SPS declining, not sure why.

[Ashish Patel]

Your tanks mature so you can rule that out. I beleive its your lighting. Radions at 60% can be to much esp at 7" above water surface. I think your in good shape perhaps just reduce intensity to 40% and work your way up. Keep your phosphates detectable and alk stable and give it time.. They'll come back

 

[madweazl]

Your tanks mature so you can rule that out. I beleive its your lighting. Radions at 60% can be to much esp at 7" above water surface. I think your in good shape perhaps just reduce intensity to 40% and work your way up. Keep your phosphates detectable and alk stable and give it time.. They'll come back

At a depth of 17" using the AB+ profile, too much intensity is unlikely.

 

[Ashish Patel]

Thats what I told myself when I ran 70% AB+ and had similar results. I tested PAR and it was 200-300 range but still had paling colors. The areas in between the radions is very intense for new corals. If new hobbyist fail to acclimate correctly the PAR numbers recommended results in a uphill battle trying to get them back.. I'd move all the corals to the back where its dark and wait a few weeks for them to recover and remount slowly.

I now run my radions at 36% overall intensity but reduced them significantly after adding 2 T5s

 

[Ashish Patel]

IME 150-180 PAR is the best for new sps frags.. If given too much Par there more likely to fade and encrust like montis. The PAR 4 inches above these frags will be significantly higher and gives them insensitive to reach for the skys. Thats why my top frags are losers and the ones on the bottom are winners. :D

 

[g5flier]

At a depth of 17" using the AB+ profile, too much intensity is unlikely.

Just to be sure, the lights are 7" above the water and the coral is 10" below the surface, that's the 17", is that your understanding as well?

 

[g5flier]

Thats what I told myself when I ran 70% AB+ and had similar results. I tested PAR and it was 200-300 range but still had paling colors. The areas in between the radions is very intense for new corals. If new hobbyist fail to acclimate correctly the PAR numbers recommended results in a uphill battle trying to get them back.. I'd move all the corals to the back where its dark and wait a few weeks for them to recover and remount slowly.

I now run my radions at 36% overall intensity but reduced them significantly after adding 2 T5s

I have a Apogee MQ-510 meter coming later this week to really see if the light is the culprit. The only reason why the lights don't seem to be the issue is they were encrusting well and growing under the same light intensity for 2-3 months then I had issues.

 

[jda]

The Apogee will not help you too much with LEDs. They have to be turned way down or else corals can get burnt - this is a spectrum quality thing, not quantity. If you go around testing systems, you can find T5 and MH setups with 600+ PAR with thriving acropora, but I would not even try half of that with most LEDs and especially Radion.

PAR meter is good comparing things in your own home, but without knowing the type of lights, meter kind, etc. it is hard to take a measurement from another reefer and apply it in your home.

 

[Ashish Patel]

Prob not the lighting then, maybe nutrients or metals perhaps. If they where doing well under the light, did you change anything after you started seeing the fading..Like dosing lugols solution? I would recommend do a iCP test and find out if there is something in the water. Don't be scared to let you tank get dirty, your corals may just need more nutrients to support the high light, your par meter will show your par is probably 300 range. I've started turning my skimmer of 40% of the time and I noticed problems when I run it 24/7. I used to test everything all the time now I just test Alk every 1-2 days and Phosphates 1-2 times per week. Nitrates, CA, MG you can get an idea by testing ALK and PO levels so not as critical.

 

[g5flier]

The Apogee will not help you too much with LEDs. They have to be turned way down or else corals can get burnt - this is a spectrum quality thing, not quantity. If you go around testing systems, you can find T5 and MH setups with 600+ PAR with thriving acropora, but I would not even try half of that with most LEDs and especially Radion.

PAR meter is good comparing things in your own home, but without knowing the type of lights, meter kind, etc. it is hard to take a measurement from another reefer and apply it in your home.

I’m confused that you’re saying it’s not good with LED, that model is made for LED’s?

 

[jda]

My bad. The reading that you get will be accurate... but you need to stay a lot lower than other things that you see on the web. You cannot look at a post that says that X coral likes 500 PAR under T5 in one post and then put it under 500 PAR in your house.

 

[Reefcowboy]

I had very similar issues in my past tank when running low nutrients and lighting being a bit high for the sps. Are you carbon dosing? What are nitrates? My montis looked exactly like that. I lowered the light schedule, increased a bit NO3 and PO4 and they gained color with tissue regrowth.

 

[Bronc]

Do you make your own RO/DI water? If so, when was the last time you changed your membrane? When my tank crashed last summer I believe it was due to my RO membrane crapping out. They need to be changed regularly, depending on how much water you use. I change mine yearly on my 75g tank.

 

[g5flier]

My bad. The reading that you get will be accurate... but you need to stay a lot lower than other things that you see on the web. You cannot look at a post that says that X coral likes 500 PAR under T5 in one post and then put it under 500 PAR in your house.

Completely agree on that.

 

[g5flier]

Do you make your own RO/DI water? If so, when was the last time you changed your membrane? When my tank crashed last summer I believe it was due to my RO membrane crapping out. They need to be changed regularly, depending on how much water you use. I change mine yearly on my 75g tank.

Make my own and zero TDS. I have a 5 stage and run double DI, that being said its about time to replace the membrane's, thanks for the reminder.

 

[Mattrg02]

I’m in the same boat and have ordered an ICP test. You really should do the same and rule out some poison or the like.

 

[g5flier]

I had very similar issues in my past tank when running low nutrients and lighting being a bit high for the sps. Are you carbon dosing? What are nitrates? My montis looked exactly like that. I lowered the light schedule, increased a bit NO3 and PO4 and they gained color with tissue regrowth.

No carbon dosing, you can see in the beginning of the post that Nitrates are in check, over the last 90 days they have averaged 4ppm, maxed at 6ppm, thats just about ideal.

 

[g5flier]

I’m in the same boat and have ordered an ICP test. You really should do the same and rule out some poison or the like.

I did the test on May 2nd, everything was fine.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Light intensity and too high of water flow seems to be the enemy of acro in General

 

[Mattrg02]

Light intensity and too high of water flow seems to be the enemy of acro in General

That’s funny, I thought that acros can’t get enough flow. I’ve seen people with colonies directly in front of their pumps.

 

[vetteguy53081]

That’s funny, I thought that acros can’t get enough flow. I’ve seen people with colonies directly in front of their pumps.

I have seen the same. It was world Wide Corals who told me that they run very little and I may have too much and ever since I ran two pumps (mp40 + MP60) higher and two lower on LOW setting, I can grow anything. Prior, I couldn't even keep Pocci alive and I have 30+ years experience