How do you troubleshoot SPS Placement?

[dbrewsky]

Hello,

Quick question for everyone. Looking for the strategies you all use in determining placement and troubleshooting issues related to placement.

I have one unknown SPS with a busy growth pattern that is placed at the top of my rock work, roughly 8 inches from the surface. The acro is happy and seems to be growing with great polyp extension, but color seems to have washed-out compared to what it once was. I have a stag at the same height that has not shown any similar change and has kept its color and intensity since it transitioned to the tank. In fact the majority of the sps that I have placed have not morphed or lost color intensity.

Just curious what you would do in this situation to determine if the coral is simply morphing, getting too much/too little light, etc? Has anyone have any insight or experience similar to this they would like to share?

Thank you!!! :D

 

[happyhourhero]

I would move it down and see if it colors back up.

 

[dbrewsky]

@happyhourhero - If i move it down, how long do you think it will need to be at that position before you changes would be evident? Also, how far would you move it down at first?

 

[smiley28]

Not that I like your problem but this is a good question as I'm not really into sps yet

 

[luke33]

Good question. I'll give you my opinions on sps placement. If i get a new frag that has nice color generally i ask where it has been par wise in the tank, ask about alk, calc and phos. Then i try and match par in my tank. If they don't know generally Mille's i place around 200-300 to start, deepwaters 300-400, acro's 300-600, tenius 400-600, digi's 200's, monti's 200-600. I usually leave them in one spot for atleast 2-3mths without touching them again and see how they respond. If they are not colored as much i will move them up or down depending on type. Usually your Mille's will pull multi colors in the 200-300 par range and more of one color in 300-400 range. But all corals are different and if they immediately hate the spot and brown out or show any tissue issue i pull them down. If its showing growth and not as colorful its pretty happy to me, but its the water causing it not to be colored up, not the light. So i would think its more of a potassium, amino's, phos, or alk thing. I have noticed some sps color up with zero phos vs other sps that love to have some .06 phos and you can never have both happy at the same time. (PC Rainbow is my nemesis)

I would ask what kind of sps is it?

 

[dbrewsky]

Thanks luke!

I am unsure of the name or species, it has a bushy growth pattern and really large, fuzzy polyps that make my millie look clean shaven. I can try and get pictures uploaded later today.

The odd thing for me that I am trying to determine that when I added the affected Acro, I added 2 stags, a tenius, and a milie at the same time, from the same supplier, and have not seen any color shift or intensity change in those corals, which makes me wonder if it is chemistry or light related?

 

[Wilsoni]

Good question. I'll give you my opinions on sps placement. If i get a new frag that has nice color generally i ask where it has been par wise in the tank, ask about alk, calc and phos. Then i try and match par in my tank. If they don't know generally Mille's i place around 200-300 to start, deepwaters 300-400, acro's 300-600, tenius 400-600, digi's 200's, monti's 200-600. I usually leave them in one spot for atleast 2-3mths without touching them again and see how they respond. If they are not colored as much i will move them up or down depending on type. Usually your Mille's will pull multi colors in the 200-300 par range and more of one color in 300-400 range. But all corals are different and if they immediately hate the spot and brown out or show any tissue issue i pull them down. If its showing growth and not as colorful its pretty happy to me, but its the water causing it not to be colored up, not the light. So i would think its more of a potassium, amino's, phos, or alk thing. I have noticed some sps color up with zero phos vs other sps that love to have some .06 phos and you can never have both happy at the same time. (PC Rainbow is my nemesis)

I would ask what kind of sps is it?

This ^^^

PC Rainbow is mine too! Mine is bright red with red polyps... It's still a beautiful looking stick but regardless of where I place it, I can't get the yellow/green back in the base.

 

[Wilsoni]

Since we're on the topic... My Fox Flame is having issues too. It's solid red but I can't get the yellow tips to come back. I moved it from high light as it began to turn pale. If I move it any lower, it will truly be at the bottom of my tank. The thing is, none of my other sticks with yellow tips/coralites are having issues holding their color. My Wolverine and High Voltage stand out like crazy.

I know the Fox Flame doesn't like high light but I also don't want it sitting in my sandbed... Lol

Any tips on how to get my yellow tips back? ;)

PS I have an XR30 G3 Pro on SPS AB+

 

[Wilsoni]

So i would think its more of a potassium, amino's, phos, or alk thing.

I test/dose Potassium religiously... My K value ranges between 420-430ppm. I dose AcroPower and Fuel weekly. My phosphates run low at 0.02 and I maintain 9.9 dKH.

 

[dbrewsky]

interesting!

 

[FL_Reefer]

Good thread!

 

[luke33]

I test/dose Potassium religiously... My K value ranges between 420-430ppm. I dose AcroPower and Fuel weekly. My phosphates run low at 0.02 and I maintain 9.9 dKH.

To keep the PC rainbow happy and growing is pretty easy, but to pull those crazy colors you need to keep it in around 300 -400 par and keep your phos pretty undetectable, also alk of 8-8.5 seems to be pretty on point with it. Here is mine when its happy, blue led and daylight. I have another under same conditions getting 500 par and its just red with light yellow base.

 

[luke33]

Thanks luke!

I am unsure of the name or species, it has a bushy growth pattern and really large, fuzzy polyps that make my millie look clean shaven. I can try and get pictures uploaded later today.

The odd thing for me that I am trying to determine that when I added the affected Acro, I added 2 stags, a tenius, and a milie at the same time, from the same supplier, and have not seen any color shift or intensity change in those corals, which makes me wonder if it is chemistry or light related?

Honestly if its showing good PE and growth I would leave it there and most likely it will color up after time. Pics may hep though. There are so many diff variables that make sps look different. Same exact water chemistry but moved from a led to t5 or t5 to mh or led to diff led and the sps may completely change color. Then lets change around alk, phos, trates, amino's, potassium....etc, there are a billion different things that can make the same coral color up differntly. The main thing is if they show good pe and grow. Eventually color comes back or it may morph into something different, just have to be patient. When i get a coral brown out or get one that shows potential i will give it a good 3-4mths to color back up before i make a change.

 

[luke33]

I test/dose Potassium religiously... My K value ranges between 420-430ppm. I dose AcroPower and Fuel weekly. My phosphates run low at 0.02 and I maintain 9.9 dKH.

Thats a tough one, the fox flame i don't have myself. Could be to low of phos and to high of alk but if you go changing those things every one of your sps could change colors : ) The sps I have with yellow tips all like high light with phos around .06 and alk around 8-9. Just let it grow and give it time, i'm sure the tips will come back if its happy and growing well.

 

[Wilsoni]

Thats a tough one, the fox flame i don't have myself. Could be to low of phos and to high of alk but if you go changing those things every one of your sps could change colors : ) The sps I have with yellow tips all like high light with phos around .06 and alk around 8-9. Just let it grow and give it time, i'm sure the tips will come back if its happy and growing well.

Yeah it's doing it's thing, encrusting like no tomorrow. I happened to get a chunky frag with 7 branches shooting off so I don't mind if it shoots any new branches any time soon. I just want the yellow tips back. Haha I guess patience is the key.

Just as soon as it colors up another acro may lose color. It's a challenge keeping everything happy as each stick has it's own lighting, flow and nutrient requirements.

 

[Wilsoni]

It's like a game of Tetris

 

[Russ265]

i leave it til it dies. (which it never does)

when it becomes a colony i move it where i want and no issues arise.

if i see stress they are grounded to the sandbed for a month or 2

 

[dbrewsky]

Thanks all- I will watch it for a bit and determine if any action really needs to take place!

 

[CastAway]

Tagging along....

 

[reef4beer]

Since we're on the topic... My Fox Flame is having issues too. It's solid red but I can't get the yellow tips to come back. I moved it from high light as it began to turn pale. If I move it any lower, it will truly be at the bottom of my tank. The thing is, none of my other sticks with yellow tips/coralites are having issues holding their color. My Wolverine and High Voltage stand out like crazy.

I know the Fox Flame doesn't like high light but I also don't want it sitting in my sandbed... Lol

Any tips on how to get my yellow tips back? ;)

PS I have an XR30 G3 Pro on SPS AB+

Not sure where you saw they don't like high light but seen a few guys that are blasting it with light. My fox flame hasnt gotten the yellow tips either and I have it at the highest point of my tank basically.

OP, I don't bother with placement until atleast 2 or 3 months of being in the same spot. Usually if it loses color and starts turning white with the skin visible to the eye I move it down, when it's just brown I move it up some more to get more light.

As far as pulling the crazy colors it's all in the water params and the dosing happening.

Every since I started dosing potassium, strontium, ME Polyp Extender, and iodine additionally to my alk, cal, and mag schedule i've seen crazy colors popping up.