My 40 gallon recife build

MegabiteOG · Mar 31, 2026

kingranch2003 said:
Average 400 to 450 on par. And the flow seems really good, but I can pivot the nero 3 a bit or even raise the intensity. It seems to be flowing all around every side of them, and I see nice polyp extension.

Im dosing aquavitro fuel aminos and trace. There are probably some more acro centric formulas out there I could be using.

https://www.aquavitro.com/fuel.php

Light and flow are adequate then. Like tbrown said, water parameters and acclimation. Where’s your alk, ca, and mag? Also, temp plays a roll in everything.

kingranch2003 · Mar 31, 2026

MegabiteOG said:
Light and flow are adequate then. Like tbrown said, water parameters and acclimation. Where’s your alk, ca, and mag? Also, temp plays a roll in everything.

Alk 9.5dkh I usually sit at 8.5dkh this was a bit of a jump
Call 460
Mag1440
P04 .4
N03 8

kingranch2003 · Mar 31, 2026

You guys are awesome for the feedback. I got some reassurance on theories I had and learned some new things. Great articles Tim B.

MegabiteOG · Mar 31, 2026

Another good article on color.

POTO - Why Are My SPS Corals Turning Brown?

tbrown · Mar 31, 2026

kingranch2003 said:
Yeah it's obvious from every angle in person. I was lazy and didnt take new pics, so I just used what I had lol.

I also thought about it being a bit of an acclimation effect too like you suggested. Im wondering if anyone has had a similar experience and if the coloration came back.

@TheWB (I think) had some acros that came in, colored down, and then slowly colored back up. I had similar happen with my Pink Cadillac (before I killed it). It went dull green for a bit and then slowly added the pink.

TheWB · Mar 31, 2026

tbrown said:
@TheWB (I think) had some acros that came in, colored down, and then slowly colored back up. I had similar happen with my Pink Cadillac (before I killed it). It went dull green for a bit and then slowly added the pink.

I’ve had just a couple of experiences.
I had a green slimer once that went from completely green to totally browned out and then back to completely green again once it got used to my tank parameters and lighting.
I have a PC Rainbow right now that came in light green and teal with no red at all and has slightly faded since then.
It’s sitting right next to an unnamed acro that started all green and is now mostly orange and another acro that started highlighter yellowish green and now has dark blue skin with green polyps, no yellow at all. All sorts of SPS acclimation weirdness going on in my tank. I have no explanation for any of it. All my LPS and zoas look like they are supposed to look.

Red_Beard · Apr 1, 2026

Sounds like you have been getting good advise. Only other things i would add, are that phosphate instability is no bueno and can cause similar symptoms if it changes too much to fast. stabile is better than cranking it up or down to hit a target, even if it is 'too high' or 'too low'. The other thing i would have said is maybe some kind of carbon limiting, but if you are dosing aminos, there should be some carbon source there too. Could be a fish or crab or other kind of pest that is irritating them, or it is also possible they are just adjusting to life in your tank though usually they green or brown more than straight up pale.

But.... When in doubt, change it out. might be a good time for a big water change.

That Crusso Kid · Apr 3, 2026

tbrown said:
You're not down here in Tucson?

FYI - we all blew past a milestone and no one caught it. Until now.

The post quoted above was the 1,000th in your thread. The same thing happened over on Zack's thread too. While Zack did make the 1,000th post on his thread, unofrtunately, some other strange guy landed the 1,000th post on yours.

Congrats on 1,000! (68 posts ago.)

Red_Beard · Apr 3, 2026

How are things looking @kingranch2003? Starting to stabilize or getting worse?

kingranch2003 · Apr 3, 2026

TheWB said:
I’ve had just a couple of experiences.
I had a green slimer once that went from completely green to totally browned out and then back to completely green again once it got used to my tank parameters and lighting.
I have a PC Rainbow right now that came in light green and teal with no red at all and has slightly faded since then.
It’s sitting right next to an unnamed acro that started all green and is now mostly orange and another acro that started highlighter yellowish green and now has dark blue skin with green polyps, no yellow at all. All sorts of SPS acclimation weirdness going on in my tank. I have no explanation for any of it. All my LPS and zoas look like they are supposed to look.

I appreciate the response WB!

kingranch2003 · Apr 3, 2026

MegabiteOG said:
Another good article on color.

POTO - Why Are My SPS Corals Turning Brown?

Great article OG!

kingranch2003 · Apr 3, 2026

Red_Beard said:
Sounds like you have been getting good advise. Only other things i would add, are that phosphate instability is no bueno and can cause similar symptoms if it changes too much to fast. stabile is better than cranking it up or down to hit a target, even if it is 'too high' or 'too low'. The other thing i would have said is maybe some kind of carbon limiting, but if you are dosing aminos, there should be some carbon source there too. Could be a fish or crab or other kind of pest that is irritating them, or it is also possible they are just adjusting to life in your tank though usually they green or brown more than straight up pale.

But.... When in doubt, change it out. might be a good time for a big water change.

Thank you brother!

kingranch2003 · Apr 3, 2026

That Crusso Kid said:
FYI - we all blew past a milestone and no one caught it. Until now.

The post quoted above was the 1,000th in your thread. The same thing happened over on Zack's thread too. While Zack did make the 1,000th post on his thread, unofrtunately, some other strange guy landed the 1,000th post on yours.

Congrats on 1,000! (68 posts ago.)

Hahah that's awesome! 1,000 !? When you read the first couple of pages, I am voodoo clueless, but you all came in one by one and I've learned something from everyone of you! Thanks Chris

kingranch2003 · Apr 3, 2026

My apologies everyone it's been a rough few days and I've missed a lot! Trying to catch up now!

kingranch2003 · Apr 3, 2026

Red_Beard said:
How are things looking @kingranch2003? Starting to stabilize or getting worse?

They're not looking any worse and all have good PE for the most part Zack. I've been trying a little more of an sps feeding schedule than I was providing. Listening to everyone and reading the articles, im thinking maybe p04 being .4 is troubling them. It's the only thing I can single out. So im slowly reducing that to around .1 which is where my tank normally sits for p04.

kingranch2003 · Apr 9, 2026

The Back 40 is doing pretty well. I started a new coral food that I will discontinue use of. It brought my P04 from .1 to .6 in no time flat. This was out of wack with my lower nitrates, so I got cyano and nuisance algae in a tank that NEVER has it.

I believe this is why my acros turned brown.

All recovery efforts are in place and everything is lookin pretty good.