Alkalinity and color

[jcook54]

I've recently set up a frag tank in my basement and things have been progressing nicely. I've admitted that I have a problem with frags (do they have a meeting for that?) and I've done what anyone in my situation would do --- I started loading it down with frags. Well, I haven't set up my dosing system yet and my alkalinity dips pretty low every time I leave. I've also noticed the color of my corals are really fading. The purples aren't very purple and pretty much everything else just has a faded looks. I try to keep my Alkalinity around 8.0 but when I'm gone for more than a day or three, it's been dipping to 5.4 dKh. That's too much of a swing and I've just calibrated my dosing pumps to add to the system later today. Here's the question I have for you good and wonderful folks:

"Could the alkalinity swings be causing the color of my SPS to fade?"

Right now my assumption is that the alkalinity swings are the main culprit along with a lack of nutrients (0.2 nitrate/ 0 phosphate). Has anyone had a similar situation that was fixed by stable/higher alkalinity?

 

[bhodges82]

Alk swings won't cause the color loss in my opinion, it will keep the coral upset but shouldn't affect color. I would look more at the nitrate levels 0.2 is pretty low for me, I have noticed a bit more color at around 2.0ppm, you may be in need of a few fish in the frag tank.

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[ActiveAngel]

In my experience; absolutely. The colors and symbiotic algae that produce them are inversely correlated to coral stress. With Alkalinity and proper lighting as some of the most popular culprits for color loss.

I’ve gotten amazing growth and colors from zero nutrient systems... despite the current fads that say otherwise. Nutrients are a factor, but minimizing stress is a much larger one.

 

[lmm1967]

Are you're nutrients really that low? Or are they just being used up by something?

is there any algae growing anywhere in the system?

When I had zero Nitrate / Phosphate - I also had ZERO aglae growth anywhere - but I did have what I would call a medium bacteria bloom - basically white "snot" or "sludge" appearing along with slightly cloudy water.
Bacteria bloom went away once I got some nitrates / phosphates going and now I have, what I think is, a balanced growing of algae in the tank. I have algae - but it's not expanding any faster than things seem to be eating it.

I also have noticed that my coraline will start turning white-ish when my alk drops.

 

[jcook54]

The nutrients were tested with Salifert kits so there's certainly some room for interpretation. I've also got some macro algae in the system that I can't get rid of completely. The "prolifera" part of 'caulerpa prolifera' really seems to be a correct description. I pull as much as I can get to when I do water changes. Another contributing factor to the nutrient issue is that when I set up the system, I ended up needing about 25g of freshly mixed saltwater. I used as much "old" water as I could from the system I had before but quite a bit of it was new. On a side note, I've started dosing more aminos and feeding the 2 fish I have in the system a bit more to try and get the levels up a bit.

 

[dball711]

In my experience; absolutely. The colors and symbiotic algae that produce them are inversely correlated to coral stress. With Alkalinity and proper lighting as some of the most popular culprits for color loss.

I’ve gotten amazing growth and colors from zero nutrient systems... despite the current fads that say otherwise. Nutrients are a factor, but minimizing stress is a much larger one.

+1 on this from my experience. Any stress can throw off my colors, it can be a tightrope balancing act to keep my colors. My tanks do better with very low nutrients (Measurable).

 

[civics14]

Alk swing messed up a lot of colors in my tank almost 3 months later, not fully recovered. Faulty ph probe in my calc reactor lead to it.

 

[snowmansnow]

To answer your question in my VERY limited experience YES. Alk swings will cause color loss issues.


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