How can i get BETTER coral colors

[w_hartyjr]

why do i not have great colors in my corals?man,i have some of your tanks and they always look great.
all of them are growing great.i even some that are growing from no where(bought a zoa rock from someone on here and have some type of sps growing like crazy).
I am running 2 250watt mh(10k phoenixthat are about 2 months old) and 4 t5(2 actnics and 2 purples geissman bulbs that are also 2 months old),all water params are good(not sure about mag,awaiting test kit arrival now).all of this is for a 75 gall rr tank with a 30 gallon sump,that is about 16 months old.
i have also just started adding amino acids about 2 weeks ago to try if that will help.
is it just the bulb combo or something i might be overlooking.i have some 14k bulbs that i can try,if needed.i just dont to stop the growth,but i want the color to look at as well.
thanks for any input
willie

 

[cantare00]

What specifically are you talking about when you're talking color? Are you talking everything is looking brown or are you talking turning white like bleaching? 10k is good for growth but not so much color. For that you'd probably want 18k or 20k. Also phosphates will cause SPS to turn brown and look ugly too.

 

[w_hartyjr]

No,nothing is bleached or browned out.they just don't have "popping colors".i changed from 20k bulbs, but they still didn't have the pop I thought they should

 

[snowmansnow]

sometimes it just takes a long while for sps to adapt to your system.... ...

 

[ralph atl]

What are all of your parems? And flow?

 

[w_hartyjr]

Temp 78-79
Ph 8.2
Amo 0.2
Phosphates 0
Nitrates 0.2
Nitrites 0

As far as flow, I have 4 mj900 at different levels in tank plus the return pump from loc line


Everything is growing great,like I said in first post.nothing is bleached.i have peice of possibly some kind of acro that grown from nothing(2 months ago didn't even know it was there)that is now 1 1/2" tall and small branches coming off it.So even the sps is growing great.

 

[glxtrix]

Do the MJ's have the mods on them?

 

[w_hartyjr]

glxtrix;808853 wrote: Do the MJ's have the mods on them?

Yes all mods are installed

 

[ichthyoid]

Just curious, but what are you measuring your nitrate & phosphate with.

I find it interesting that you are showing ammonia in a cycled tank.

 

[ralph atl]

What kit are you testing phosphates as only a few can test low range which SPS are most sensitive.

And magnesium? Alk? calcium?

Edit:

ichthyoid;808860 wrote: Just curious, but what are you measuring your nitrate & phosphate with.

I find it interesting that you are showing ammonia in a cycled tank.

Probably a false positive brought to you by API, but u never know....

 

[mvm]

If your bulb is a phoenix, it's a 14k. I have yet to see another bulb that produces better color, including radium. Your problem has to do with excess nutrients, no doubt.

 

[glxtrix]

MvM;808868 wrote: If your bulb is a phoenix, it's a 14k. I have yet to see another bulb that produces better color, including radium. Your problem has to do with excess nutrients, no doubt.

:fing02:

 

[w_hartyjr]

ichthyoid;808860 wrote: Just curious, but what are you measuring your nitrate & phosphate with.

I find it interesting that you are showing ammonia in a cycled tank.

Ammonia is red sea kit
Phosphate is API

Edit:

MvM;808868 wrote: If your bulb is a phoenix, it's a 14k. I have yet to see another bulb that produces better color, including radium. Your problem has to do with excess nutrients, no doubt.

Just 10 k is ushio

Edit:

mysterybox;808861 wrote: What kit are you testing phosphates as only a few can test low range which SPS are most sensitive.

And magnesium? Alk? calcium?

Edit:

Probably a false positive brought to you by API, but u never know....

Alk 9
Cal is 450 also from API kit

 

[ralph atl]

Kinda something amiss with any detection of ammonia.

API is probably ok for most things, def not ok for phosphates. That will take a HACH, Elos professional phosphate (not the other one), DD Merck, and maybe the low range Hanna...

So you most likely are above 0.03 which is too high.

Also, magnesium should be above 1300....or do.

 

[mvm]

w_hartyjr;808879 wrote:
Just 10 k is ushio

w_hartyjr;808822 wrote: I am running 2 250watt mh(10k phoenixthat are about 2 months old)

I was assuming the phoenix based on this. If I were you and had a DE, I'd switch to the phoenix 14k.

 

[dustin]

Take a water sample to a local fish store and have them do some base testing for you. Will help to determine how accurate your kits are reading and get some advice on the spot. This helped me as I was reading a lower alk than my kit was showing. Im raising it now, Ive since seen things thicken a bit and look more vibrant.

--I would also lower your feeding regime for a while, to help eliminate your ammonia.

 

[w_hartyjr]

dustin;808925 wrote: Take a water sample to a local fish store and have them do some base testing for you. Will help to determine how accurate your kits are reading and get some advice on the spot. This helped me as I was reading a lower alk than my kit was showing. Im raising it now, Ive since seen things thicken a bit and look more vibrant.

--I would also lower your feeding regime for a while, to help eliminate your ammonia.

I will take your advice and head to lfs today with sample

 

[w_hartyjr]

Hey guys,I was just thinking,if I am having a phosphate issue.wouldnt I also be having an algae problem too.which I am not.