Faded Colors SPS

[pbyrmartin]

I think I need some help here; the colors on some of my frags are faded.
First let me give a little background on the system, it’s a 40 gallon breeder that was tie in with my display but currently it’s taken off the display due to upgrade of the display.(colors were not great before either)
So now it’s running on the sump with all my fishes (9 fishes, including 2 large tangs).
The tank is bare bottom with 0 phosphates and 0 nitrates
Cal 420-430
Alk 8
Spec. 1.027
temp 78

Tank volume 65 gallons

mag, last time test was 1300 month ago

Here is the trick not all the frags have color issues, I have ORA Joe coral nice blue tip, ORA Hawkins has green with pink tips(too much light I guess), orange Digi has nice rich orange, but my ora tri color valida, Plum crazy and ora red planet are very faded, tried raising/lowering the lights,(lights 36 inch 4 bulb T5’s with 6 blue led fixture).
Whenever I tried to go heavy on feeding I get a algae bloom even though phos is 0, I recently stated doing potassium nitrate to show anything other than 0 nitrates.
Two weeks ago I remove 4 faded frags (Valida&red planet) and put them in my new 80 gallon setup and they started to color up already.
I just can’t pin point what’s wrong with the frag tank, it’s not pests I checked with a eye loop, I am not sure if it’s the tank turned over rate or something more obvious than that.

Any help will be appreciated

By the way the growth is very good

 

[porpoiseaquatics]

The question that is unanswered is about lighting. What is your photo period?

 

[pbyrmartin]

The T5's are on from 5 pm to midnight 7 hrs
Led are on 3 hrs in the morning and 1 hr after the T5'shoes off
Light are 12 inches off water

 

[marquiseo]

Checklist
=============
Lighting - ^Same Questions as Jeff.
Nutirients - What are you using for export? Which kit are you using for testing and has it expired?
Trace Elements - Are you dosing or have tested any of it before from WC?

 

[pbyrmartin]

All test are salifert
My skimmer is the AETech down draft skimmer
I have potassium K on a doser 40 mil every 2 days and also Red Sea D 2 mil every 2 days
Cal and alk 100 mil each daily
Will check exp later

 

[tonymission]

And you're testing for K too? Seems like a ton to be dosing when consumption really isn't that rapid.

 

[pbyrmartin]

tonymission;1013852 wrote: And you're testing for K too? Seems like a ton to be dosing when consumption really isn't that rapid.

No
I have been trying to get K test kit for weeks now
No stock
I think I will cut off dosing K
I too muck K won't hurt anything

 

[porpoiseaquatics]

I have a suspicion that it's more about lighting than anything. What you are experiencing seems to be common with SPS and LEDs even though you aren't using them that many hours a day. What's the total wattage when everything is on. I'm betting it's not enough light.

 

[pbyrmartin]

It's the Coral Vue value fixture 36 inch4 bulb with the blue led
I think a 170 watts or so

 

[porpoiseaquatics]

Now we're getting somewhere....you don't have enough light. I've got 300 watts over my 40 breeder and I'm very careful about what I put in it. Anything needing high light goes to the top, low light to the bottom.

In my 180, I have over 1500 watts of light now.

 

[tonymission]

I have 324 watts over an 80g and hitting 400 par in the bottom third of the tank. I'm not sure there's a watts formula per gallon. Way too many variables.
If my corals were faded, I don't think the first thing I would do is add more lighting.

What t5 bulbs are you running? Are they any good?

 

[pbyrmartin]

Ati

 

[pbyrmartin]

porpoiseaquatics;1013860 wrote: Now we're getting somewhere....you don't have enough light. I've got 300 watts over my 40 breeder and I'm very careful about what I put in it. Anything needing high light goes to the top, low light to the bottom.

In my 180, I have over 1500 watts of light now.

What type of light u running on the frag tank

 

[pbyrmartin]

porpoiseaquatics;1013860 wrote: Now we're getting somewhere....you don't have enough light. I've got 300 watts over my 40 breeder and I'm very careful about what I put in it. Anything needing high light goes to the top, low light to the bottom.

In my 180, I have over 1500 watts of light now.

You might be on to something here, I have a chunk of the tri color fom the colony I broke up sitting on a piece on pcv pipe that is almost out on the water and the tip of it is the only tri that has some color on it
Meaning it's the closest to the light
It seems I am going to add more light

Defiantly lower them for starters

 

[porpoiseaquatics]

pbyrmartin;1013879 wrote: You might be on to something here, I have a chunk of the tri color fom the colony I broke up sitting on a piece on pcv pipe that is almost out on the water and the tip of it is the only tri that has some color on it
Meaning it's the closest to the light
It seems I am going to add more light

Defiantly lower them for starters

Lowering is a start.

I have an EShine controllable LED over my frag tank. It's programmed to simulate day...fades in and fades out. Because I only have the LED over this tank, I put very few SPS frags in the tank. In my DT, I noticed colors fading on my Acros until I put them under MH...then they colored back up and started growing.

 

[mikesmith34]

I don't understand why people are still giving the bad "led doesn't grow sticks" advice. If you have a crappy light.... I completely agree. With the right led and good husbandry LEDs will grow sticks very well, to many people doing it for it to be aurgued. Bad lights=unhealthy corals. Good lights = healthy corals. Just my 2 cent

 

[genesis]

Mikesmith34;1013902 wrote: I don't understand why people are still giving the bad "led doesn't grow sticks" advice. If you have a crappy light.... I completely agree. With the right led and good husbandry LEDs will grow sticks very well, to many people doing it for it to be aurgued. Bad lights=unhealthy corals. Good lights = healthy corals. Just my 2 cent

+1.
Also like the new profile pic. Almost didn't recognize it was you lol

 

[camellia]

With the OP's LEDs, let's say they were "good" LEDs and T5's were old, running the LEDs for 3 hours at 12" + above the water wouldn't be enough par.

Pby, can you get your hands on a Par meter? There are some members that will loan there's out with a deposit I think!

 

[pbyrmartin]

finally got home, anyway the lights were actually raise 15" off the water so I lowered them 8 inches
my light are T5's with moon light LED (not a LED fixture)
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[pbyrmartin]

back to the test kit, the nitrate kit is the only one expired, and its all powered no liquid drop, don't know if it matters but I am getting some soon with K test kit

now I just got to figure out why I get algae bloom when I try to step up my feeding with 0 phos