Pale Brown SPS?

[Qantos]

Hi All,

I recently set up a nano reef tank (a Biocube 29 HQI). The tank is 4 months old. This is not my first reef tank nor is it my first nano reef tank but I'm having an interesting problem that I haven't experienced before and I'm hoping to get your thoughts.

The colour on my SPS is dull, pale, brown, etc. They were beautiful bright frags when I bought them and within days of keeping them in my tank they lose their colour.

Check out these photos below to see a purple Monti cap the day I bought it compared to 3 weeks in my tank.

They don't just get paler but they also look more brown and dull. My lighting is a 150W Phoenix 14k metal halide and my water parameters are below.

Alkalinity: 7.3 dKH (very stable)
Calcium: 410 ppm
Magnesium: 1350 ppm
Nitrate: undetectable (Red Sea)
Phosphate: undetectable (Hannah)

Do you think this is just a symptom of coral starvation due to my low nutrients and lack of amino dosing?

I feed frozen food every day (not much) and reef roids 2x per week. I have a ton of flow, maybe too much but it's random and not direct on any corals.

Thanks in advance for your time!

 

[supernanoguy]

Maybe the lights are too much? I’m not too familiar with that species but perhaps the problem is it’s old lighting source was not as strong/weak. Maybe some direct feeding for that guy for a while might help too.

 

[minus9]

Lack of NO3 and PO4 will definitely upset sps. Plus your rocks look super clean and white, any coralline growth? Feed your fish more, a lot more. How many fish?

 

[JGT]

Hi All,

I recently set up a nano reef tank (a Biocube 29 HQI). The tank is 4 months old. This is not my first reef tank nor is it my first nano reef tank but I'm having an interesting problem that I haven't experienced before and I'm hoping to get your thoughts.

The colour on my SPS is dull, pale, brown, etc. They were beautiful bright frags when I bought them and within days of keeping them in my tank they lose their colour.

Check out these photos below to see a purple Monti cap the day I bought it compared to 3 weeks in my tank.

They don't just get paler but they also look more brown and dull. My lighting is a 150W Phoenix 14k metal halide and my water parameters are below.

Alkalinity: 7.3 dKH (very stable)
Calcium: 410 ppm
Magnesium: 1350 ppm
Nitrate: undetectable (Red Sea)
Phosphate: undetectable (Hannah)

Do you think this is just a symptom of coral starvation due to my low nutrients and lack of amino dosing?

I feed frozen food every day (not much) and reef roids 2x per week. I have a ton of flow, maybe too much but it's random and not direct on any corals.

Thanks in advance for your time!

Either nutrient poor or too much lighting. What size is your tank? MH are great for sps but they need acclimation.

 

[melanotaenia]

The tank is too new and lack of live rock are likely your main problems. Try to find a few small pieces of real live rock from an established system which may help, otherwise you will need to give tank more time to establish.

 

[Qantos]

Maybe the lights are too much? I’m not too familiar with that species but perhaps the problem is it’s old lighting source was not as strong/weak. Maybe some direct feeding for that guy for a while might help too.

Those corals came from LED lighting so you may be right. Do you think I should back off my lighting schedule a bit? Right now they're on for 8 hours per day.

 

[Qantos]

Lack of NO3 and PO4 will definitely upset sps. Plus your rocks look super clean and white, any coralline growth? Feed your fish more, a lot more. How many fish?

The rocks are incredibly clean. There's no algae or new coralline on them whatsoever. It seems strange considering this tank has been up for 4+ months. I only have one clown in there at the moment but I'll try to add a few more small fish and up my feeding accordingly.

 

[Qantos]

The tank is too new and lack of live rock are likely your main problems. Try to find a few small pieces of real live rock from an established system which may help, otherwise you will need to give tank more time to establish.

That's not a bad idea. I used dry rock from my previous system to avoid pests but I may be overly paranoid about that.

 

[Qantos]

Either nutrient poor or too much lighting. What size is your tank? MH are great for sps but they need acclimation.

Tank is 29 gallons total. The corals came from an LFS with LED lighting so this might be the culprit. I'm thinking about dialing back my lighting schedule a bit (currently 8 hours) and increasing my feeding and fish population to get those nutrients off zero.

 

[JGT]

Tank is 29 gallons total. The corals came from an LFS with LED lighting so this might be the culprit. I'm thinking about dialing back my lighting schedule a bit (currently 8 hours) and increasing my feeding and fish population to get those nutrients off zero.

150w MH seems like a lotta light for that size tank esp if you put the corals straight in with no acclimation. Your new approach sounds right.

 

[Bnichols124]

Your corals are in a ultra low nuitrent state. Bring up no3 and po4 before STN or even RTN kicks in

 

[minus9]

The lights are only part of it, but it's really a young tank and needs to mature more to support sps. I had a 150w over my 15g in the 90's, but ocean rock was everywhere then. Starting with dry rock, you'll need time and a lot of patience before you can fully support sps, unless you have the experience?

 

[Qantos]

The lights are only part of it, but it's really a young tank and needs to mature more to support sps. I had a 150w over my 15g in the 90's, but ocean rock was everywhere then. Starting with dry rock, you'll need time and a lot of patience before you can fully support sps, unless you have the experience?

I had a 150g SPS dominated tank from 2005 to 2012. I never had an issue with low nutrients and colour back then but I also started that system with plenty of live rock. This is my first time using dry rock. Considering coral prices these days, I'm in no rush to fill the tank so patience is no problem.

Sounds like the best course of action right now is to dial back the lighting from 8 hours to ~6 hours per day and add a few more fish. With that, I'll slowly start feeding more and run my skimmer a bit drier.

 

[Qantos]

Your corals are in a ultra low nuitrent state. Bring up no3 and po4 before STN or even RTN kicks in

Agreed. Does it make sense for the corals to become more brown in an ULNS environment as well?

 

[minus9]

In the meantime, I would dose some N&P until you get measurable levels. Without building blocks, they'll starve no matter what lighting is used.

 

[Qantos]

In the meantime, I would dose some N&P until you get measurable levels. Without building blocks, they'll starve no matter what lighting is used.

Thanks for the advice, Minus. I checked out the link in your messages. Beautiful peninsula!!

 

[minus9]

Thanks for the advice, Minus. I checked out the link in your messages. Beautiful peninsula!!

Thank you! It's taken a while for this tank to stabilize and the only tank that I used quite a bit of dry rock in, so it's had a fair amount of challenges along the way.

 

[supernanoguy]

I had a 150g SPS dominated tank from 2005 to 2012. I never had an issue with low nutrients and colour back then but I also started that system with plenty of live rock. This is my first time using dry rock. Considering coral prices these days, I'm in no rush to fill the tank so patience is no problem.

Sounds like the best course of action right now is to dial back the lighting from 8 hours to ~6 hours per day and add a few more fish. With that, I'll slowly start feeding more and run my skimmer a bit drier.

can you dim the light instead of less time? Perhaps even a filter type application? Some good advice from people in this thread.

 

[Bnichols124]

Agreed. Does it make sense for the corals to become more brown in an ULNS environment as well?

Pale yes, the zooantheli have nothing to consume so they struggle producing the needed aminos/lipids/fats that the corals need. A good example is burnt or brown tips and better color in shaded areas or less light

Browned out corals are a sign of 2 much nuitrents and not enough lighting

 

[Lawpoke87]

Successfully keeping sps corals 4 months into a new tank started solely with dry rock is challenging. I’m not sure you need to look past the lack of time and dry rock as to why your sps are struggling.