Reef nutrition

Stumped on what's causing this?

islandcreation

islandcreation

Guest
BARcard
I set up a reef tank for my cousin beginning of this summer. We bought 85 gallon plexi used on CL sump,skimmer (ETSS), return pump refugium everything needed for a cheap price. His parameters are good (using salifert test kits) bulbs are radiums since he liked my setup. He choose the bulbs and VHO supplements due to the colors of my tank. They have all grown about 1-2 inches too. What I don't understand is the frags that I gave him mid summer (shipped it to him) are all washed out or the tips aren't coloring up? What could be the cause? He uses ro/di water and everything is within parameters (tests, ALK, PH, mag, calc besides te normal nit,nitrates,ammonia etc...)

I guess its can almost relate to my tank and others. Why do some corals look great in my tank and a frag of the same piece looks like crap in another, vic versa? Thanks
 
[quote author=Zepplock link=topic=5722.msg71629#msg71629 date=1230360994]
Salinity? Use a good reference meter.
[/quote]

Salinity is 1.024 using a refractometer.
 
In my experience as a learning SPS farmer, is that it is really easy to bleach/fade an SPS by shocking it from it's prior conditions. Usually this is from me giving it too much light. Recovery from this is really really slow (I am still about 1/2 a year into recovering a fully bleached SPS but it is going well and almost good). Because of this, all new SPS are started out in medium light and slowly brought under the blasting MH.

(the above assumes it isn't a chemical parameter issue)
 
[quote author=Gomer link=topic=5722.msg71634#msg71634 date=1230362836]
In my experience as a learning SPS farmer, is that it is really easy to bleach/fade an SPS by shocking it from it's prior conditions. Usually this is from me giving it too much light. Recovery from this is really really slow (I am still about 1/2 a year into recovering a fully bleached SPS but it is going well and almost good). Because of this, all new SPS are started out in medium light and slowly brought under the blasting MH.

(the above assumes it isn't a chemical parameter issue)
[/quote]

So your SPS when bleached, did it have growth? I understand time is a factor to regain color but surely 6 months is a good amount of time. It seems as if his SPS are staying the solid base color but not getting the blue or purplish tips pending on the coral. What confuses me still is he's getting growth. I surely don't think its lighting since he's running two 250 radium 20k's. If I heard about all of the information on this SPS, I automatically say its the lighting (good parameters, and good growth). But it can't be?
 
Pignment yes. Growth, absolutely. But it is still missing a lot of the symbiotic algae. That in my experience is the really really slow part. I am running just a 250watt radium over a 40g.

If the corals are staying the same base color, then it isn't (likely) from too much light, but rather too little. Mine was the opposite. I also recall that too high of a nutrient level can cause faded colors.

...but I'm a relative noobie with SPS. Hopefully a seasoned veteran can chime in with sage advice.
 
[quote author=Gomer link=topic=5722.msg71636#msg71636 date=1230363528]
Pignment yes. Growth, absolutely. But it is still missing a lot of the symbiotic algae. That in my experience is the really really slow part. I am running just a 250watt radium over a 40g.

If the corals are staying the same base color, then it isn't (likely) from too much light, but rather too little. Mine was the opposite. I also recall that too high of a nutrient level can cause faded colors.

...but I'm a relative noobie with SPS. Hopefully a seasoned veteran can chime in with sage advice.
[/quote]

Thanks for your input. See this is where I am stumped (my scenario) I'd get frags from other members in northcoastreefers and some look great in my tank and some look crappy, but that would be the same in their tank also. I've gotten into SPS the end of 2007 due to peer pressure due to our local club members so I jumped on board.

Just waiting for one of the SPS masters to chime in? Oh yeah, why do some SPS grow a large spreaded out based before growing horizontal? While others just grow horizontal and I'm not confusing it for a tabling SPS either? =)
 
Jeremy has said to me in the past something like "you'll never get all of your coral to look perfect all the time". Basically, the conditions to make one coral shine, might be the conditions to dull out another (water parameter wise)
 
[quote author=Gomer link=topic=5722.msg71641#msg71641 date=1230364202]
Jeremy has said to me in the past something like "you'll never get all of your coral to look perfect all the time". Basically, the conditions to make one coral shine, might be the conditions to dull out another (water parameter wise)
[/quote]

Interesting....
 
That is true - most SPS frags I've given away folks have come back and said it more green, more this or that or not what I saw in your tank so on so forth.

There are so many different reasons why the colors and growth will not be same
 
[quote author=Raddogz link=topic=5722.msg71656#msg71656 date=1230400133]
That is true - most SPS frags I've given away folks have come back and said it more green, more this or that or not what I saw in your tank so on so forth.

There are so many different reasons why the colors and growth will not be same
[/quote]

In this case it seems as if we have the same equipment and parameters are the same. The only thing I can think of as being a factor is my tank is more mature. Is there anything in particular that you can recommend as an underlying cause? I did suggest to him to start dosing amino acids and we'll go from there.
 
You can have the same equipment but still different things happening. Maybe his powerheads are pointed a little different and his flow isnt as strong as yours, maybe in your tank it was placed with more flow or less, maybe the frag was not aclimated as long, maybe it was put too high up in the light too quickly, you just never really can tell.
 
[quote author=70Cuda link=topic=5722.msg71664#msg71664 date=1230401604]
You can have the same equipment but still different things happening. Maybe his powerheads are pointed a little different and his flow isnt as strong as yours, maybe in your tank it was placed with more flow or less, maybe the frag was not aclimated as long, maybe it was put too high up in the light too quickly, you just never really can tell.
[/quote]

We targeted atleast a 35x flow. For lighting too quick or acclimation of the SPS, they were in the tank since summer and already has 1-2 inch growth. Maybe I'm missing something when you suggested acclimation or lighting too quick? He acclimated the corals but I told him what to do. With lighting were running the same setup. I did think of how new the bulbs were too. His were new and mine were 3 months old but I can't say this could be a cause either?
Can having a direct flow from a powerhead affect coloration of an SPS, meaning if it were in the direct path of a strong flow? I never heard of that but rather observed growth patterns and polyp extension being affected. Thanks
 
It also can be something else which you don't test for. There are TONS of small yet important variables such as a particular trace element, or animo acids or something beyond the usual Alk/Ca/Mg.

As for flow, I notice a big difference with high and low flow. Some SPS do fine in either and some prefer to be blasted really hard. Jeremy's metallic mili is coloring upreally well now and the only thing I THINK I changed was to put a koralia 1 a few inches away from it pointing right at the coral.
 
[quote author=Gomer link=topic=5722.msg71683#msg71683 date=1230405542]
It also can be something else which you don't test for. There are TONS of small yet important variables such as a particular trace element, or animo acids or something beyond the usual Alk/Ca/Mg.

As for flow, I notice a big difference with high and low flow. Some SPS do fine in either and some prefer to be blasted really hard. Jeremy's metallic mili is coloring upreally well now and the only thing I THINK I changed was to put a koralia 1 a few inches away from it pointing right at the coral.
[/quote]

Thanks for the insight in regards to flow. Didn't know it could affect coloration :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top