halide, what temp bulb? The Kelvin means a lot on colouration and rate of growth!

 

[this is me]

SPS are very strange creatures....

 

[KSC]

What size tank do you have? What reflector/fixtures are you using? 15" is pretty high up off the water for t-5's and most mh setups. I'd be lowering the lights....

 

[wolffman1992]

plus 1 on 15" being too high for T5 and MH. You probably wont need to supplement your trace elements because you are running a calcium reactor . The effluent from your reactor should be providing all the trace elements you need.

 

[hvusalt]

it is a Planet II Elos 36" 250w 4 T5 combo. I will low it down to 10" from the surface and see. the tank is a 120 gallon with 48"x24"x24"

 

[hvusalt]

oh man lowed to 10" from the water and it looks very bright. hopefully it don't burn out all my sticks! the only thing I can see is how happy these clams with the bright light-they are fully open.

 

[jdeb101]

RMc, you mention carbon in a reactor is only coo good for day or two. Jk, where did you get this info? I've never heard that before.

 

[nemodan]

SPS are very strange creatures....

Like humans...... ::

 

[KSC]

You might want to cut your photo period in half then ramp it up over a few weeks.

 

[PSU4ME]

I'm of the thought that your high alk will get you growth but at the expense of color. Low nutrient tanks also have low alk. I used to run my sps tank around 7-7.5. Never liked it when the alk was high.

 

[bdaley]

Bryan's 120 was picture perfect.