HELP! MY SPS ARE PALING AND I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO

[malira]

This is great. I have been loosing my sticks over the last couple months and what i have left is loosing all its color. everything else seems to be on point.
Just unplugged my pellets and GFO to see if i can get the levels to raise a bit

Thanks so much!!! fingers crossed this helps

I went through it about 10 months ago. I took bio pellets, phosguard, and carbon off line. It saved my corals.
I initially had to dose nitrates but now with and increased fish bio load my nitrate say around 3 to 4 ppm. I have started focusing on my phosphates now.

 

[LakeCityReefs]

Well my new test kit finally arrived. Unfortunately I just returned from a mini vacation (I had a Flame Angel jump to here death while I was away), and was just able to retest N03 for the first time. I sure am glad I stopped dosing Flourish. N03 is reading 25 ppm (Salifert). I mixed up 10 gallons of SW last night and will be performing a 20% WC tonight when I get home from work.

If you look back at my previous posts you can see I was concerned with the API test. looks like I probably stopped dosing Flourish just in time before I started having some major issues. There's no doubt in my mind that I would be at 100 ppm N03 right now if i wouldn't have stopped. never the less I'm still pretty convinced that my system needed a balance in nutrients. I will reduce my N03 to 10 ppm over the next few days and monitor afterwards.
FWIW here are my current parameters, all have been very stable for a few months with the exception of my recent N03 episode.
Total System 60 Ga Cube
N03 25
P04 0.08
ALK 8-8.5
Ca 320-330
Mag 1250-1300


Now that I'm equipped with the proper tools and knowledge I will aim to hold N03 around 5 ppm

 

[jumplittlechloe]

So going to give this another shot. Last time I used potassium nitrate (stump remover) and some things changed for the worse (cyano and diatoms). I tested today and have 0ppm on the Salifert test kit. SPS are drab and coralline algae is non existent. I removed my GFO this weekend as P04 is 0 - .02. I picked up some sodium nitrate and dosed .3ml which raised nitrate to 10ppm. A little higher than I wanted to go but will test again and see if I can figure out my tanks consumption rate. Wish me luck or give advice either one will work [emoji1]

 

[Russ265]

So going to give this another shot. Last time I used potassium nitrate (stump remover) and some things changed for the worse (cyano and diatoms). I tested today and have 0ppm on the Salifert test kit. SPS are drab and coralline algae is non existent. I removed my GFO this weekend as P04 is 0 - .02. I picked up some sodium nitrate and dosed .3ml which raised nitrate to 10ppm. A little higher than I wanted to go but will test again and see if I can figure out my tanks consumption rate. Wish me luck or give advice either one will work [emoji1]

ive overshot to 10ppm many times. it always came down eventually.

cyano will eat up nitrates faster than anything else. I dont think it is your cause though.

 

[jumplittlechloe]

I don't have any cyano or diatoms currently or at least that I can see.

 

[David Cher]

Thanks to this thread , I started dosing potassium nitrate and my colours are improving !!!!

 

[GoJimmy]

That is awesome to hear! It really is amazingly simple. We've been so concerned with (and have become extraordinarily effeciant at) completely ridding our reefs of all nutrients, especially nitrate and phosphate. It is crazy to me that so many of us (me included!) did not consider that these nutrients are vital for the corals health. Like so often in life, our thought process was "all or nothing", leading to the method of "ultra low nutrient systems", which, for many of us, became "practically no nutrient systems". This resulted in starving our coral. Through trial and error, it has been found that this issue (nitrate/phosphate levels in relation to corals health) is actually very simple: not too much, but also not the complete absence, of nitrate and phosphate is ideal......at least in my experience.

I am happy to hear your positive results, please post some pictures of your now thriving corals if you can.

This is my encrusting monti. Can't see from the pick but the edges are blue and the polyps are green\red

This is my purple trumpet. It started with 4 heads and has split to 8

This blue monti digita. The colors have deepened and it is starting to branch

This is my purple dragon. It is starting to color and is encrusting at the base

This is my pink birdsnest. It is deep pink and the branches have really started to grow. I don't know if the pic does it justice but it really is colorful. When I started, it was almost white

Did not have to dose today as nitrates are holding at 2ppm. What is everyone opinion if I try to raise to 5ppm?

 

[LakeCityReefs]

Ok guys WC is complete. N03 is reading somewhere between 10-25 (I think it's closer to 10). I will perform another WC this week and should have the levels somewhere between 5-10.
I think that after the next WC I will wait it out and test weekly. I want to slow down the changes.

 

[Russ265]

This is my encrusting monti. Can't see from the pick but the edges are blue and the polyps are green\red

This is my purple trumpet. It started with 4 heads and has split to 8

This blue monti digita. The colors have deepened and it is starting to branch

This is my purple dragon. It is starting to color and is encrusting at the base

This is my pink birdsnest. It is deep pink and the branches have really started to grow. I don't know if the pic does it justice but it really is colorful. When I started, it was almost white

Did not have to dose today as nitrates are holding at 2ppm. What is everyone opinion if I try to raise to 5ppm?

as predicted.
glad its working out.

honestly the befores and afters arent needed anymore. i can fill pages at this point. well beyond what amino acids could ever do. (aa is just a placebo ime)

have hundreds of the same results.

 

[GoJimmy]

as predicted.
glad its working out.

honestly the befores and afters arent needed anymore. i can fill pages at this point. well beyond what amino acids could ever do. (aa is just a placebo ime)

have hundreds of the same results.

all i know is i get plenty of emails of thanks

Here's one more....thanks Russ!!!

 

[David Cher]

Thanks to this thread , I started dosing potassium nitrate and my colours are improving !!!!

seems that the colours are picking up at 5ppm for me. stopped the carbon dosing from AF and just concentrating in bringing up the NO3

 

[malira]

seems that the colours are picking up at 5ppm for me. stopped the carbon dosing from AF and just concentrating in bringing up the NO3

This happened for me also. Just try and keep it steady. I know very successful SPS guys who keep it near 10. I will eventually go over 5 but I want to inch my way will keeping everything else in check.

 

[jumplittlechloe]

Dosed sodium nitrate yesterday and measured 10ppm. Checked levels this morning and it was 0ppm!

Dosed .3ml of sodium nitrate and will test later. Tank is 120g.

 

[hingisp]

Don't mean to take this thread off topic, just interested and wanting to find out a little more. So I am on the mission of getting between 1 to 5ppm NO3 and Phosphates at about 0.02, I still noticed the corals not exactly thriving in colour, I know it takes time however thought I would buy the coral colours test kit by red Sea to check on other parameters. Low and behold my Iron was non-existent and potassium and iodide way to high! So have @Russ265
or anyone else done more into these parameters for extra coral boom?[emoji3]

 

[GoJimmy]

Don't mean to take this thread off topic, just interested and wanting to find out a little more. So I am on the mission of getting between 1 to 5ppm NO3 and Phosphates at about 0.02, I still noticed the corals not exactly thriving in colour, I know it takes time however thought I would buy the coral colours test kit by red Sea to check on other parameters. Low and behold my Iron was non-existent and potassium and iodide way to high! So have @Russ265
or anyone else done more into these parameters for extra coral boom?[emoji3]

I also ordered the test kit, (waiting for arrival). First off , started what the heck balancing my nitrates to phosphates as a way to remedy the pale colors. It was the easier low hanging fruit for me to try before I start testing for trace elements. I am hoping that my regular water changes will replenish these elements and keep them in check, but I won't know until I test like you did. I can tell you that from nitrates and pale to no color to 2ppm nitrates and colors and coraline algae starting to grow, this was definitely the main issue in my tank. I am hoping to refine my water when I start testing for trace elements.

 

[hingisp]

Great stuff, will be interested to hear your results as well.. I agree definitely got more colour in the system when raised nitrates using the flourish. Such a quick easy tank adjustment. Like you say just wanting to tweak things a little more to get the best I can. Thanks to this thread, have learnt a ton. And I agree Russ, should definitely be a sticky!

 

[malira]

Dosed sodium nitrate yesterday and measured 10ppm. Checked levels this morning and it was 0ppm!

Dosed .3ml of sodium nitrate and will test later. Tank is 120g.

What were nitrates to start with and how much did you dose to get it to 10 ppm?

.3 ml in a 120g system doesn't seem like a lot. Even if you meant 3 ml.
I have 125g total water volume, and I dosed 15 ml 2 times a day for 3 days to get it up to 2 ppm then 15 ml once a day for almost 7 days to get it up to 5 ppm.

Have you tested tonight?

 

[jumplittlechloe]

What were nitrates to start with and how much did you dose to get it to 10 ppm?

.3 ml in a 120g system doesn't seem like a lot. Even if you meant 3 ml.
I have 125g total water volume, and I dosed 15 ml 2 times a day for 3 days to get it up to 2 ppm then 15 ml once a day for almost 7 days to get it up to 5 ppm.

Have you tested tonight?

So I tested 1hr after dosing yesterday morning at it was 10ppm. Last night I retested around 7:00pm and it was 2.5ppm. I checked this morning and Salifert test was 0. I dosed sodium nitrate at .3 ml and tested after 1hr and it was 10ppm. I know it seems odd but that is what I see.

 

[Russ265]

So I tested 1hr after dosing yesterday morning at it was 10ppm. Last night I retested around 7:00pm and it was 2.5ppm. I checked this morning and Salifert test was 0. I dosed sodium nitrate at .3 ml and tested after 1hr and it was 10ppm. I know it seems odd but that is what I see.

you must be using a very very strong solution of sodium nitrate.

others may be under the impression you are using seachem flourish nitrate which is a bottled potassium nitrate.

 

[malira]

.3 ml is like a drop or two.