Help Nate's acros color up

[gnatp2]

I think the source is the $hit water that I originally put in the tank. I've heard that once the phosphates are high, the live rock somehow sucks them in and then will continue to release the phosphates once you get the water under control.

I really am not feeding all that much (about 1/2 cube of food per day which gets eaten up in about 2 minutes).

Nate

 

[gnatp2]

Quick update.

A couple corals that were very very brown are now just very brown but with a decent amount of coloring coming back to their tips.

Phosphate test tonight was .06 on the hanna.

Nate

 

[Tonyscoots84]

keep up with the phosban media ...

 

[jackson6745]

Very good! You should take some progress photos.

 

[SethKim]

Hey Nate

This is what G. Schirmer told me;
no mentioning of bulb company, just my preference!
Coloration Vs. Growth
Best growth 6,500k Iwasaki
good growth & good color 10,000 Aqualine
Best Color 20,000k radium
I change my bulbs every 7 months, the higher the kelvin, less lux produced after about 6 months,

My little ingridient to this, I'm adding about 3hrs of 250w HQI 20k Gisemann but I took off the protective lense that filters UV

Best luck to you!

sincerely,

 

[gnatp2]

Just wanted to give a quick update. Been running dual phosban reactors continuously and still have the phosphates between .06-.08.

One coral was getting a bit better, but then I went into my aquarium and moved a couple rocks around. Not very much at all, but a little lower (maybe 3") and further back (maybe 2"). Now it is getting less light and after 3 days, the coral went back to its brown state. My current hypothesis is that the corals aren't getting enough light. Yes, I know I know it has been suggested that I am bleaching my corals with too much light, but I don't think this is the case. I have glass tops between my 400W SE 10000K metal halides that get salt buildup on them very quickly. Also, the bulbs are only about 3" from the glass tops and the water is only 1/2" from the glass tops. My current plan is to add some lifts to the canopy to get it about 6" higher and remove the glass tops. I'm thinking this will add a lot more par to the tank. (Just to remind all that my pink birdsnest colony browned out while the frag in my sump stayed very pink under 23 hr/day PC 10K/actinic lighting 3" below).

I think phosphates were PART of the problem, but I think lighting is also a big issue in my tank.

Out of town for a couple weeks, but gunna go to home depot when I get back to buy some timber.

Nate

 

[gnatp2]

Well a couple weeks ago I removed the glass tops that were protecting the metal halide bulbs from water splashes and added some lifts to get the lighting about 8" from the top of the water. My phosphates have finally come down to .06 (yes I would like them lower but I think this is at least pretty decent).

The results: Hardly anything. I have notice very slight improvements here and there but as a whole my purple/blue corals can only hold color on their tips. Frags that I have gotten from other members tanks have turned brownish on the trunks, but remain colorful on their tips. At this point I'm not sure what to try to change next.

Nate