andyvalk
Community Member
Hello everyone. Let me start with the parameters which are all very consistent:
Temp 78-79
SG 1.026
Alk 8.5dkh
Calc 420ppm
Mag 1350ppm
pH 7.8 - 8.0
Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate - all undetectable
Phos 0.01 - 0.02ppm Hanna Checker - can vary slightly but probably due to the nature of the test. I have zero algae to speak of.
Equipment:
60 gallon cube
2 vortech MP10's
Reef Octopus XP1000SSS
Lights are 250w Radium 20k on a M80 (magnetic/proper for the bulb) ballast. In a Lumenbright Mini, 15" from the bottom of pendant to the surface of water (as required). There are no other lights. Photoperiod is now 6 hours.
Livestock:
One purple firefish
One yellow watchman
One starry blenny
Various inverts
Feeding:
1/4 or 1/2 cube of spirulina or mysis a day
2 drops of Elos Amino Acids (I started this a few weeks after the addition of SPS. Details below)
Problem:
None of my corals have great color. Some are only above average, while most are washed out. In my last tank I had LPS under 4x24 ATI powermodule with all ATI bulbs. The colors were awesome. I had various chalices, acans, blasto merletti, and cyphastrea. I carried over some pieces into the new tank with the new lights.
Back in January, I got a new tank and the light I am running now. The prior tank was 24"deep as well. When I swapped the LPS (I didn't have any SPS), the colors faded, which I expected going from the ATI to the Radium. From January to April, the colors improved somewhat, especially on the Acans and cyphastrea, while the chalices and blasto remain very washed out almost a year later. I have all LPS on the sandbed right now.
I figured I just had too much light, and that they would adjust over time. I also figured too much light for LPS = good for SPS. So I bought a bunch of SPS frags from a local reefer with an amazing tank with great color. He is running 400w Radiums. In May I bought Grape Ape, Green Setosa, Pulchara, montipora Cebuensis, and ORA Tri Color.
He had them mid to high in the tank under 400w radiums. I initially put them low in the tank to acclimate them to light, but colors started fading immediately. Some turned brown, while other faded. I was told they were getting enough light, so I moved them half way up and some started bleaching at the tips. So I moved them some more. The crazy thing is I did this over a few weeks. I also was initially running a 10 hour photoperiod. Even though the corals all looked terrible, they were growing quite a bit at first, which stopped after a few weeks.
At that point, after a lot of reading, I cut my photoperiod to 6 hours while keeping everything else the same. After a few days, I noticed some pretty good improvements in color and saw some growth again. I started dosing Elos Aminos which helped as well. The improvements were happening so fast I was really excited, but then I hit a wall again. The colors went from horribly faded and washed out, to just faded and washed out, with some looking ok. Also, growth stopped again, despite having consistent alk, calc, and mag levels and no changes to the tank.
About three weeks ago, I purchase a pink lemonade, red planet, rommels rainbow, 24k mille, and ORA tri color. I had thought maybe I had ruined my initial batch of SPS and they just wouldn't come back. I was hoping the new round would hold their colors. Well, the new round is doing ok, but some are starting to fade. The guy I bought them from had the SAME EXACT tank and light setup, and they only took a one hour trip. He said most of them would be fine mid to lower, except the Rommels which he said to keep up high.
Some of the ones mid to low have bleaching tips, while the Rommels went up high and started bleaching as well. The Red Planet is lower and seems to be good.
So the question is, what the heck am I missing here? I honestly cannot figure out what is wrong. Most people seem to have no problem with LPS on the sand in a 24" deep tank under a 250w Radium, and certainly SPS should be fine. But the LPS look bad, the SPS are bleaching. It really seems like it's too much light somehow. Is this possible? Any thoughts?
Temp 78-79
SG 1.026
Alk 8.5dkh
Calc 420ppm
Mag 1350ppm
pH 7.8 - 8.0
Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate - all undetectable
Phos 0.01 - 0.02ppm Hanna Checker - can vary slightly but probably due to the nature of the test. I have zero algae to speak of.
Equipment:
60 gallon cube
2 vortech MP10's
Reef Octopus XP1000SSS
Lights are 250w Radium 20k on a M80 (magnetic/proper for the bulb) ballast. In a Lumenbright Mini, 15" from the bottom of pendant to the surface of water (as required). There are no other lights. Photoperiod is now 6 hours.
Livestock:
One purple firefish
One yellow watchman
One starry blenny
Various inverts
Feeding:
1/4 or 1/2 cube of spirulina or mysis a day
2 drops of Elos Amino Acids (I started this a few weeks after the addition of SPS. Details below)
Problem:
None of my corals have great color. Some are only above average, while most are washed out. In my last tank I had LPS under 4x24 ATI powermodule with all ATI bulbs. The colors were awesome. I had various chalices, acans, blasto merletti, and cyphastrea. I carried over some pieces into the new tank with the new lights.
Back in January, I got a new tank and the light I am running now. The prior tank was 24"deep as well. When I swapped the LPS (I didn't have any SPS), the colors faded, which I expected going from the ATI to the Radium. From January to April, the colors improved somewhat, especially on the Acans and cyphastrea, while the chalices and blasto remain very washed out almost a year later. I have all LPS on the sandbed right now.
I figured I just had too much light, and that they would adjust over time. I also figured too much light for LPS = good for SPS. So I bought a bunch of SPS frags from a local reefer with an amazing tank with great color. He is running 400w Radiums. In May I bought Grape Ape, Green Setosa, Pulchara, montipora Cebuensis, and ORA Tri Color.
He had them mid to high in the tank under 400w radiums. I initially put them low in the tank to acclimate them to light, but colors started fading immediately. Some turned brown, while other faded. I was told they were getting enough light, so I moved them half way up and some started bleaching at the tips. So I moved them some more. The crazy thing is I did this over a few weeks. I also was initially running a 10 hour photoperiod. Even though the corals all looked terrible, they were growing quite a bit at first, which stopped after a few weeks.
At that point, after a lot of reading, I cut my photoperiod to 6 hours while keeping everything else the same. After a few days, I noticed some pretty good improvements in color and saw some growth again. I started dosing Elos Aminos which helped as well. The improvements were happening so fast I was really excited, but then I hit a wall again. The colors went from horribly faded and washed out, to just faded and washed out, with some looking ok. Also, growth stopped again, despite having consistent alk, calc, and mag levels and no changes to the tank.
About three weeks ago, I purchase a pink lemonade, red planet, rommels rainbow, 24k mille, and ORA tri color. I had thought maybe I had ruined my initial batch of SPS and they just wouldn't come back. I was hoping the new round would hold their colors. Well, the new round is doing ok, but some are starting to fade. The guy I bought them from had the SAME EXACT tank and light setup, and they only took a one hour trip. He said most of them would be fine mid to lower, except the Rommels which he said to keep up high.
Some of the ones mid to low have bleaching tips, while the Rommels went up high and started bleaching as well. The Red Planet is lower and seems to be good.
So the question is, what the heck am I missing here? I honestly cannot figure out what is wrong. Most people seem to have no problem with LPS on the sand in a 24" deep tank under a 250w Radium, and certainly SPS should be fine. But the LPS look bad, the SPS are bleaching. It really seems like it's too much light somehow. Is this possible? Any thoughts?
