why do my corals still remail a lil brown, and arnt vibrant in color?

TonyOrlando · 11/02/2007, 09:46 AM

I asked in a thread a few months ago about browning corals that i had. The main thing was nutrients were to high. So i fed less, stopped adding things such as marine snow and ran my protein skimmer more wet. The color did improve a little bit in the corals, but definately are not at there potential. Still look brown. Any suggestions?
And yes all my parameters are in the acceptable range, and my lights are only 3 months old.

rustybucket145 · 11/02/2007, 09:51 AM

Quote:

And yes all my parameters are in the acceptable range, and my lights are only 3 months old.

well.... what are your parameters and what are you lights? You gotta give more info than.... 'my corals are less brown than they used to be...'

J. Montgomery · 11/02/2007, 10:02 AM

IME, once SPS corals go brown they don't color back for a really long time, though new growth will have plenty of color.

TonyOrlando · 11/02/2007, 10:06 AM

My parameters by the way.
nitrate, trite, amonia 0
phosphates 0
ph 8.3
calcium 400 - 410
alk 8dkh
mag ..i forget, but i know its in the acceptable range
as for my lights..2x250watt MH w/2 x 39watt T5( 3 to 4 months old)(Aqua Medic Fixture)
Even by soft corals are a lil less in color then before.

TonyOrlando · 11/02/2007, 10:09 AM

My parameters by the way.
nitrate, trite, amonia 0
phosphates 0
ph 8.3
calcium 400 - 410
alk 8dkh
mag ..i forget, but i know its in the acceptable range
as for my lights..2x250watt MH w/2 x 39watt T5( 3 to 4 months old)(Aqua Medic Fixture)
Even my soft corals are a lil less in color then before.

LobsterOfJustice · 11/02/2007, 11:44 AM

What Kelvin (K) and manufacturer are your MH bulbs?

PSam · 11/02/2007, 12:03 PM

Is PO4 really 'zero' or does your kit not read low enough resolution?

xtopher_vw · 11/02/2007, 01:04 PM

Take a really really close look at your coral (like magnifying glass close) It is possible you could have red bugs or AEFW. Other than that the K of your bulb could make a difference in colour of certain corals but I would look at the coral first.

meschaefer · 11/02/2007, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by PSam
Is PO4 really 'zero' or does your kit not read low enough resolution?

Second that, most PO4 kits are not worth their salt

Especially if it is telling you that you have zero PO4, I have yet to see a tank with zero PO4

rustybucket145 · 11/02/2007, 01:33 PM

This may be a really dumb question.... but.... do you have bioballs in your sump?

meschaefer · 11/02/2007, 02:01 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by rustybucket145
This may be a really dumb question.... but.... do you have bioballs in your sump?

LOL...you where just reading that other guys thread about high nitrates.

TonyOrlando · 11/02/2007, 02:19 PM

My lights are 14k phoenix. As far as the phosphates, i have 2 kits that i test with , both are at 0. I know those kits arnt the most accurate. I rinse all frozen foods, i have a phosban reactor(run 24/7) and a ro/di with tds at 0. And no, i dont have any bioballs..hahah. I like the thinking though. I dont have a magnafying glass to look at my corals, but ill go get one. What do the red bugs look like and are they cause of coral browning?

arts007 · 11/02/2007, 02:22 PM

Are you feeding your corals? There may be high nutrients in your water as well.

TonyOrlando · 11/02/2007, 02:38 PM

I feed cyclop-eeze and Kents marine ChromaMax(super concentrated phytoplankton) to the corals

seapug · 11/02/2007, 02:53 PM

how "colorful" were they when you bought them? Brown is a pretty common natural coloration for many.

TonyOrlando · 11/02/2007, 03:09 PM

no, they were much more colorful

PSam · 11/02/2007, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by TonyOrlando
As far as the phosphates, i have 2 kits that i test with , both are at 0. I know those kits arnt the most accurate.

But which kits are they? 'zero' may not mean 'zero'. 'zero' may actually be something like 0.25 or 0.15... I'd find a buddy or LFS with a colorimeter or a 'better' kit (i.e. MErck) to cross reference.

plyr58 · 11/02/2007, 03:45 PM

Try Iron. It makes my coral color pop. I literally noticed a difference in a day or two.

dendro982 · 11/02/2007, 03:53 PM

I did some search on this - had the same problem. 3 opinions: high nutrients, low light, lack of UV - somebody mentioned Japanese tanks with additional sources of light for this.
Sorry, haven't links at hand.

Shift_9k · 11/02/2007, 11:49 PM

I've seen a loss of color is some of my coral as well and all is good too, im using the same bulb as well.......

11/02/2007, 09:46 AM	#1
TonyOrlando Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Orlando,Florida Posts: 379	why do my corals still remail a lil brown, and arnt vibrant in color? I asked in a thread a few months ago about browning corals that i had. The main thing was nutrients were to high. So i fed less, stopped adding things such as marine snow and ran my protein skimmer more wet. The color did improve a little bit in the corals, but definately are not at there potential. Still look brown. Any suggestions? And yes all my parameters are in the acceptable range, and my lights are only 3 months old.

11/02/2007, 10:02 AM	#3
J. Montgomery Mouth Pipetting Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Charlottesville, VA Posts: 6,278	IME, once SPS corals go brown they don't color back for a really long time, though new growth will have plenty of color. __________________ Josh

11/02/2007, 11:44 AM	#6
LobsterOfJustice Recovering Detritophobe Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Cary, NC Posts: 7,443	What Kelvin (K) and manufacturer are your MH bulbs? __________________ If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right. I remember when zoanthids were called things like "green" and "orange" and not "reverse gorilla nipple." Current Tank Info: 180g reef with all the bells and whistles

11/02/2007, 12:03 PM	#7
PSam Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Chicago Posts: 3,036	Is PO4 really 'zero' or does your kit not read low enough resolution? __________________ ..no vemos las cosas como son las vemos como somos nosotros...

11/02/2007, 01:33 PM	#10
rustybucket145 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: valdosta, ga Posts: 3,707	This may be a really dumb question.... but.... do you have bioballs in your sump? __________________ 400gals of various tanks in the same system. Current Tank Info: 2 175w MH, 2 VH0 Actinics, Lots of Live Rock, tons of copepods, a Fat Mandarin Goby, Niger Trigger, Yellow Tang, Falco Hawkfish, Bi-Color Pseudo, numerous soft, SPS and LPS Corals

11/02/2007, 10:06 AM	#4
TonyOrlando Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Orlando,Florida Posts: 379	My parameters by the way. nitrate, trite, amonia 0 phosphates 0 ph 8.3 calcium 400 - 410 alk 8dkh mag ..i forget, but i know its in the acceptable range as for my lights..2x250watt MH w/2 x 39watt T5( 3 to 4 months old)(Aqua Medic Fixture) Even by soft corals are a lil less in color then before.

11/02/2007, 10:09 AM	#5
TonyOrlando Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Orlando,Florida Posts: 379	My parameters by the way. nitrate, trite, amonia 0 phosphates 0 ph 8.3 calcium 400 - 410 alk 8dkh mag ..i forget, but i know its in the acceptable range as for my lights..2x250watt MH w/2 x 39watt T5( 3 to 4 months old)(Aqua Medic Fixture) Even my soft corals are a lil less in color then before.

11/02/2007, 01:04 PM	#8
xtopher_vw Premium Member Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 195	Take a really really close look at your coral (like magnifying glass close) It is possible you could have red bugs or AEFW. Other than that the K of your bulb could make a difference in colour of certain corals but I would look at the coral first.

11/02/2007, 02:19 PM	#12
TonyOrlando Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Orlando,Florida Posts: 379	My lights are 14k phoenix. As far as the phosphates, i have 2 kits that i test with , both are at 0. I know those kits arnt the most accurate. I rinse all frozen foods, i have a phosban reactor(run 24/7) and a ro/di with tds at 0. And no, i dont have any bioballs..hahah. I like the thinking though. I dont have a magnafying glass to look at my corals, but ill go get one. What do the red bugs look like and are they cause of coral browning?

11/02/2007, 02:22 PM	#13
arts007 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Illinois Posts: 600	Are you feeding your corals? There may be high nutrients in your water as well. __________________ Genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99% perspiration, which is why engineers sometimes smell really bad. Current Tank Info: 120g SPS reef tank. 2x 400 watt Reeflux 12k on lumenbrights

11/02/2007, 02:38 PM	#14
TonyOrlando Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Orlando,Florida Posts: 379	I feed cyclop-eeze and Kents marine ChromaMax(super concentrated phytoplankton) to the corals

11/02/2007, 02:53 PM	#15
seapug Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: 4980 ft. Posts: 7,954 Blog Entries: 1	how "colorful" were they when you bought them? Brown is a pretty common natural coloration for many. __________________ insert clever saying here. Current Tank Info: 200 gallon custom Marineland DD peninsular tank. LPS dominated mixed reef. Previous 90 gallon mixed reef TOTM April 2009.

11/02/2007, 03:09 PM	#16
TonyOrlando Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Orlando,Florida Posts: 379	no, they were much more colorful

11/02/2007, 03:45 PM	#18
plyr58 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: North Carolina Posts: 747	Try Iron. It makes my coral color pop. I literally noticed a difference in a day or two.

11/02/2007, 03:53 PM	#19
dendro982 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Canada Posts: 2,963	I did some search on this - had the same problem. 3 opinions: high nutrients, low light, lack of UV - somebody mentioned Japanese tanks with additional sources of light for this. Sorry, haven't links at hand.

11/02/2007, 11:49 PM	#20
Shift_9k Registered Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Chicago Posts: 278	I've seen a loss of color is some of my coral as well and all is good too, im using the same bulb as well.......