Fishless SPS tank

[Acroporaaddict]

Tank stats:
24 x 24 x 20 cube
250w Radium 5hr
4x 24w ATI Blue + 9hr
Reefbrite XHO 12hr
2 Neptune WAVS 60%- 80% Mavericks
2 Ecotech MP40WQDs 40% Reefcrest

8.5 dkh
450 Ca
1400 Mg
380 K
8 NO3
.03 PO4

My tank has been through a lot over the last month. Had a Dino outbreak which was combated with increased Nutrients and a UV sterilizer. The NO3 was raised to 10 ppm and PO4 was at .1 ppm. This caused significant browning of my Acro frags. Levels were dropped to current levels with a significant number of water changes. Colors are starting to return, but my issue is involving newly added frags. Once new frags are added to the system, they seem to pale out over a few days. I'm wondering if this is caused due to the fact i'm running fishless and will be for the next few months because i lost all mine from a velvet outbreak. Is there anything i can add to help with this? I'm dosing the Red Sea coral colors program along with 2 ml of Red Sea Reef Energy A&B. Should i increase my dosage to the recommended 4 ml daily? I don't have any algae problems currently other than a few patches of GHA that used to be taken care of by my fish. I don't feel like i need to dose liquid NO3 or PO4 because my levels are already acceptable IMO. should i ghost feed the tank Mysis or something? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[jda]

I would let your corals be your guide. The will get pale if the building blocks get to low - don't confuse this with bad color which is different.

If the corals look good and are growing, then I would not do anything.

If you start to see periods of increased and very fast growth and lots of coralline, then your N and P are getting lower - calcification is easier with low N and P. This is a good sign that you might need to add a bit of something soon since you are not feeding. Coral food should be enough - even though I do not really think that coral eat it, it can contribute to the N cycle on the back end.