Green Birds Nest SPS color

[ralph atl]

they like medium flow & medium to high light. You might have it with too much flow where it is, but that shouldn't cause a color change. I wouldn't move it just yet anyway. Just a thought to put on the backburner. Might give it 2 months first.

 

[dough]

Maybe I missed it but how old is your light bulbs?

 

[kevinbeth]

mysterybox;120447 wrote: agreed, lights are most likely ok. suggest running a phosphate reactor with phosar or ROWA. Change it out every 2-4 weeks. Carbon, too. Keep your flow up.

That's my ORA Blue Tort from Drs. F&S.

The container of rowa says that it can last a lot longer than 2-4 weeks. Just curious because i have not changed mine in over 6 weeks,should i be changing it more or is it relative to the amount of phosphates in your tank?

 

[ralph atl]

If you put less media in the reactor and change it out more often it removes more phosphates in the lower levels IMHO. New media that is not clumped up and is not somewhat saturated with phosphates tends to lower phosphates continually towards the lower end.

Also, yes, it IS all relative to how much you have in your tank to begin with. It's not like nitrates that are only in the water column. Phosphates get bound in algae, rock, sand, water, etc. Also just as important is how much you are putting in the tank in food & water & supplements.

Another thing to remember is when you are starting out you want to go slow so your animals have time to adjust to the lower level of phates, & finally, when you just start out you might have so much in your tank that your media gets saturated in 2 weeks!

I keep mine at lower than 0.024 (it's currently at 0.01)


here's a great article:

 

[skriz]

If your bulbs are a no-name bulk bulb, they may not be good enough? Not enough par or good enough coloration?

 

[tanner86]

Have you tried adding Iron to your tank once a week. I started dosing Iron and after 3 weeks all my corals are just as vibrant as can be. Some even changed colors.

 

[wbholwell]

Tanner86;125509 wrote: Have you tried adding Iron to your tank once a week. I started dosing Iron and after 3 weeks all my corals are just as vibrant as can be. Some even changed colors.

Really? How do you know how much iron to dose?

 

[cameron]

I would wait for the bulb change before I started doing anything radical. Color changes in a tank are often a spectrum shift or decline in PAR as others have mentioned.

 

[tanner86]

I dose 5ml per 50gal every Tuesday. It took about 3 weeks to notice a slight change. Now, I have been dosing with Iron for a couple of months and have noticed a drastic different in all the coral colors. Everything just pops!!

wbholwell;125534 wrote: Really? How do you know how much iron to dose?

 

[flyingarmy]

What type of iron are you using? Brand, etc?

 

[tanner86]

flyingarmy;125559 wrote: What type of iron are you using? Brand, etc?

The Iron brand is Kent Marine. Dave, at Marine Fish, made up a schedule of chemical dosing and feeding for corals. I follow his schedule and I have incredible polyp extension on everyone of my corals. My crayola coral has such large polyp extension that you can't even see the skeleton color until the lights go out. Even then, the polyps only retract alittle. I would suggest giving it a try for a few months and see if you like the results.
Dosing Calcium A&B, Iodine, Iron, Stronium, and Mag will definantly improve the color and growth of your corals, IMO. I have a birdsnest from Slayer that I got a couple of months ago and it has already tripled in size. Also, b/c of the Iron I have noticed three more different colors than what I originally saw when I first put it in my tank.

 

[wbholwell]

Tanner86;125570 wrote: Dave, at Marine Fish, made up a schedule of chemical dosing and feeding for corals. I follow his schedule and I have incredible polyp extension on everyone of my corals.

So what exactly is this schedule?

 

[tanner86]

Monday- Tech CB Part A&B 10ml per 40gal of each. Also, Phytoplex 5 to 10ml per 50gal depending on coral load.
Tuesday- Strontium and Molybdium 5ml per 50gal, wait 20mins, then dose Iron 5ml per 50gal.
Wednesday-Tech CB Part A&B 10ml per 40gal of each. Also, Chromaplex 5 to 10ml per 50gal depending on coral load.
Thursday- Iodine 10ml per 50gal. Also, Coral Accel 5 to 10ml per 50gal depending on coral load.
Friday- Tech CB Part A&B 10ml per 40gal of each. Also, Phyto 5 to 10ml per 50gal depending on coral load.
Saturday- Magnesium 10ml per 50gal. Also, Zooplex 5 to 10ml per 50gal depending on coral load.
Sunday- Nothing.

 

[wbholwell]

Sounds good. So why do you attribute the better colors of your coral to the iron supplement? Why not something else?

BTW, I like how Sunday is a day of rest!

 

[cameron]

Long article on Iron

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/oct2002/chem.htm">http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/oct2002/chem.htm</a>

However, I think running iron based GFO probably spikes iron in the tank already. Opinion only.

 

[tanner86]

I have been dosing all the other chemicals I listed ever since I had a saltwater aquarium and the enchanced color of the corals never happened until I started dosing Iron. Also, Dave said it would enchance the coral color and he was right.

wbholwell;125599 wrote: Sounds good. So why do you attribute the better colors of your coral to the iron supplement? Why not something else?

BTW, I like how Sunday is a day of rest!

 

[haninja]

Tanner86;125592 wrote: Monday- Tech CB Part A&B 10ml per 40gal of each. Also, Phytoplex 5 to 10ml per 50gal depending on coral load.
Tuesday- Strontium and Molybdium 5ml per 50gal, wait 20mins, then dose Iron 5ml per 50gal.
Wednesday-Tech CB Part A&B 10ml per 40gal of each. Also, Chromaplex 5 to 10ml per 50gal depending on coral load.
Thursday- Iodine 10ml per 50gal. Also, Coral Accel 5 to 10ml per 50gal depending on coral load.
Friday- Tech CB Part A&B 10ml per 40gal of each. Also, Phyto 5 to 10ml per 50gal depending on coral load.
Saturday- Magnesium 10ml per 50gal. Also, Zooplex 5 to 10ml per 50gal depending on coral load.
Sunday- Nothing.

Wow, looks like you got the whole Kent product line...

 

[tanner86]

I have never had one ounce of trouble with the Kent product line. It works great in my tank and everything coral and fish are doing awesome.

haninja;125615 wrote: Wow, looks like you got the whole Kent product line...

 

[cameron]

I think Kent and Seachem are both quality products. Some of the others I have my doubts about.

 

[jaustin]

Well the bulbs are a no name but they are strong. I've yet to get a par meter to confirm but a new bulb will make my xenia at the bottom of the tank curl up if not acclimated. I have switched to two 10K 175 halides and haven't noticed and improvement in color.

I have a german blue acro that looks like it's losing color too. I now have two 20K halides on the way to see if that helps out.

I have been running rowaphos now for two weeks with no change. I have noticed some extra growth with the xenia and GSP. I had my LFS confirm my tests and Calc is still 420, mag is 1550, alk is 8.3, ph is 8.0.

I have put some Kalkwasser in the top off water to help with the ph and alk, so thosh #'s should be up a bit in the next week or so. I'm trying to get the alk in the 9's and the ph up to 8.2-8.4

I just bought a green slimer acro, it's dark green. I'll be keeping a close eye on it. My red monti cap is bright pink, all polyps are out and everything is still growing.

I'm going to get some iron and dose a small amount of that along with changing the halides for some 20K's. I have some reef carbon in there now and will be running that for 3 days every month. Hopefully i can get these sps to color up.

thanks everyone for the suggestions, you all are a real help.

Jason